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Life of Pi BEFORE special effects FXRamt

This is what movies would look like without visual effects

Not so glamourous now, eh?

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-winning movie 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.

This is what movies would look like without visual effects
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  • Visual effects crew Rhythm & Hues changed Life of Pi from this...

    pic by FXRant
  • ...to this

  • Pirate gang in Pirates of the Carribbean is computer generated...

    via Youtube screengrab
  • ...as the actors don't wear costumes as make-up

    via Youtube screengrab
  • The bridge scenes in Final Destination 5...

    via Youtube screengrab
  • ...don't look nearly as scary with green screen

    via Youtube screengrab
  • Without motion tracking and visual effects in Black Swan...

    pic: Imagineer Systems
  • ...Natalie Portman would be a featherless ballerina

    via Youtube screengrab
  • Without visual effects in Alice in Wonderland...

    via Youtube screengrab
  • ...Lewis Carroll's world would look pretty wonderless

    via Youtube screengrab
  • The Hunger Games 3D touchscreens...

    via Youtube screengrab
  • ...lose all control in green screen

    via Youtube screengrab
  • Spidey appeared on a web of wires in The Amazing Spider-Man...

    pic: Imagineer Systems
  • ...which were really the result of motion tracking

    pic: Imagineer Systems
  • Mark Ruffalo wore a capture suit while filming The Avengers...

    via Youtube screengrab
  • ...the visual effects team translated his actions into a 3D rendering...

  • ...and this was the end result

  • There weren't really 80,000 people in this stadium in The Dark Knight Rises...

    via Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray
  • ...there were small groups who were filmed and spread through the stadium to make it seem full

    via Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray
  • As for the blown-up field, director Christopher Nolan and his crew couldn't actually destroy it...

    via Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray
  • ...so it actually looked like this

    via Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray
  • Bonus reveal: The art department built a raised section with a few holes in it for stuntmen to drop into

    via Warner Bros./The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray

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