30 Behind-The-Scenes Photos Reveal How Movie Magic Happens

Model maker Michael Lynch cut 450,000 Q-tips, painted them and inserted them into a mesh to fill the stands. To make it seem like the crowd was moving, the crew placed fans underneath.

Setting up the set with models.

The actual shooting of the iconic opening credits of the movie.

Adam Savage (yes, the same famous Mythbuster) worked as a model maker on both Star Wars episode I and II.

Kenny Baker having a sandwich break on set.

Steven Spielberg in the jaws of Bruce, the animatronic shark designed for the movie.

A prop used for close ups of the ring.

In the scene where Neo is reaching for a doorknob, there was no proper way to hide the camera so the director of photography disguised it with a coat and tie matching the ones Morpheus is wearing.

Bolaji Badejo, a Nigerian student who wore the Alien suit in his only film role, sitting down for a rest during a break. Filming was extremely physically taxing for him as the costume was made from latex that made breathing very hard.

The life size T-Rex animatronic on the set.

Steven Spielberg with a camera that's covered in a white cloth with two holes in it. It was used to get the point of view shots for E.T.

In order to film the "Helping Hands" scene, the creators made over 100 pairs of latex hands.

Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin on the set.

To make it seem like the pen was floating, Stanley Kubrick instructed the crew to glue it to a large sheet of glass, which was then rotated around to give the impression of free-floating.

Wes Anderson directing Ralph Fiennes who's looking through the window of a “train.”

The illusion that the laser was cutting through the table in the famous Goldfinger scene, was actually... not an illusion. The nervous look on Sean Connery's face, we assume, must've also been real. To film it, a special effects man was under the table with an acetylene torch cutting through it from beneath.

The effects crew working on creating the auto-adjusting and auto-drying jacket effect.

John Travolta insert torso used for skin removal scene.

Stanley Kubrick shooting the famous hotel's maze.

This what the alien from from the movie actually looks like.

Setting up models of vehicles.

Jim Henson and other Muppeteers working on the set.

A giant robotic bee that was used to film the bee ride scene. In the post-production of the movie, some digital effects were also added.

George Lucas and the fully operational Death Star.

55-foot scale model of the Titanic being positioned by a diver.

The highest grossing movie of 1996 used a mixture of models and CGI for the effects shots. Around 80% of effects were models (like the large-scale model below) while the other 20% were created digitally.

The '80s action flick features a scene in which police officers are looking at a digital map of the city. At the time, technology was not advanced enough to create the actual digital graphics so a real-life model was built instead.

A shot from filming the helicopter scenes for the 1994 action movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. For the movie, the US Government supplied three Marine Harriers and their pilots for a fee of $100,736.

Bruce, the animatronic shark under construction.

Filming the plane crash scene.

While the actors inside the car are acting, the actual driver is manning a car from the roof.

Will Smith fighting a zombie dog.

ILM (Industrial Light & Magic, a visual effects company founded in 1975 by George Lucas) visual effects crew Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, and Mike Pangrazio working on the Hoth scene.

Setting up the werewolf transformation scene. All of the amazing special effects were created the old-fashioned way - by using make up and props.

Moving the Ark of the Covenant.

For better traction in the scenes where the feet weren't visible, the Pumpkinhead actor wore his Nikes. Unfortunately, the crew left a shot in the movie with a clear view of said sneakers.

Jessica Lange filming a scene in the giant animatronic gorilla hands.

Death Star landscape getting some final touches before filming the assault on the Death Star scene.

Extras on the set with assigned numbers so that Stanley Kubrick could address them individually and give them instructions.

Animatronics and puppeteering effects crew working on Gremlins. As visually striking as they were, making them was also expensive. The movie exceeded its original budget, which made the studio particularly paranoid. Thankfully, it turned out for the best.

Puppeteers working with Sigourney Weaver on filming the armchair scene.

Jack Nicholson propped up with pieces of wood, foam blocks, and a pillow to shoot the final scene of the movie.

A large-scale model of a snow fortress which is about 2 stories tall.

James Caan taking a break during filming the scene in which his character Sonny Corleone gets riddled with bullets.

Actors standing amid cut-out models of soldiers.

Prepping the set for the houseboat scene finale.

Adam West during the filming of the TV series.

Applying condensed milk to the face and head of Ian Holm.

Miniature of chopper positioned to crash into the Skyfall House and a bullet-riddled miniature Aston Martin on the lower left.

Model of the German aircraft Stuka RC being transported on the beach.

Effects crew working on the crystal spider scene.

Effects artist Greg Nicotero manipulating the head of Henrietta while rehearsing for a scene.

Working on the full hotel set for the visually striking Wes Anderson masterpiece.

Testing the functionality of the Goomba animatronic costume.

The Freedom shuttle model.

Exploding blood bag. Quentin Tarantino wanted it to have a "meaty effect," so the bag is full of strips of latex and other little bits of particles.

Bill Murray holding a miniature of the research ship Belafonte with the full-size production version in the background.

John Goodman, John C. Reilly and Brie Larson on the set among props.

Applying syrup blood effects to Marilyn Burns in preparation for the final scene.

Cast and crew in the pool at UCLA filming the final scene.