AVGN Movie - Digital Effects (Before and After Comparisons)

Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie mostly made use of practical effects, using an animatronic alien (with a puppet version), a monster suit with many puppeteer-operated tentacle arms, and plenty of vehicle miniatures. Only when we were completely unable to do the effect in front of the camera, we would use digital effects. Sometimes they were done to enhance a shot, to remove strings, poles or puppeteers, and other times it was to fix mistakes made while on set.
During shooting, we had limited time, due to the expensive Los Angeles locations, and also worked with a union cast and union crew. For a low budget independent film, it was extremely difficult to get all our shots in time. Every day was a frantic race against the clock. Therefore, there were lots of shots that needed to be completed later, digitally. For example, all the shots with TVs or monitors in the background. There wasn’t time to plug them into a power source, and sometimes the images that needed to go on the monitors were not finished yet, such as graphics or animated sequences like the EeeTee 2 game.
The digital effects team was big! We had about 80 people working on different shots. There were hundreds of shots that required effects work. We thank everyone for all your hard work!
Effects done in computer are known as VFX (Visual Effects) in the film industry, even though all effects are “visual.” (Practical effects are usually called Special Effects. After all, they are more “special”.)
See the SPECIAL EFFECTS documentary here!
• SPECIAL EFFECTS - Angr...
See James describe the digital effects process in detail, during the March 2014 update of the movie progress.
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This is another extra from the AVGN Movie Blu-ray, which contains about 10 hours of bonus material. You can get it here.
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• Video #retro #retrogaming #nes #snes #jamesrolfe #mikematei #atari #playthrough #gameplay #gamereview

[@MichaelJosephPierce]

It is crazy to me that this movie gets so much hate. As someone who has been around since the very beginning of AVGN I must say I am super proud of James and what he has accomplished (with the help of many) over the years. AVGN all started from VHS recordings he did as a joke and the fact that it has grown into something with enough support to make a feature length movie is truly remarkable. Whether or not the movie is great, that is still a huge achievement. The fact that anyone can use the internet to get their content and message out and create a following as big as James (or even bigger in many cases) is amazing, 15 years ago that opportunity was almost non-existent. So all in all keep doing what you do James.

[@MrLegendary0ne]

nice novel bro

[@MichaelJosephPierce]

+MrLegendary0ne A novel is a work of fiction, this is no novel.

[@MichaelJosephPierce]

+TESTMACORONI Well he clearly stated it would be cheesy before hand.

[@gortexovercoat]

+Michael Pierce I loved the movie, it was exactly what i expected except funnier.

[@SteelVenom14]

my 2nd favorite film of 2014. anyone who doesn't like it & likes the regular episodes has inconsistent standards towards the awesome content Rolfe keeps providing for these ungrateful shitheads

[@brokenscart7989]

I didn't even notice a lot of these effects when watching

[@Ndcontreras]

Same

[@spindalis79]

+brokenSCART What is your avatar, a anthropomorphic Yellow-headed Blackbird?

[@brokenscart7989]

+spindalis79 lol I just saw it in a video and thought it was damn amusing. It's a pootis bird apparently, wow thing to do with team fortress 2 though I'm not entirely sure what it's all about

[@tatraplayzpe6398]

Show me the link

[@FilmTrekk]

thats the point

[@NitroRad]

DANG, the color grade on this is something else.

[@User-xc1ml]

It still is today.

[@dhightower910]

to all the haters of AVGN and the movie, this was never meant to be super clean of effects, who gives a Shit about how cheesy or awful the effects are. you don't need prestige effects to have fun our make a decent film. it's no academy award winner but it was James's fist film and he's not a multi billionaire, he did this movie for the fans and I say thank you James Rolfe. A normal guy who never intended on being an internet sensation, but did it through hard work and support from awesome friends. James you are beyond awesome and so is your team. so I say one more time THANK YOU

[@Luka1180]

Not 100 feature films though.

[@TechnologySpotlight]

Jose Antonio The What?

[@cashhhmere]

@@TechnologySpotlight the

[@NitroRad]

THAT BREAKDOWN AT 8:27, that was so cool!

