A Boy and his Tiger
‘Life of Pi’ is a movie based on a book of the same name. The two main characters – at least those that last any amount of time – are a young boy and a fearsome, man-eating tiger, trapped together on a small lifeboat in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Obviously, it would be neither safe nor practical to film the scenes with a real tiger present, so the director had to use the now-standard CGI, but this was back before CGI had really exploded (despite it already being in use). The result was a completed movie, zero devoured actors, and a little more, too.
Alien Friends Share a Tender Moment
Drax, played by Dave Bautista, rubs Rocket Raccoon's head during a slow moment at what looks like the end of the first 'Guardians of the Galaxy' movie. Rocket Raccoon's voice comes from famous A-lister Bradley Cooper, and while his physical form was built using CGI, an actor still had to wear a suit that made it possible for artists to accurately recreate the movements and positions of this character.
The actor who did so was Sean Gunn, brother to the director of both 'Guardians of the Galaxy' movies, James Gunn.
We Must Wonder How the Actors Felt During This Scene
Here's the non-CGI version of the scene, where Dave Bautista pats Sean Gunn's green-suited head. Bautista is still acting just as his character should – or would, since Drax is a bit of a funny character – but Sean looks like he could be acting, or it looks like he could be rethinking all of his life choices.
As we've seen a number of times, providing a base for CGI artists to work from is becoming a more and more important task in movies, but it's still probably pretty strange to do so.
Life of Pi
This fantasy adventure movie is popular for its unique way of conveying spiritual discoveries and lessons through its shipwrecked character.
Luckily for Pi’s actors, including Suraj Sharma, they didn’t have to shoot the film in the deep dark ocean or around a real Bengal tiger that could easily slice a neck in one swipe with its sharp claws. Blue screen to the rescue!
Lord of the Body Doubles
While filming the 'Lord of the Rings' movies, as well as 'The Hobbit' series, director Peter Jackson wanted practical effects as much as possible – though he did lessen this approach for 'The Hobbit' movies. With a Middle-Earth full of hobbits, dwarves, men, elves, wizards, and giants, plenty of different actors took up the mantles of your favorite character, not just the names you're aware of.
Sir Ian McKellen, in particular, needed a lot of help. Since his character Gandalf interacts with hobbits so much, there needed to be a way for him to tower over the other actors.