How Jeff Bridges’ Oscar-Nominated 1993 Drama Created Its Plane Crash Detailed By VFX Supervisor Only4Media.com

VFX supervisor William Mesa details how Fearless created its plane crash scene. Directed by Peter Weir, with a script written by Rafael Yglesias adapted from his novel of the same name, the 1993 film follows a man who survives a devastating plane crash, and the harrowing experience dramatically changes his personality. Jeff Bridges stars in the lead role alongside Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom Hulce, John Turturro, and Benicio del Toro.

On the latest episode of Corridor Crew‘s “VFX Artists React” series, Mesa detailed how Fearless created its plane crash scene. Watch the portion of the video below, starting at the 14:06 minute mark:

The film’s VFX supervisor detailed how its plane crash scene was created, which required a specially grown cornfield, a high-speed camera truck, and additional miniature shots for the final effect. Read his full comments below:

To shoot the place, we had to get a camera car. We actually had, they had a corn field grown for us because there wasn’t corn out in the area we were doing in Bakersfield. I don’t know how many acres, of course they were going to sell the corn.

We had to take a camera truck and go as fast as we could get the camera truck and then hit the corn field and go as far as we could go before the corn would stop the truck and then we did all of these miniature pieces that we broke up.

How Fearless Created Its Plane Crash Scene

A Specially Grown Cornfield, Miniatures, & More

Mesa detailed the behind-the-scenes process involved in creating the plane crash scene for Fearless. For starters, the team needed a specific location to shoot the scene, so they arranged for a cornfield to be grown specifically for the shoot in Bakersfield, California. To film the scene, they used a camera truck, driving it through the cornfield at high speed to see how far it could go before the dense corn stalks stopped it. After that, they used miniatures and smaller-scale models to shoot additional scenes involving the plane.

As the host Wren Weichman mentions, Fearless grew an entire cornfield to shoot the movie and sold the corn afterward, over 20 years before Christopher Nolan did the same on Interstellar. For the 2014 film, 500 acres of corn were planted for the famous cornfield chase, which also involved driving a truck through the stalks, and the later scenes of the corn being destroyed in an apocalyptic dust storm. Considering that Fearless is quite famous for its scene of a plane crashing in a cornfield, it’s possible that Nolan got the idea from the 1993 film.

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Though Fearless is quite famous for its intense and realistic portrayal of a plane crash, it was perhaps praised more for its performances, including an exceptional performance from Bridges portraying a man dealing with profound grief. However, it was Rosie Perez’s performance as another survivor of the plane crash that earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. From its realistic portrayal of a plane crash to its profound performances, Fearless remains a powerful exploration of trauma that continues to influence filmmakers today, possibly even Nolan.

Source: Corridor Crew