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- For the genuinely romantic depictions of sex on screen, actors and directors can face a myriad of challenges. Film sets are often packed, demanding, and tiring. It's only in the last few years that a specified role to guide and coach actors for love scenes has become mainstream. Intimacy coordinator Ita O'Brien shows how she coaches actors and uses props to make them feel comfortable performing sex scenes in films.
- Bringing characters like Spider-Man and Captain Marvel to life on screen requires some real-life superheroes off-screen. Specialized teams and experts carefully plan and carry out the stunts, costumes, and special effects that make iconic films like the Avengers the impressive spectacle audiences love. From actual bus crashes in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021) to detailed makeup and training in "Black Panther" (2018), here's what Marvel movies look like behind the scenes.
- The fight scenes in "Everything Everywhere All at Once" put a fresh spin on classic kung fu movies. Insider spoke with stunt coordinator Timothy Eulich and fight choreographers Andy and Brian Le about how the movie's most impressive action sequences came together.
- Garry Adelman, chief historian of the American Battlefield Trust, rates nine American Civil War battles in movies, commenting on Civil War-era artillery and rifles, explaining the use of dynamite and other explosives, breaks down the military strategy seen in the battle scenes and finally, he separates fact from fiction regarding Civil War-era surgeries.
- Professional dominatrix and certified sexologist Damiana Chi rates nine dominatrix scenes in movies and TV, such as "Euphoria," for realism. Chi breaks down the accuracy of ethics and safety procedures of BDSM scenes in "Euphoria" (2019), "Transparent" (2016), and "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013). She looks at the plausibility of BDSM sessions in "Bonding" (2019), "Pose" (2018), and "Billions" (2018). She also breaks down the realism of protocols that happen outside of BDSM sessions in "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" (2007), "Love and Leashes" (2022), and "Fifty Shades of Grey" (2015).
- Veteran private investigator Andy Kay rates 10 private detective scenes in movies and television shows for realism. Kay has been working as a private investigator for over 25 years. He investigates infidelity, cybercrime, missing pets, and everything in between. Kay discusses the accuracy of detective scenes in films such as "Knives Out" (2019) with Daniel Craig, "Chinatown" (1974), and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" (1994). He comments on the prowess of the iconic detectives in "Sherlock Holmes" (2009) featuring Robert Downey Jr., "Searching" (2018), "Vertigo" (1958), and "Veronica Mars" (2014) featuring Kristin Bell. He also discusses television show detectives, such as Benedict Cumberbatch in "Sherlock" (2010), Tom Selleck in "Magnum, P.I." (1980) and Matthew McConaughey in "True Detective" (2014).
- Insider traces the evolution of dinosaur effects in the "Jurassic" movies, from the Tyrannosaurus Rex in the paddock scene from "Jurassic Park" to the feathered dinosaurs and Giganotosaurus introduced in "Jurassic World: Dominion."
- Diandra Leslie-Pelecky takes a closer look at the physics of the "Fast and Furious" franchise. Here she reacts to 11 memorable scenes from the popular movie series and rates them based on their accuracy.
- Garrett Reisman, a former NASA astronaut and a former director of space operations at SpaceX, reacts to 10 memorable scenes from famous space movies, rating each scenario based on its accuracy. Find out what black holes, microgravity, nitrogen jetpacks, vacuum chambers, sound waves, polycarbonate visors, centrifugal forces, the Coriolis effect, and lunar soil tell us about the accuracy of iconic space movies.
- Retired U.S. military helicopter pilot Dakata Brodie rates nine search-and-rescue helicopter scenes in movies and television shows for realism. He discusses the accuracy of air and sea rescue scenes in "The Guardian" (2006), with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher; "San Andreas" (2015), starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson; and "Bad Boys II" (2003), featuring Will Smith. He also comments on Coast Guard tactics in "The Perfect Storm" (2000), "Baywatch" S4E21 (1994), and "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" (2018). Brodie analyzes the realism of flying search and rescue helicopters in "The Rescue" (2020), "Deep Blue Sea" (1999), and "Poseidon" (2006).
- An internationally recognized security analyst, researcher, author, and speaker who works with leading security firms, government organizations, and Fortune 500 companies looks at 12 hacking scenes from popular TV shows and movies and rates them based on realism.
- Retired ATF agent Jay Dobyns discusses the years he worked as an undercover investigator who infiltrated the Hells Angels, an outlaw motorcycle gang, from 2001 to 2003 as part of Operation Black Biscuit. He speaks with Insider about his experience with gang and its inner workings.
