VFX Artists React to Bad & Great INDIANA JONES CGi 

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The Temple of Doom bridge shot has so much more to it, and it got covered by one of the best VFX documentaries 'How To Film The Impossible'. When the crew are casually saying that the falling bodies are being rotoscoped, you have to remember this was done on film, that meant blowing up the frames, drawing lines around the objects onto transparent acetate, and then painting over the outlines to make the mask, rephotographing these onto 35mm film and then finally compositing the whole lot on an optical printer. When hanging off the cliff there's a lot of optical elements that needed to be combined, and stuntmen falling off watch matched by puppeteers so they could transition from the real people to the models as they fell from one side of the frame to the other. It's a fantastic documentary because it shows just how much work was needed before digital compositing became commonplace.

I love how Clint regularly shows up to mess with the boys even after all this time because they have so much fun together

Physics captain here: The ”2 shockwaves” of the nuke are not a mistake. The first one is electromagnetic radiation (i.e. light and infrared light etc) hitting the buildings and literally burning the surface, instantly vaporizing it. It travels at the speed of light. *edit, thanks nathankoren for your awesome comment* Then you get the shockwave that travels through the ground as the speed of sound is much faster in denser materials like the ground. *edit ends* Only after that does the actual traditional air shockwave hit, much later (relative term here, explosions are pretty fast). I recommend watching footage of the actual first nuke test Trinity here on youtube, where you can see that "light burning" happening. It’s amazing how destructive nukes are. Second point: an explosion can cause objects to fly away faster than the speed of sound = faster than the shockwave. Otherwise bullets would be bound to the speed of sound, which they exceed often by several magnitudes. A bullet is literally an explosion launched object. The explosion itself, the expansion of the exploding gasses, can be much faster than the speed of sound. Only after it’s lost it’s initial momentum, you just start pushing air, which pushes more air, which pushes more air, and that is limited to the speed of sound. So the launch speed of the fridge is dependent on how close to the nuke it was. Still the whole “Indy is in a led-lined fridge so he survives” is a bunch of physics herecy of course.

Fun thing for the Crystal Skull fridge - I was a fx artist on Cryptic Studios' "Champions Online" and was working on the desert map around the time that movie came out. I had to create a nuclear explosion event for the game, and I worked with the level designers to make a rare event that would drop a fridge on a random player and then have a fedora float down.

Dr. Jones found the only refrigerator in the whole town, otherwise the sky would be full of them. “Our refrigerators will blot out the sun!”

The de-aging on Mads Mikkelsen was so good they didn’t even notice it!!

@23:34 what I find amazing is when we see Mads Mikkelsen's character later, he just looks like he aged normally - not that his skull was completely smashed in by a metal spout. I was waiting for him to show up as Bond-type villain with a reconstructed face.

Really got to laugh so hard with Ren's anticlimatic "biggest hit all of all time" moment. That was a priceless laugh, thank you Ren! hahaha

the melting faces made me squeeze my eyes shut as a kid but now I can't look away...it's such a cool effect

22:08 To me, the reason why Harrison Ford still feels CGI is because he still looks a little too smooth at times. There are some scenes where he looks like he has one of those beauty filters on at 20% opacity. Also, the transition between expressions is too smooth. Even for his age, he should be switching expressions a touch faster, where as what they do here feels like a slowed down interpolation. This is still a breakthrough in deageing, but not 100% out of the uncanny valley :)

8:50 NO WAY!!! In the over 30 years I've seen Temple of Doom multiple times, this is my first time ever seeing that shot with the hand IN the chest. The UK release we had on VHS at home didn't have it nor have I seen it on TV over the years. My guess is the censorship board had the shot removed for release over here.

