Imagine working on a movie set in outer space without heavily relying on the green screen. That’s how tough it must have been back in the day, and when we watch old science fiction movies today they look not only implausible but silly, too (though we still love them).
In order to mimic how her character would actually move in an anti-gravity environment in space, Sandra Bullock bravely performed some of her scenes underwater (with professional supervision of course!). While she was filmed in a pool, a green screen was used to place her in a space station. When you watch these suspenseful scenes, it’s no doubt that you’ll be holding your breath just like Sandra!
Star Trek
JJ Abrams, king of spacey blockbusters, took an intergalactic shot at the cult-classic space adventure series "Star Trek." He recast to have his very own Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, and the rest of the iconic characters from the original series. But he was also able to make his version of "Star Trek" so much more lush on the big screen.
Here we see Abrams directing Chris Pine (who plays James Kirk) and John Cho (who plays Hikaru Sulu) atop a prop spaceship. With the help of some CGI magic, the actors and the vessel were made to hurtle through outer space.
Black Panther
It was no easy feat to bring the world of Wakanda to the big screen. With the help of a blue screen and the incredible artistic talents of the film crew, the Black Panther's beloved home was created, inspiring millions of moviegoers around the world.
Here we see a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a royal room in the Wakanda kingdom. The blue screen in the background shows the sections of the shot that would be replaced with majestic views of Wakanda during post-production. It is still one of the most beautiful movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It might be in the top five.
Mad Max: Fury Road
The "Mad Max" franchise fuels your need for speed, action, and firepower. Set in a dystopian world where fuel and water are scarce, the makeshift automobiles and trucks roar across the dangerous desert, trailing behind the warmth of George Miller’s futuristic imagination.
But none of those blasts really occurred, and the unique pieces of post-apocalyptic vehicles didn’t really tumble or get broken into small parts. They really didn’t leap high up the dunes. All that was possible in post-production, thanks to green screens and suspended platforms on set. And the movie ended up crushing it at the Oscars because of all that hard work.
300 - Rise of An Empire
The film, "300," is based on the 1998 comic series by Frank Miller. To translate this into a film, they had to recreate the places during the Persian Wars, and it is said that it took them sixty days to film it, retelling the events of the Battle of Thermopylae. And the sequel - "300 - Rise of An Empire," was also a green-screen masterpiece in its own right.
The visual effects relied a lot on the green screen, which had to surround soldiers clashing in the middle. They used the superimposition chroma key technique, so archival images could be brought back to life. Also, the production involved plenty of prosthetics, dummies, and props.