- Former US submarine commander L. David Marquet rated the realism of submarine scenes in popular movies, judging their technological accuracy as well as the depiction of life on board.
- The second episode of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" centers on an epic storm in the Sundering Seas. Pulling it off involved a method that has become Hollywood's go-to approach for creating storms at sea: filming the sequence in a giant water tank.
- This short documentary demonstrates how the animators of "Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse" adapted old-school animation techniques, while inventing new ones to tell their story in a unique way.
- Professional stunt performers show us how they execute the falls we've seen in movies over and over again. Lead performer, Stephen Koepfer has worked on movies like "John Wick 3" and shows like "Ray Donavon." He demonstrates the techniques behind falls with real stunt men and women in the industry.
- The Director of Photography of Amazon's hit comedy "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" breaks down the innovative opening shot from the show's second season. We watch Midge as she answers phones and swivels around the basement of the fictional, yet swanky department store, B. Altman.
- As tensions with China build and the US military sends more troops to the Asia-Pacific region, soldiers with the skills to fight and survive in the jungle are increasingly vital. The US Army trains soldiers for jungle warfare at the 25th Infantry Division's Lightning Academy on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Insider's chief video correspondent Graham Flanagan spent 12 days inside the Army's Jungle Operations Training Course, where a cross section of soldiers of various ranks and experience levels learn to fight, move, and survive in the jungle. Eighty students begin the course on day one, but only 51 will make it to graduation. The rest are dropped from the course by failing one of five critical tests. On day nine, students begin a three-day culminating exercise that incorporates the skills and lessons taught in the course, such as rope systems, rappelling, survival skills, small-unit tactics, and land navigation. Students who graduate from the course receive the Army's coveted jungle tab.
- Not only do fake drugs in movies have to look accurate and be safe to ingest, they also need to act like the drugs. For example, tobacco can't be substituted for cannabis because tobacco smoke isn't as heavy as cannabis smoke and the difference is noticeable on camera.
- Hollywood has many tricks to make impossible and dangerous stunts into a reality. Movies like "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," "Baby Driver," and "Elf" used a Texas switch to allow an actor and their stunt double to switch places on screen without having to cut. "Avengers: Endgame" and "Men in Black: International" used wire rigs known as ratchet pulls to make it seem like characters were being hit by a serious blow. Meanwhile, a tuning fork can make characters like Maleficent and Captain Marvel look like they're flying, and a tarp known as a magic carpet gave characters in "Underworld" superspeed.
- In 2022, Marvel Studios stretched technology to achieve the desired effects for a number of their films. For "Top Gun: Maverick", Tom Cruise taught to fly, act and fix their makeup. For "The Batman", frequently rode in camera cars driven by stunt drivers. For "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022) and "Thor: Love and Thunder" (2022), stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Hemsworth, and Christian Bale were hoisted into the air thanks to wires and tuning forks. For "Bullet Train" (2022), Brad Pitt was placed into a CG-built exploding train, while "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022) featured specially created props like Ke Huy Quan's killer fanny pack.
- Neil Woods spent 14 years as an undercover police officer infiltrating some of the most dangerous organized crime groups in the UK. He rated undercover scenes in movies for realism, such as Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" and Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs." He also rated scenes in movies and shows featuring undercover surveillance work, such as "The Bourne Ultimatum," and characters going undercover in "Argo," "Lethal Weapon," and the US version of "The Office." Woods relayed anecdotes of his time as an undercover policeman and the dangers involved in the role.
- Five British people take a DNA test to learn about their ancestry with surprising results.
- Australian asteroid expert Gretchen Benedix examines asteroid disasters from nine movies and TV episodes and rates them based on realism. She also discusses scenes that show meteor showers and comet impacts. She looks at asteroid scenes from "Armageddon" (1998), "The Good Dinosaur" (2015) and "The Expanse" S5E3 (2020). She also rates comet impacts from "Greenland" (2020), "Deep Impact" (1998), "Bruce Almighty" (2003), and "Don't Look Up" (2021). Benedix also rates the realism of a meteorite in "Color Out of Space" (2019), and a meteor shower in "Ice Age: Collision Course" (2016).
- Paramedic and EMS captain Randy Li evaluates nine medical emergencies in movies and TV. Li breaks down the accuracy of emergency medical service protocols and the realism of first-line treatments and procedures such as choking protocols, CPR, and defibrillation.