I think the bloom in Crystal Skull is just them trying to match the blown out lighting Janusz Kamiński and Spielberg were doing in every movie they did together in the 2000s. The jungle stuff in Crystal Skull is crazy, because when you watch the behind-the-scenes stuff you can see they actually went out and filmed stuff on location for the jungle, and it actually looks good, and then they added all this digital underbrush and overgrowth all over the place and it just makes the whole thing look fake to the point it doesn’t even make sense they filmed in real places because the whole thing just looks like a cartoon and like they were on a stage for everything.

regarding 18:50 , I think the "double shockwave" is fully intentional. A nuke explosion would have the heat wave arrive way before the shockwave (at the speed of light, compared to the speed of sound), and locally it has this billowing effect on the smoke and dust. Real test footage from nuke explosions shows this same phenomenon, something that appears like a lighter wave before the actual shockwave hits

Around 20:40 when they show Shia swinging I finally got why the scene looked off to me. The sun was on the left, the whole scene was lit from the left yet Shias back (that was facing left) was hidden in shadow and his face (facing away from the biggest light source, the sun) was brightly lit...

On the monkeys in Crystal Skull, one of the challenges was that they were using E-on Vue for forest rendering. At the time, it could do things well beyond any other package for atmosphere, terrain and plant simulation but it was also buggy as heck and integrated poorly. ILM had experience with Vue in Dead Man's Chest (the entire cannibal island was created in Vue) but there it was purely used for background mattes. For the first 5 versions, Vue was just a pretty good step up from stuff like Terragen but version 6 was an absolute game changer. Out of the box, you could do volumetric clouds that looked better than anything outside of a studio's proprietary workflow, spectral atmospheres (automatically doing things like Rayleigh scattering) and put down millions of terrain items (plants, rocks) on a fractal landscape with individual variations. This could even be done on a home PC of the time, though the render times were punishing. Vue 7 polished this and improved the workflow but it was one of those products that did what it did well but was really limiting once you stepped out and tried to do more.

The opening of the Ark (thanks flexydex8754) scene is just incredible, a juxtaposition of spellbinding wonder and visceral hellishness. God this was terrifying as a young boy growing up... When you have writing and screenplay this effective it almost doesn't matter about how convincing the VFX are, your belief is suspended to an extent that you totally buy into what you're seeing and feeling. Let's not forget the musical score too. Damn... what a film Raiders is. Maybe the GOAT for me.

"So you know hot ones? Yeah it's like that but nothing like it whatsoever"

That "blind step" scene from The Last Crusade blew my mind when I first watched it. It was amazing. And then I thought... Sure it looks that way from my perspective, but wouldn't Indy have been able to see it from his perspective? And then I reminded my teenage self to suspend belief and enjoy the show.

The de-aging effect in Dial of Destiny has a slight essence of Polar Express animation. That Polar Express effect is also noticable in Tron Legacy to a much greater extent.

The whole opening sequence to DoD was pure nostalgia. Seeing Indy on the big screen again, well, my inner child was Jonesing all over. The adventure, the scale, the Indy beats/isms, the theme, it was just the epitome of what an Indiana Jones should be. Was it 100% perfect? No. But it was perfect enough that I didn't question it and was fully immersed in the movie. I still think you guys should cover the cable car sequences from 'Where Eagles Dare'!!!!!

Even as a kid it was obvious that sped up photography was an ingredient in creating the melting face sequence. And because it was so obvious I didn't care about the glasses basically disappearing, because I knew WHY they disappeared. Still, the melting face itself works so well that it actually sells the shot and I'm really glad they kept it in the movie.

In the UK, the hand in the chest stuff was cut to get a PG at the time. It’s restored for the various disc releases.

Really refreshing to see professionals break down these iconic movies and discuss the visual effects. Love the mix of practical effects and CGI explanation.

I swear this would be my dream job. These guys are so creative and talented and have so much fun together. I could watch any movie with them providing commentary on the special effects

In the Crystal Skull nuke scene the initial wave before the explosion reaches the town is an outflow boundary, the local atmosphere being pushed away ahead of the shockwave. I think that's what they were trying to do. It probably looks off because it's a bit slow.

