In the modern age of filmmaking, practical effects are hard to find, and especially hard to find done right. In the Dwayne the Rock Johnson movie “San Andreas” the production crew really did it right. San Andreas is a movie about Dwayne the Rock Johnson jumping around during a natural disaster and doing usual action movie stunts. This could have easily been done with a large green room and a huge production budget, but this movie didn’t just do that. Granted, a lot of the scenes definitely had to be filmed on a green screen because they couldn’t simulate a natural disaster, but there were a lot of practical effects too. One particular scene has The Rock saving someone from a car dangling off of a cliff. The team actually build a cliff and car prop so the scene would look more real. I didn’t know that movies like this would put time into stuff like that instead of just green screening.

The crew had to go throughout lot of strenuous set design. One scene contained a character running on top of a building that collapses, and the crew actually built the collapsing roof prop and it looks really really real. I also noticed that the actors in the movie don’t actually look that experienced. They movie in janky ways that don’t look natural. The crew must have had a pretty big task on their hands of using cinematography to make the characters look like actual people moving normally.

Another cool scene they show them shooting is one where there is a lot of chaos going on. If watching the movie it just looks mayhem, but from behind the scenes you can see just how perfectly choreographed it is so everything looks good.

Another scene that just surprised me were the flooding scenes. They really built a set and filmed it getting demolished by water. They also actually filmed this harrowing scene underwater in an actual flooding building. The Rock was underwater acting in an actual flood which is very impressive to me.

The actual interactions between cast and crew was cool to me too. The director would talk to the cast and ask them what they thought of the scene, and ask the, when they think their lines would be best fit. I think that connection can really improve chemistry and make the whole film experience better.

This video solidified my want to be a director for full length films. I’d want to direct a movie where I have room to let my crazy go and just make a insane mind bending piece that has people asking questions. I want to make movies like fear and loathing in Las Vegas but in the new world.