MovieChat Forums > Dead Ringers (1988) Discussion > 'Revolutionary' special effects

'Revolutionary' special effects

posted 7 years ago by crazy_drunk_pedestrian
2 replies | jump to latest

It's a minor quibble, I realize, but there was a comment in another thread saying the "special effects were revolutionary," as well as several comments to that effect in other threads.

So... probably 98% of the special effects used were simply to put Jeremy Irons in the same scenes with himself. Someone mentioned this was incredible for 1988. Has no one seen The Parent Trap?? That was 1961, a full 27 years prior, and Disney managed to pull off the same effects flawlessly.

Don't get me wrong, I love Cronenberg, and this was an interesting flick. But please, don't pretend to be knowledgeable about films if you don't have the actual oh, I don't know, KNOWLEDGE to back it up.

[–] PreachCaleb 7 years ago

That's actually not what people mean when they say the effects were revolutionary.

This is what they mean: "The shots of the twins onscreen together were accomplished through one of the first uses of computer-controlled moving-matte photography."

Yes, it was done in the Parent Trap and countless other movies and shows, but the camera was stationary.

With Dead Ringers, Jeremy Irons could walk and move around as two on-screen characters.

Seize the moment, 'cause tomorrow you might be dead.

[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

This was the first time you could move the camera with two of the same actor sharing the shot.