8:39 that is amrish puri , great indian actor known for his great villain's role in movies

Not so fun fact: The Temple of Doom is banned in India, because it was very stereotypical, presenting them in the wrong way and Goddess Kali being an evil goddess. They didn't even let them shoot the movie in India, it was shot in Sri Lanka with Sri Lankan people acting in it. The villain played by Amrish Puri only worked in the movie because it was a Spielberg movie.

I loved that you guys did this again! Indiana Jones is a huge part of my life and this was a great suprise. Cant wait for the great circle too

Friendly note for the room, it's "Spielberg," and I'm only mentioning it because I fully expect the man himself could show up on one of these someday

Imagine a world without Spielberg films...

Corridor Crew you are entertainment personified...With such a rich film history in the world it seems that you will never run outt of material to comment on. Your crew chemistry is spot on and your show is a gem! Trully, bravo!

I miss Clint's input so much, he's got such great chemistry with everyone in the Corridor office. Always a banger episode!

For all it's flaws, that mushroom cloud shot in Crystal Skull at least looks better than the bomb in Oppenheimer

Clint with the keffiyeh made my day. What a king 👑

Clint! I just want to say thank you for coming back and dropping insight as per usual. But I also appreciate you coming back and using your platforms to share things that mean something to you. Its what makes you a genuine artist/creative and it is to no surprise that I see you taking this opportunity to wear a keffiyeh and to show solidarity to humanity and the people of Palestine. Between hearing Animator Aaron Blaise talk about his experiences making Brother Bear and Corridor Crew graciously using that time to highlight Islamophobia was very responsible and also just a tactful way of communicating with your audience while not bogging your content down with politics. Thanks for keeping the content the content but never straying from your values. Yall making this brown animator tear up. Because we hurting right now as a community.

Chris Walas (who built the melting/shrinking/exploding heads for Raiders) was very happy with the melting head. It was the shrinking head that didn't come out like they hoped. The original shot was longer, with a hand reaching up and clutching the throat before the head shrinks. But it looked too fake so the shot was cut very short and an extra plume of fire added to cover it a bit. The exploding head was originally meant to be seen without the fire in front, but the ratings board threatened to give the movie an R rating if it wasn't changed. So they added the fire in front BUT if you watch carefully, the fire fades away for a moment right when the head explodes so you can see it almost uncovered for a split second, then the fire fades back in. So they basically fooled the ratings board.

Great to see Clint. Love the scarf!!

The Dial of Destiny New York shots were filmed in Glasgow, Scotland, largely outside of my employer's HQ right in the centre of the city. I expect that's part of why the crowd scenes didn't just hire a ton of extras - they had to co-ordinate filming around letting people through the sets to get to and from their work! A few films lately have used Glasgow to stand in for places (often London) after Fast and Furious 6 discovered that they could film a load of extra car flips because it's so much cheaper to do it in Glasgow than London. My colleagues that work from HQ hate it, the chance to spot Idris Elba or whoever doesn't make up for getting lunch being a nightmare!

That cloud effect over the island at the end of Raiders was a cloud tank effect. They later used that giant cloud tank to put a puppet in for that "lion roar" monster in Poltergeist.

Just on the blast wave/shockwave effect - I can see two things to about this. The smoke/burning 'wave' they add is trying to show the intense heat wave that happens immediately - though this moves at roughly the speed of light so you wouldn't really see it roll across the ground. However I understand that with a large blast wave like this you'd have a leading edge to it due to irregular reflections of the shock wave et. Perhaps this is what they were going for (or could justify it as :P )

There was an episode of Doctor Who from the 80s that did a face melt that rivals the ones from Raiders (Dragonfire from Season 24), far better than it has any business being. Could probably do a whole episode of VFX reacts from Classic Who. They pioneered using Colour Separation Overlay in the 70s, for integrating VFX and for cutting costs on sets (the troll doll attack in Terror of the Autons is a good example of both). The opening of season 23, Trial of the Time lord, has a gorgeous model sequence with motion control.

