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photo illustration by FXRant1 of 32by Kirsten Acuna
Last month, visual effects (VFX) company Rhythm & Hues filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The studio helped bring a ravenous Bengal tiger to the big screen in Oscar winner "Life of Pi."
However, after more than 200 layoffs, some 400 VFX artists protested during the 85th Academy Awards.
The recent bankruptcy filing of Rhythm & Hues is the latest blow to the VFX community which has taken a hard hit in the past year.
Last September, VFX studio Digital Domain Media Group also filed for bankruptcy before being bought in part by Galloping Horse and Reliance Capital.
Now, some VFX artists have suggested a walk out later this week on 3/14 ("Pi" day) to show support for creating a union.
If it weren't for visual and special effects crews, a lot of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters would be unwatchable.
From "Life of Pi" to "The Dark Knight Rises," we've gathered together images from visual effects studios Industrial Light & Magic and Rhythm & Hues and visual effects software company Imagineer Systems to show what popular movies would look like without added effects.
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photo illustration by FXRant2 of 32Visual Effects crew Rhythm & Hues helped make Oscar winner "Life of Pi" go from this ...
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photo illustration by FXRant3 of 32... to a boat lost out in the Pacific Ocean with a giant Bengal tiger.
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YouTube4 of 32All of Davy Jones' gang in Pirates of the Caribbean is completely computer generated.
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Clik here to view.YouTube5 of 32The actors don't wear costumes or makeup.
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Clik here to view.YouTube6 of 32The bridge scenes in "Final Destination 5" ...
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Clik here to view.YouTube7 of 32... don't look nearly as scary with a green screen.
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Clik here to view.YouTube8 of 32Before Optimus Prime was on the big screen in "Transformers" ...
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Clik here to view.YouTube9 of 32... he was a computer-generated image.
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Clik here to view.Courtesy of Imagineer Systems10 of 32Without motion tracking and visual effects in "Black Swan" ...
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Clik here to view.YouTube11 of 32... Natalie Portman would be a featherless ballerina.
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Clik here to view.YouTube12 of 32Without visual effects in "Alice in Wonderland" ...
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Clik here to view.YouTube13 of 32Lewis Carroll's world looks pretty "Wonder-less."
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Clik here to view.YouTube14 of 32And, the 3D touchscreens in "The Hunger Games" ...
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Clik here to view.YouTube15 of 32... would be rendered flat and green.
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Clik here to view.Courtesy of Imagineer Systems16 of 32Spidey was able to appear on a web of wires in "The Amazing Spider-Man" ...
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Clik here to view.Courtesy of Imagineer Systems17 of 32... with the help of motion tracking.
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Clik here to view.YouTube18 of 32Mark Ruffalo wore a capture suit while filming "The Avengers" to make the Hulk look realistic.
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Clik here to view.YouTube19 of 32The visual effects team translated Ruffalo's actions into a 3D rendering ...
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Clik here to view.YouTube20 of 32... and, this was the end result.
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Clik here to view.YouTube21 of 32"The Avengers" didn't film in New York.
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Clik here to view.YouTube22 of 32The majority of its action sequences consist of the team on a green screen set.
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Clik here to view.YouTube23 of 32Instead, the crew filmed seven miles of New York City streets while the actors were in town for a few days ...
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Clik here to view.YouTube24 of 32... to create a 20 block replica of the city.
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Clik here to view.YouTube25 of 32So, when Scarlett Johannson was flying through the skies in "The Avengers" ...
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Clik here to view.YouTube26 of 32... she was safe on the ground.
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Clik here to view.Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray screencap27 of 32There weren't really 80,000 people in the Pittsburgh Steelers' stadium during "The Dark Knight Rises."
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Clik here to view.Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray screencap28 of 32Rather, small groups of more than 11,000 people that showed up were filmed and spread throughout the stadium to make it appear full.
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Clik here to view.Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray screencap29 of 32As for the blown-up field, director Christopher Nolan and his crew couldn't actually destroy it.
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Clik here to view.Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray screencap30 of 32It actually looked like this.
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Clik here to view.Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray screencap31 of 32The art department built a raised section with a few holes in it for stuntmen to drop into.
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Clik here to view.Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray screencap32 of 32Next: The Coolest Homemade Movie CostumesAnd, digitally replaced the entire surface of the field.