[@NitroRad]

same

[@sonicfangamer101]

Hey Nitro Rad you must be a fan of The Angry Video Game Nerd

[@brokenscart7989]

I went into this movie with no expectations and really enjoyed it. Great fun- just think how much this is a dream come true for James.

[@Sunrie]

It's amazing how much goes into just color correction and warmth!

[@Untouchaable]

I'm liking that music 1:36

[@John-gq8sy]

+Intimidation Reminds me of the 80's

[@bobbyberetta4206]

Intimidation!

[@thegiantfinds]

Awesome song.

really don't know why this movie got so much hate, I just watched and it's really fun!

[@ADAMATION2007]

For me atleast, It just wasn't the movie I was hoping for. Old AVGN relied on real, funny observations. As time went on he added more action and special effects which was fine because it was AVGN. But then somewhere along the way I think James listened to too many seal-fin-clapping-fans who wanted more goofyness and more catchphrase spouting. James said this movie was gonna be Waynes World-esque, which...I guess you could say it...kind of was behind the veil of green screen and explosions...I was hoping for an AVGN movie grounded in the real world with MAYBE some fantastical elements.

[@ChristlicherKrieger3]

It's 2 hours long, and it really didn't need to be. I think the biggest flaw of the movie is Rolfe and Finn don't understand basic editing, in that sometimes you have to cut material, either because of a need to reduce the runtime, the fact that it's causing the film to drag on, or other reasons. I think they could honestly have cut out a third of the movie and it wouldn't have hurt the story (and the parts most in need of being cut were certainly not the best).

[@boy82killer]

I thought it was pretty good. Not incredible but I enjoyed it. I think what most people don't understand is that this movie was meant to look semi cheap. James Rolfe has always enjoyed and loved B-Movies. I remembered watching him talk about them a lot on the Cinemassacre website.

boy82killer i know right, sometimes, it`s just meant to look bad ahahah

[@MarioFlogar]

+Cilicia Nascimento this was not meant to look bad, this is just bad i've been a fan for 7 years but this movie was just a big disappointment

[@JazneoGaming]

AVGN movie is way better then the Smosh movie

[@vivimos_en_una_sociedad7758]

@DivideByZero No. Just no.

[@Vicefromkof]

@DivideByZero The smosh movie was more of an another sketch then an full on movie.

[@billiejoeeyelash]

Well I think all of us can agree that both combined are eons better than To Boldly--okay never mind we don't talk about that one

[@Lou-yf1jo]

no

[@DreamcastGuy]

Damn, you guys really green screened the fuck out of everything.

[@chrisandersson]

That's how movies are made, dude ;)

[@ChristlicherKrieger3]

Yeah, he used a lot of practical effects compared to modern movies, but it was still way too much CGI bullshit, and as much as I hate big-budget CGI, I really fucking hate low-budget CGI like this. The fact that some of you guys think the special effects were good in these parts just suggests a level of blind fanboyism I can't even comprehend, and I say this as someone who's watched AVGN for nearly a decade.

[@Luka1180]

+Duct Tape No, even movies without CGI often uses green screens. You just barely notice it. Often it's for locations that you don't have permission to, or have limited permission to, or if you want to film scenes that take place outside in the dark, in the middle of the night. For example out near an airport or something .You then add a background of the airport at night, in the distance, behind the actors. Sometimes they just do it to windows too, in a building.

[@jamesrussell2936]

Gotta do what you gotta do.

[@natpearce37]

DreamcastGuy A lot of it was just colour correction.

[@JeffersonMapping1776]

Say what you want, I think the movie was damn good for a B movie.

[@ItIsMeJamesE]

I feel some of the effects aren't needed in places.....

[@sebadcabre]

There were a few indeed, yes. Like the one at 0:33. Why even bother overcomplicating a simple shot like that?

[@Luka1180]

`@Jeffrey What was shot in two days only? What was the original comment Jamese made?

[@Millahtime]

The soundtrack for this movie was awesome, Bear did a great job. The movie itself is awesome too, for what it is. It was incredibly ambitious. Most of the "critics" don't have the slightest idea what goes into making a movie like this. I was thoroughly entertained, for an independent fan funded film.