You guys snapped on that ball roll in the intro. It looked so good. Love your work, yall. Stay blessed

The funniest thing about the hardest hit Wren talks about at 23:33 is that that guy somehow survives that hit in the movie without a scratch or a permanent disability, and it never gets brought up how he managed that lol. I guess that is this movies version of Indy surviving the nuke in a fridge, just absolutely implausible lol

clint! you dont understand how happy i am to see that he’s back and making a new render compilation!

You should absolutely look at Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. It was made by a bunch of kids in the 80s, it's a shot for shot remake that's actually incredible!

Just wanted to note here though that the double shockwave from the nuke in the fridge scene is totally accurate. Nukes hit twice in quick succession - the first is the heat wave, and the second is the pressure wave.

My favourite scene is the mine-car chase, ILM's brilliance shows through there with its miniatures too.

I love seeing the whole team. And its great to see clint again, even after his departure. Thank you

Crystal Skull was the first one I saw in theaters. It holds a special place in my heart. idc what any one says, its one FUN movie.

When I first watched Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it was from a DVD my dad had purchased in a local marketplace in Iraq on his deployment. They would buy like 3-5 totally pirated DVD movies for like $20. The quality would vary from camcorders recording a movie theater screen to actual DVD rips. When he came back, he brought most of the DVDs with him, one of which was Crystal Skull. When I watched it for the first time I thought it was just a poor quality rip. Nope...come to find out that that move really does look like everything was just smudged in vaseline 😂

It's good to see Clint back in the couch, and I'm happy I learned something about one of the best trilogies ever made. :)

Story time! My grandpa used to be the director of operations at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, which has been a popular filming location for decades. Right next to his house, on the outskirts of the Ghost Ranch property on the side of the highway, was a gated dirt road which dead-ended in a beautiful lake where my siblings and I would go to skip rocks whenever we’d visit. My dad even had a photograph he took of the lake view from the road as his desktop background for most of the 2000s. Sometime around 2007 the road was paved over and we heard rumblings it was being used for the new Indiana Jones film. Long story short, this is where they filmed the opening scene which is supposed to depict the highway leading to Las Vegas, and I always get a kick knowing that in reality that military vehicle would’ve had to stop before tumbling into a New Mexico lake. We did go back to that road once or twice after filming wrapped, but it was never quite the same…..

Love to see a longer episode like this, looking forward to more of those!

Need to do Chronicles of Narnia one of these times.

You hit the key with the fact that the directors or writers are creating a script and filming without a clear idea if this shot will work with cg or how to film it with those limitations in mind…anything James Gunn comes to mind with a master of visual effects with live action.

0:40 good ol' Spielburg👏👏

It's always a good day with Clint on the couch

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS! The practical effects are just ridiculous, making Audrey 2 look more alive than ANY movie out there! It deserves to be shown! Love u guys♡♡♡

That was a great intro, I loved the boulder bit!

Loaded questions is such a great concept!!!

In Crystal Skull, The refridgerator scene was supposed to have been used in "Back to the Future" as that was the Time Machine before the Delorean

bro a video with the trio and an indiana jones vfx breakdown?? christmas came early 😭

18:05 So that first "shockwave" before the destruction is actually perfectly accurate to a real nuclear blast. What you're seeing there is not air, but light bright enough that it generates enough heat to evaporate the houses.

You guys should do a challenge where you try to re-create the face melting shot from raiders digitally . . . or practically if you think you’re up to it.

“Smeary” is the perfect word for describing the effects in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

It always makes me happy when Clint makes an appearance

18:00 that's not a second shock wave hitting, that's the heat blast that smoke you're seeing would be stuff bursting into flame and vaporising before the shock wave hits. Because light moves faster than sound, so the heat wave hits first because of the sheer intensity of the light from the nuke would burn things that close. So the shot wasn't a mistake and was actually fairly accurate to how it would look with the timing of it.

Seeing Clint again is so great

LOL I actually had a minor revelation when Nick said: "There's only two ways to make a picture - you either take a photograph of it, or you paint it."

