In the opening scene of Fight Club (1999) there is a visual journey through the Narrator's brain showing the "synapses". How was that scene made?
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2But you're Tyler Durden ... you should know this, right? J/K! Probably just CGI, but hopefully someone has a good answer for you.– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2Jan 26, 2015 at 19:05
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Looks like pure CGI to me– HuangismJan 26, 2015 at 21:15
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I think there is a good commentary on it on the DVD, but don't have access to it now unfortunately. Pretty sure its CGI, the Movie was groundbreaking in that respect - lots of previously 'impossible' shots, like how his apartment was blown up, or the pull-back from the wastepaper basket.– iandotkelly ♦Jan 26, 2015 at 21:38
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I was hoping for a more detailed answer than "CGI". I mean it looks pretty detailed like it was made by somebody who actually knows a brain looks like at the microscopic level. There must an interesting story there.– Tyler DurdenJan 26, 2015 at 22:17
1 Answer
The scene was shot using extensive CGI, and this was during a period in which David Fincher was not only exploring the use of 'impossible shots', but pioneering new techniques...
The film used texture mapping and matte painting combined with CGI to achieve previously unseen special effects, as the first motion picture to use Photogrammetry.
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That is pretty cool. I was specifically interested in how they modelled the brain, although I guess nowadays that kind of CGI would be considered routine, back then it was really astonishing. Jan 27, 2015 at 2:15