- World War I historian Alexander Watson rates six First World War battle scenes from movies and TV shows for realism. He discusses the accuracy of trench warfare in "All Quiet on the Western Front" (2022), featuring Daniel Brühl, and "Wonder Woman" (2017), starring Gal Gadot. He also comments on aerial combat and gas masks in "The Red Baron" (2008) and "The Lost City of Z" (2016), starring Charlie Hunnam. Watson analyzes the guns, artillery, tanks, grenades, and other weapons used in "Sajjan Singh Rangroot" (2018) and "Gallipoli: End of the Road" (2013).
- Maritime archaeologist and historian James Delgado rates 11 shipwreck scenes in movies for realism. Delgado breaks down the accuracy of discovering and investigating shipwrecks in "Titanic" (1997), "Uncharted" (2022), "Finding Nemo" (2003), and "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003. He looks at the realism of nature causing shipwrecks in "Life of Pi" (2012) and "The Perfect Storm" (2000. He rates the plausibility of shipwrecking caused by deliberate attacks and equipment failures in "In the Heart of the Sea" (2015), "Speed 2: Cruise Control" (1997), "The Finest Hours" (2016) and "USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage" (2016). He also explains the accuracy of deep-sea exploration in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (2022).
- Former cocaine smuggler Pieter Tritton discusses his experience in the narcotics trade and how cocaine smuggling works based on his time as a small-time drug dealer while at university to a supplier of many big-time drug operations in the United Kingdom. Pieter began his journey from a small-time drug dealer in the UK, eventually importing cocaine from Ecuador to Europe through a cartel connection. Pieter was arrested in Ecuador and sentenced to 12 years in one of the world's most violent and corrupt prisons. After his release he works as a public speaker on the dangers of drugs.
- Former criminal gang members, undercover police detectives and innocent victims describe to Insider how various organized crime activities work in real life.
- Babies and young kids are cast in movies just like adult actors, but there are special rules in place about how long they can be on set. Oftentimes, a director wants a baby to cry on camera, and real babies are used for many of the scenes. We spoke with a professional baby wrangler named Elaine Hall, who has a special trick that works every time to make an infant cry on cue.
- David McMillan is a British Australian former drug smuggler. He was arrested several times between the early '80s and 2012 for trafficking heroin through Southeast and Central Asia. He estimates he trafficked over $17 million worth of heroin internationally. McMillan speaks to Insider about the process of heroin trafficking and smuggling routes leading to the U.S. and Europe. Since leaving the heroin-smuggling trade, McMillan works as a public speaker. He is the author of "Escape" (2007) and "Unforgiving Destiny" (2017).
- Creating truly convincing fake IDs for film and TV requires an obsessive attention to detail - and things can get thorny with the law. Ross MacDonald, a graphic prop artist in Connecticut, and Jacob Kuban in The Hand Prop Room, a prop house in Los Angeles, demonstrate what it takes to forge realistic ID cards and documents for fictional characters. They break down the ins and outs of creating authentic-looking IDs for movies and TV shows set in every era and walk us through some of the legal issues that this work brings up and explain how they avoid running into trouble with the law.
- Former CIA intelligence officer Andrew Bustamante rates all the "Mission: Impossible" movies, starring Tom Cruise, for realism. Bustamante looks at field-operation scenes in "Mission: Impossible" (1996), and "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000). He breaks down spy gadgets and disguises in "Mission: Impossible III" (2006), and "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" (2011). He compares Cruise's physical skills to real-life CIA training in "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" (2015), "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" (2018), and "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" (2023).
- Kenneth Bombace, the CEO of security firm Global Threat Solutions, reacts to 10 memorable bodyguard scenes from movies and TV and rates them based on their accuracy. Bombace looks at private security details under attack in "Man on Fire" (2004) and "Bodyguard" (2018). He addresses scenes featuring pop stars at concerts and award shows, such as "Taken" (2008) and "The Bodyguard" (1992). He also discusses transporting and taking care of political clients, as seen in "The Hitman's Bodyguard" (2017) and "The West Wing" in Season Three episodes 20 and 21 (2002), and billionaires like Tony Stark in "Iron Man 3" (2013).
