Video by Scott Broock and FXguide
The director McG’s “This Means War” may be a rom-com disguised as an action spy movie, but the flick still contains nearly 400 visual effects helping to bring its stunts and car chases to life.
In one action-packed sequence, the film’s heroes, played by Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, are pursued by a black SUV through Los Angeles before an explosive standoff at the edge of an incomplete freeway.
Of course, in reality the freeway is fully complete, so L.A.-based Method Studios was tasked with making it look half-finished without actually blowing anything up.
“They closed off the freeway — the 110 and 105 interchange — for two days in December, which is kind of a hard thing to do because there are a lot of restrictions of what can be done up there,” said Method visual effects supervisor Mitchell Drain.
The freeway shots were then combined with stunts filmed in Vancouver and at a parking area at the Long Beach Convention Center.
The final scene features cars crashing, billowing with smoke, and lots of explosions — all one seamless shot.
The director McG’s “This Means War” may be a rom-com disguised as an action spy movie, but the flick still contains nearly 400 visual effects helping to bring its stunts and car chases to life.
In one action-packed sequence, the film’s heroes, played by Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, are pursued by a black SUV through Los Angeles before an explosive standoff at the edge of an incomplete freeway.
Of course, in reality the freeway is fully complete, so L.A.-based Method Studios was tasked with making it look half-finished without actually blowing anything up.
“They closed off the freeway — the 110 and 105 interchange — for two days in December, which is kind of a hard thing to do because there are a lot of restrictions of what can be done up there,” said Method visual effects supervisor Mitchell Drain.
The freeway shots were then combined with stunts filmed in Vancouver and at a parking area at the Long Beach Convention Center.
The final scene features cars crashing, billowing with smoke, and lots of explosions — all one seamless shot.