Temple of Doom is still my favorite IJ after Raiders. I love the art direction of the underground so much.

I like _Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,_ and its aesthetic was obviously a deliberate artistic decision because it was consistent throughout the entire movie.

Thats so funny about the glasses in the face melting scene! Ive seen this movie prolly 20 times if not more and ive never even noticed that the glasses fall so quick because the footage is sped up hah.

8:39 Greatest Villain of All Time Amrish Puri

good to see Clint again

The Raiders cloud trick was probably done in a cloud tank. An aquarium filled with water, than in/paint is pumped in to create clouds.

Love the video guys. I think in the Crystal Skull nuke shockwave, the first wave is suppose to be the heatwave from the nuke flash that should precede the actual blast wave.

Clint rockin' that kaffiyeh. Good on you, man.

As someone who identifies as someone who has seen CGI in movies, I can honestly say that this is great.

Woo hoo! Clint Jones has returned! Good to see ya! 👍🏼💪🏼

The leap of faith in Last Crusade always had a vibe I never quite have seen again. It´s such a weird border case of just about straddling the line between supernatural and belivability that you cannot quite nail down if it is actual "magic" or a really smart optical illusion in universe.

Clint coming back is ALWAYS a treat

Corridor crew never disappointeds us

Clint: It's like looking into Wren's soul Wren: Yeeahh! 😊

4:17 pause it when wren says “heat sources” and you can see the lightbulb rig on the guy in background

I could watch this series forever.

It'd be really awesome if you could take a look at the WoW "The War Within" Cinematic, it's looks so amazing. The "CHARGE " Blender short would be awesome as well. As well as *Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia!* where you could do a comparison to the "live action" Lion King. Also at the end of second Chronicles of Narnia movie there's a big water creature, so it might be cool to see what you think about that. The *last agni kai fight from ATLA* would be perfect for for the Animators React. It's so stunning! And for stuntmen react It would be cool to see you react to the duel from "Potop", it's really good sword fight

About the two shockwaves: ackckhyally🤓, the first one is the radiation wave, heating everything up and smoking. It IS physically accurate, except there’s a stylistic choice to make the wave slow (a few times faster than the shockwave), when it should hit everything at the same time (light speed).

The Ark opening scene in Indiana Jones forever changed how my mother defined movies. Any movie that had any kind of action or fantasy or scifi elements to them that she might be watching also, the first question, without fail, is "does it have any face melting in it?" Steven Spielberg scarred my mother for life with that scene.

At the same time, watching a live with Pwnisher for another 3D community challenge!

I think it's perfect time to take a look on ted movies and the new series

IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS ALL MY LIFE!!!!

Funny that you mentioned Return to Castle Wolfenstein. I just uploaded the campaign on my channel. I made it into 10 parts and scheduled it to release one part each day. It's currently on part 7. This game has been a IRL matrix moment. This wasn't the first time this week someone mentioned RTCW, it's actually the 3rd. But, before I uploaded it, I haven't heard anyone talk about that game in years.

One of the main things that pulled me out of the de-aged Indiana Jones is that the character is still voiced by old man Harrison Ford

Boulder:🗿 Wren: come at me!

I just watched “Hook” & would love to see you talk about the scene where Tinker Bell first shows up. There is some fantastic comp work between the full sized & mini person interactions

16:45-16:46 - Technically _Kingdom of the Crystal Skull_ was not well-received by the Die-hard _Indiana Jones_ fans who liked the first three films, but oddly some critics enjoyed it. For _Dial of Destiny_ reception was divided, some say it was Improvement over _Crystal Skull_ others say it’s not as good as _Crystal Skull,_ and others say the film ran it’s course and pretend the first three films are the actual films and the fourth and fifth never existed.

was at Star wars celebration and saw a preview of the cart scene from Indy and the dial. was fun to be in a room of people pretending they enjoyed it

It was great to see Clint again. Great

I was quite impressed with how the 5th instalment was, feels as though it had some of the original style back. When compared to the 4th movie. Love what they managed to achieve.