Top SFX shots No.8: Cloverfield

Matt Reeves' initial peek out into post-monster New York is a masterpiece of match-moving, with miles of virtual debris apparently available for the hand-held camera to zoom in on at will. Oddly, it's only the head of the statue of liberty that looks fake*. It would be a mistake to use the effectiveness of this technique as an excuse for yet more 'hand-held' Hollywood films, but advances in match-moving are likely to make this kind of seamless CGI integration far more affordable in the next few years.

*Thanks to VFX artist Riddick 1 for pointing out to me that the head was not a prop. Check out his comment on the main article page, and you'll see that - fake-looking or not - the CGI Lady Liberty fooled Paramount itself.

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