Amazing Effects in Classic Films - How Did They Pull It Off?

The witch transformation makeup trick is probably my favourite practical effect in cinema, so effective

As a child, the tornado scene was terrifying in Oz. It's hard to believe that was just fabric and dirt.

As far as the tornado in The Wizard of Oz goes, I am proud to say that my Grandfather was one of the Special Effects technicians pushing that cart around. He worked on a lot of special effects in those days for different studios. By the time I knew him, he was working for Universal and then he retired to spend more time with his hobby of astrophotography.

That Wizard of OZ tornado scene terrified my younger sister so bad that when we had a tornado warning she would go into a panic.

To this day I have yet to see a tornado done in CGI (in movies or otherwise) that holds up the the 1939 Wizard of Oz. That was absolute genius.

The Tornado in Wizard of Oz has always been the scariest most realistic to me, even over movies like Twister.

Buster Keaton was a mad genius. Absolutely positively the G.O.A.T. His work is so underappreciated by today's film viewer.

Very cool! Another interesting effect from Wizard of Oz, when they transition from Sepia to Color. As I understand it, the set itself where the camera starts was fully painted in B&W/Sepia, and they used a stand in for Judy Garland, dressed as her BUT the outfit was also B&W/Sepia. The opened the door, which reveals the color set outside. B&W "Dorothey" steps out and goes off camera for a second, and then Judy Garland dressed in color outfit comes back into the scene. At least, that's how I heard it was done...?

The effects shots in "Forbidden Planet" are still some of my favorites, Spaceship approach and landing sequence still holds up today.

This was an absolutely fantastic episode! I especially enjoyed the 3D breakdowns of some of the effects. Please make this a recurring series!!

As an astronomer, visual effects business owner, and colleague, I worked with Douglas Trumbull for a number of years and was honored to learn from him how the Effects for Blade Runner, Close Encounters, and 2001 A Space Odyssey were done among other of his massive list of works .. He had these wonderful presentations he did for me on many occasions to show his ingenuity. I counted him as a good friend until his passing just over a year ago. Interestingly you showed Wizard of Oz. It was his father that did the effects for Oz. Wonderful family. Doug is missed terribly.

Seeing tech breakdowns of how pre-CGI effects were achieved is one of my fave parts of the Corridor Crew reaction episodes with SFX artists, stunties etc too. The amount of sheer CREATIVITY and crazy engineering that the old-time filmmakers applied to problem-solving is just so mindblowing and inspirational. It's 100% one of those instances where having greater constraints really did seem to lead to greater creativity....? And honestly, a lot of it looks more real than today's CGI blockbusters! 😳

Every time I tune in I'm blown away with how this team has just been delivering this kind of gold for 10+ years. Such a cool episode. Thanks for all you've brought to this community through the years.

My favorite Wizard of Oz shot is the transition from sepia to Technicolor as Dorothy steps out of the house into Munchkinland. The whole sequence is shot in color, but the interior set of the house and Judy Garland's double are painted, made up, and dressed in the sepia browns. The model ducks out of the frame and Garland ducks in wearing her iconic blue dress and steps into the gloriously colored Munchkinland set in one seamless shot. Simple but amazing.

It's so easy to overlook these type of things when you're not having them pointed out to you. I guess that's beauty or magic of cinema. If you're just accepting what you see on screen at face value then they've done their job. It's pretty much like finding out how a magic trick is done and that's pretty cool to me. ❤

I love how timeless and effective basic techniques are when applied in film, magic, or my field of music.

The pan shot that travels over and through the town into Trillby's room in the 1931 film Svengali has always been one of my favorites.

One of my favourite practical effects from classic movies is the transition from sepia to colour in the wizard of Oz. They had actually painted the set, the clothes and had the actors wear sepia colour make up. And it was actually the stunt double that we see for Dorothy in the first half of the screen and when she goes through the door the real dorphy was waiting on the otherside

War Of The Worlds(1954)...the alien attack of Los Angeles...the special effects and miniature work is astounding.

This is the first time I’ve ever watched your channel, but it won’t be the last! I’ve always loved old films, and it’s nice to be among people who still appreciate them!