[@RyanWalsh83]

I think I like watching this more than seeing the actual movie. Just seeing how everything is done and put together. So cool.

[@tiberiumfusion]

That soundtrack is kickass. It's weird how often faltering indie groups way in over their heads manage to snag highly talented music artists. Both in movies and video games.

[@frankt8083]

A lot of work went into the making of this, good job James!!

[@tonimaggi-brown1596]

The music, sets, and visual effects are all amazing

[@CalebByRamen]

ok now i actually want to watch this.

[@AxenFrite]

Looks like a SyFy Original.

[@HELCAT985]

lol

[@SayerRaider]

+AxenFrite And yet this looks a million times better than a Syfy original

[@deadguy718]

+Sayer Raider No, it's really not.

[@laughingoctopus3150]

+Sayer Raider very doubtful

[@user-ow8xf4vn9r]

You right

[@RedShockInc]

Holly shit! that´s amazing! i thought that a lot of those things was CGI models and the parts that i was thinking that they were CGI was actual prompts, amazing!!

[@tick2487]

Soy tu fan

[@UnnamedRedshirt]

It's so dense every single image has so much going on.

[@NinjaGeek]

I love watching stuff like this. Seeing how the actual product was created from the start and seeing it come to life is an amazing concept. Thanks for inspiring many, including myself, to continue to have a growing affection towards film making.

[@KMFDM_Kid2000]

Cheesy in the best, most loving way possible. Loved this film. But we're hungry for more actual Nerd episodes done in the same vein of Bugs Bunny and SMB3. Those were some of the best things anyone's ever put on the internet.

[@NAgeetee]

I appreciate that you only used cgi when necessary. I wish more movies used puppets and stuff.

[@Ten80pete]

Thanks for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at what amounts to a MAJOR accomplishment! Hope to see more films from your team in the future.

[@david_escalante]

I hope you are fucking kidding.

[@EnigmaGameMaster]

+David Escalante I hope YOU'RE fucking kidding.

[@david_escalante]

Enigma I wish I was, I really wanted to like that movie, but DAMN, it sucked.

[@EnigmaGameMaster]

David Escalante I liked it. It wasn't great, but in my opinion it was good.

[@willkillem737]

​@@david_escalante I hope your children turn out poorly

[@tardiscommand1812]

I kinda wish they had of went the Wayne's World way, where Wayne's basement was recreated in the studio. I just find the cave of the Nerd is his defining trait, and mostly watch avgn due to that. It's straight from every small movie store and game room in the 80s

[@zeldaxter]

My dream is to see you guys in person! :D you guys are awesome! i hope the best for you guys! :) Saludos James desde Puerto Rico :D

[@Ladondorf]

I'm also from Puerto Rico.

[@Kinaldio]

+zeldaxter He goes to a lot of cons in the New Jersey region, you could definitely meet him if you made a trip out of it

[@zeldaxter]

+Ladondorf C.A. - Stop Motion Films Ohh que brutal mano! haha :D

[@helifalic]

The remixes of the AVGN theme are always epic. Love this one (1:35). Thanks for a peek behind the curtain James!

[@lillyobryan2638]

This is amazing I've always been interested in stop motion, graphics, special effects etc they are the foundation for good movies and I love all the filming tricks used to make things look real or realistic. You're movie the fact you did it is a huge inspiration for me I hope someday I can achieve something like that! Video games are my main passion I want to become a graphic design artist and a video game story board writer and make video games as a career but I have always had a special spot in my heart for films and filming things as well. Congratulations for accomplishing your dream James you deserve all the kudos you can get for creating such a action-packed comedic film masterpiece and by making the impossible possible! Every time I watch how you pulled this all off it makes me want to go out and do something ground breaking as well! Thanks :)

[@BunnyFett]

This was really great, thank you so much for posting this. I loved your movie, and I love seeing behind the scene cuts. I had no idea so much of these were CG, you did a really great job.

[@BrutalBeefCake]

I was lucky enough to get to see this live at Pax with James there.