- Former burglar Octave "Oky" Durham and art detective Arthur Brand look at seven jewel-theft scenes from popular TV shows and movies and rate them based on realism. They look at "Ocean's Eight" (2018), "King of Thieves" (2018), "Lupin" S1E1 (2021), "Man on a Ledge" (2012), "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975), "Cradle 2 the Grave" (2003), and "The Hatton Garden Job" (2017).
- Vincent Aiello, a retired U.S. Navy fighter pilot with nearly 25 years of experience, rates the realism of fighter-pilot scenes in popular movies. Aiello analyzes the realism of dog-fight scenes in "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), "Iron Eagle" (1986), and "The Final Countdown" (1980). He also rates scenes with fighter pilots attacking other craft, such as "Air Force One" (1997) and "Independence Day" (1996). He looks at stunts featuring US aircraft such as "True Lies" (1994), "We Were Soldiers" (2002), and "Live Free or Die Hard" (2007). He breaks down the skills of Tom Cruise in "Top Gun" (1986) and addresses why fighter pilots have nicknames such as "Maverick."
- Insider took a trip to the Warner Brothers Corporate Archive in Los Angeles, California where a lot of old props go from their movies once production is done. Among the artifacts stored there are many items from the "Batman" franchise, including Batmobiles and Batman's many masks.
- Marine biologist and doctoral student Amani Webber-Schultz rates 10 shark attacks in movies and TV shows, such as "Jaws," for realism.
- Insider takes a look behind the scenes of eight recent Hollywood horror movies to see the ingenious methods filmmakers use to scare audiences, including using oversized furniture, fake rock walls, aging prosthetics, and robotic cameras, as well as more conventional movie magic tricks such as stunt work and hidden wires.
- World War II historian John Curatola rates eight battle scenes in movies and television for realism. He discusses the accuracy of World War II battle scenes from "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), starring Tom Hanks; "Dunkirk" (2017), featuring Tom Hardy; and "Band of Brothers" S1E3 (2001), with Damian Lewis. He also comments on the weaponry used in "Fury" (2014), with Brad Pitt; "Patton" (1970); and "Enemy at the Gates" (2001). Curatola analyzes the tactics displayed in "The Forgotten Battle" (2020) and "Defiance" (2008), starring Daniel Craig.
- Foley artists use objects to create sounds based on a character's movements and interactions in movies and TV shows. Sometimes, they will find themselves making sounds for animals. Marko Costanzo is a veteran foley artist for c5 Sound, Inc. He has worked on movies like "Ice Age," "Life of Pi," and "True Grit." Costanzo explained how complicated it was to make the sounds of a dragonfly flapping its wings in "Men in Black," and how he captured the footsteps of a dog at different ages in "Marley and Me." Then, Insider showed him an animal clip he has never seen before and had him come up with the proper sounds on the spot.
- Kung Fu champion Zak Song rates seven spear and staff fight scenes in movies, such as "Ip Man," for realism. Song discusses the accuracy of spear and staff scenes in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000), featuring Michelle Yeoh; "Ip Man" (2008), starring Donnie Yen; and "Fearless" (2006), with Jet Li. He also comments on the acrobatic and striking techniques in "Pacific Rim" (2013) and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021), starring Simu Liu. Song analyzes the tactics displayed in "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" (1999) and "Hand of Death" (1976).
- Recent horror films have gone great lengths to scare viewers. "The Invisible Man" employed a performer in a green suit to throw Elisabeth Moss' character across a table. Jordan Peele's "Us" used facial replacement CGI to allow characters to act alongside their doppelgängers. While movies like "Crawl" needed CGI to make its alligators as terrifying as possible, many horror movies still rely on practical effects to scare audiences. The 2019 "Child's Play" reboot built an animatronic Chucky controlled by puppeteers, while "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" went all out creating makeup effects and costumes to turn its cast members into monsters.
- When Pixar released the first installment of Toy Story in 1995, it wasn't just a technological marvel. It also elevated storytelling to a new level for animated films. Here are Pixar's 5 essential rules of storytelling that are essential to understanding why their hit films like "Inside Out", "Up", and "Monsters Inc." feel so perfect.
- Each move in a Hollywood fight scene can call for a different, specially rigged prop, custom-made to meet the purposes of safety and drama. We visited the prop truck of Josh Bramer, the prop master behind "Euphoria," "Everything Everywhere All At Once," Blonde," and "Don't Worry Darling," and the country's biggest prop house, ISS, to find out how stunt props are designed to sell fight scenes while keeping everyone safe on movie sets.