96 Percent of the Shots in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Had Special Effects
The superhero madness starts in Avengers: Infinity War before the opening titles. Right off the bat, Thanos and his minions lay waste to a ship full of Asgardian refuges. They also beat up the Hulk and send him packing to Earth. He crashes into Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum and there’s more cool visuals there. Finally the name of the movie you’re watching flashes onscreen. From there, it’s basically 150 straight minutes of action. It almost never lets up. If you’re not into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it could be exhausting.
I got a sense of it on first viewing, but perusing the new Infinity War Blu-ray this week really hit home just how massive on an undertaking the movie truly was. It’s not just about the number of characters, although there are a ton of them. It’s the number of sets, locations, costumes, and powers. Even in the rare scenes where characters aren’t fighting there are often many special effects, like the scene on the alien ship between Doctor Strange, Iron Man, and Spider-Man. Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland are wearing CGI-enhanced suits, and the windows of the rocket they’re hurtling through space in show massive views of a digital universe. Practically every single visual is augmented with computer assistance.
The Blu-ray actually puts a specific number on it. In the “Beyond the Battle: Wakanda” featurette, Infinity War executive producer Victoria Alonso lays it out in plain language:“There’s almost 3000 shots in the film,” she explains, “and there’s about 2900 visual-effects shots.” That translates to roughly 96 percent of the shots in Infinity War are visual-effects shots. So while you’re watching the movie, you can think of it this way: For every 25 shots you see, only 1 doesn’t involve some kind of CGI chicanery. Pretty nuts.
The Avengers: Infinity War Blu-ray is available on August 14, but if you can’t wait that long you can get it on Digital HD right now.