[@RetroPowerUp]

Those effects were awesome! You did such a great job with this movie!

[@blayral]

Those effects are professional quality regarding the budget. Never saw the movie but i think I'll buy it just for the sake of it! James deserves that. He deserves we all buy his movie.

[@kevinhibbard320]

The AVGN theme is so fucking good. That melody.

[@Caleb_Bravo99]

This movie is awesome. It's like a supercharged AVGN episode with an actual plot. And the amount of work put into this is impressive.

[@KurisuYamato]

Some damned fine editing work going on - so many things I would never notice or think about, which of course, is the entire point in those edits - if no one notices, then they were done correctly. Awesome job to everyone who worked on the VFX, especially on the front of keeping the practical effects looking, well, practical. :p

[@MillsoGaming]

The editing in this is actually pretty good!

[@davenewsome]

Dude I'm just happy for you, you weren't afraid to live your dream and you didnt care about the mainstream, and you have a family and kid, you're rich man, seem like a really great guy too, Merry Christmas buddy.

[@joshuajayne8926]

Saw this debut in Toronto. Excellent work James! Unforgettable film!

[@hoolopee]

ayy, one of my shots at 8:49

[@2G72RXHC]

"Lamp oil, ropes, bombs. You want it?"

[@MasterNix]

I love how much the music resembles of Megaman

[@trivialrage5292]

All that hard work for these....pretty damn fine effects.

[@BloodPuddleReviews]

This is great! Really shows how much work went into the film. I loved it. Now we need a AVGN vs. Nostalgia Critic movie xD

[@thesilassmithchannel8438]

How About A AVGN and Nostalgic Critic The Movie

[@SMGJohn]

I like how people expected the movie to be some kind of Hollywood action flick, when James is an avid B-movie fan when the movie is a parody of B-movies

[@MarioFlogar]

+SMGJohn no one expected it to be that, we expected aunthentic james and we got a failed 2 hour long "parody"

[@PictureProductStudio]

A lot of the effects are amazing and James's and Kevin's attention to details is astonishing, like changing the reflection in Warshaw's glasses just to have it right. I really like this movie and there were definitely a lot of effort put into it.

[@miguelonucr]

I felt like I was watching a Star Wars documentary from the 70's movie, but AVGN themed!!! Keep up the amazing work! Thanks a lot!!!

[@GrandFunker]

Not sure why, but I am strongly reminded of the Star Wars prequels.

[@roniereid260]

What if The Angry Videogame Nerd the Movie Could be on Netflix

[@jestube]

Smosh the Movie is (In the Netherlands i don't know about US)

[@kastistorm5529]

so many effects,must have put so many efforts in this great project

[@OmegaMaxter]

I don't know how you managed to do it, but you somehow knew i was on the fence about buying the combo pack of the AVGN game and the movie, and you went ahead and convinced me. kudos

[@Nitrotetrazole]

this is actually pretty awesome for an amateur movie

[@RetroGamePlayers]

Well I have a renewed appreciation for this film! Wow!!

[@liquid2air]

the music producer, bear mccreary did such a great job on this movie. all composition, shooting and editing aside; this guy did an amazing job at re-creating tracks that hold up in a modern setting but hearken back to the 8 and 16 bit soundtracks we are meant to reminisce with. they really tie in with the film and totally own in their own right

[@holderbee7811]

Ignoring the color correction, most scenes seem to suffer a slight drop in clarity from the original footage to final product. 0:39 Notice the street sign and leaves above it permanently lose definition. I suspect that modern movies suffer from this as well.. older movies or documentaries can seem more stunning than the latest blockbusters simply because the video has gone through less post-processing

[@andrewkocurek195]

Great stuff, makes me want to get off my ass and finish the many projects I've got going right now. Keep it up man!

[@tomoyafujiwara]

Great job, James!

[@JD-Media]

0:03 You couldn't put up two posters?

[@RobertAslinMusic]

According to his autobiography, the guy they hired to buy and put up the posters didn’t do it.

[@Tool0GT92]

The making of the movie is way more enjoyable than the actual movie. Should have had Mike as his sidekick, Cooper had no connection to the viewer other than being an on screen representation of an AVGN fan. The ending kept dragging on too.

[@princessthyemis]

Wow so much work was put into this; really impressive!

[@TheRealGaucelm]

Although I still support and respect James and his work, I didn't enjoy the movie. Still not regretting contributing to the film's development, though.

[@Harp00nX]

The Megaman style drum section (7:30) in the sound track is awesome in this video (well all of it is but that bit especially)

[@dregoth0]

Best effect? Updating the Rolling Rock clock to the correct time. That's some attention to detail and continuity preservation.

[@spamaccount6460]

It's amazing how much work goes into something like this. And us plebs have no idea.

[@MASF_]

I had no idea how much work was put into special effects. While they didn't look too spectacular, they definitely made an overall change on making the movie look not as bad.

[@meowmers7085]

waiting for the DVD release.

[@nathaliedrinkstea]

This is so cool! Good job!

[@StarReel]

Nothing wrong with CGI in a low budget movie, it's the huge billion dollar movies i don't get.

[@FolixOrision]

This was a fun watch and brought back memories of the movie. I'm very impressed by this video. Thumbs up from me. I'll be sharing it when I watch the movie again in the future.

[@antonmartinsson]

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing James!

[@nathanb5579]

cant wait to see what the team comes up with next

[@ДмитрийПашков-щ6ч]

Awesome guitar riffs, dudes!!!

[@Nygge1982]

This is a blueprint how to make a Star Wars movie!

[@retrodavide]

amazing job man! you are the one james!

[@SuPerDuPerKorean2]

Sometimes cheasy, most times are wayyyyyyy cool! I love all your works

[@kuroryuud]

James, don't forget - Live like a windrammer as you.. you know what!

[@zero2xsammy125]

lots of hard work for a good movie nice job man

[@dirtypigeon1017]

That's a lot of work. Good job!

[@sootthesunnty5952]

I’m getting the movie right now keep up the good work

[@Chanamasalex117]

Love the movie. I watch it all the time. Keep filmin, James!

[@EbeeDeeby]

Whoever came up with the original green screen was pretty smart

[@sammthakafi]

I have to tell you, the slot machine one was pretty good!

[@Jingleboy14]

This AVGN song is awesome

[@MichaelAversa]

This was amazing. Thanks for doing that.

[@DennisTrinka]

I've always wanted to see something like this for a movie. I was hoping for something like say... Star Wars,...but I'll take what I can get! Thanks for the behind the scenes/inside look of your movie James.

[@IAmJames_Art]

There was a lot more special effects than I ever realized watching the movie

[@aprilhart5605]

This is great. Music is killer and the movie was too. plus stuff like this makes things so much more fun

[@biboKralle]

WOW! Makes you appreciate the movie MUCH more! :O

[@ThomasClinton]

I like this movie, it's not the greatest but its not something to take too seriously remember that this is a movie with an around 300,000 buget about a nerd find a area 51 alien that had connection to a shitty game that the nerd was demanded to review, it a movie for a game review and its good for what it is

[@spencersdh1]

Those screened shots of everyone running in place are so funny. That's the kind of cheesy shit that makes AVGN great.

[@AtrocityPress]

You guys should do a 'Film Riot' style show explaining how to accomplish things for an extremely low budget. Push some knowledge into the community :)

[@roverrovert6406]

Holy shit these are really well done!

[@RaceToNowhere]

It surpassed my expectations. It's a low budget indipendent movie, never forget this.

[@rumshutt3r]

This makes me appreciate the movie a whole lot more.

[@primemac3dstudio18]

Good effects. I have seen the movie and yes it would be one to watch. I would like to say the effects did bring its own values to the over all body of the movie.

[@fununclenerfs]

This movie had more green screen than Episode II and III combined! :)

[@thegiantfinds]

I'm still glad you went the puppet route. A CG alien has been done.

[@handsomebrick]

A lot of those effects with the alien were pretty good.

[@chrisandersson]

Absolutely amazing!

[@thedataflo]

lol the console in the spaceship XD 10:56 soo awsome