DIE HARD miniature effects

DIE HARD miniature effects. Patrick McClung, Tom Griep, Bruce MacRae, and Mark Stetson talk about the miniatures made by Boss Film for the 1988 film. Upgraded segment from Sense of Scale. Photos: Virgil Mirano, Bruce MacRae, Patrick McClung, Richard Edlund, Boss Film, Apogee, Hartland, Greg Jein

[@robbenton9470]

What's amazing about a lot of these insights, is the fact that I'd never even considered many of them to be using miniatures. In this case I just thought it would have been a large pyro display on a real building? Like I'd somehow accepted that they just crashed an old, real helicopter into a real building somewhere, as you do??? Insane, but proof that the guys did their job outstandingly, and yes absolutely the best Die Hard.

[@JacketsOnFire]

I felt the same way with titanic. Many special effects I didn’t realize were used with miniatures. Cgi is meant to enhance an effect not be the effect

[@RD19902010]

many of them look rather bad and artificial, which why I always assumed they were painted or overlayed.

[@worldofgreenhell]

I saw Die hard for the first time righ before the 3rd part came out and I was convinced that this scene was 100% real. Miniatures used correctly will always beat CGI IMO. My respect goes to these pros.

[@MindbodyMedic]

water effects are always easy to spot with miniatures, not sure if that could be remedied with modern effects. I think they can create special chemistry to scale down explosions etc so its not obviously a small scale.

[@Googaliemoogalie]

Bad CG yea, but Good CG you'll never notice

[@ckobo84]

There's no such thing as good CGI, it's always bad. No one wants to watch a freakin video game.

[@kennethhemmerechts6837]

@@Googaliemoogalie Always noticeable.

[@worldofgreenhell]

@@MindbodyMedic the scene in True Lies when they blow up a bridge is amazing, they used scale wisely, especially when the debris hit the water, it looked freaking real.

[@ianrotten4453]

I really wish more folks appreciated practical effects. To this day I still believe that in camera is a trillion times better than any CG crap.

[@bighands69]

When practical effects like miniatures and CGI are mixed together they can produce amazing effects. That was what they did for Dune.

[@jl.7739]

@@bighands69 agree. There is nothing wrong with cgi but it has to be used the right way. Miniatures and even more: animatronics can get better results sometimes.

[@ylette]

Die Hard has some of the most amazing and realistic looking effects ever made. Especially the roof + helicopter blowing up.

[@thegodofhellfire]

Best special effects in a Christmas movie ever.

[@Bringos76]

and the best Santa Claus impression by Hans Gruber ...

[@skylabnewyork]

so, the effects were soo good in this movie, I didn't even know there were miniatures lol

[@soyreeng8864]

i love how all these grown up guys still have model toys and cool stuff in the background

[@valueofnothing2487]

This looked amazing. You won't ever see this again.

[@HHSTT]

I just saw the movie for xxxth times. 🎦🎥😁

[@GH_EmotionalGuy]

Same.

[@worldofgreenhell]

Thanks for the idea. I'm gonna watch it for the 73456th time😁

[@robd1329]

Waitttt....Die Hard wasnt a real building???? That blows my mind. I Always believed it was a real building they destroyed

[@dh2032]

well they do, on read buildings some times , the was a memi- local pub(bar), I think it TV stuff not film, and what they making look like a bomb had gone off in side the building, they had all stuff inside the windows frames, doors etc, that they exploded out, I think the place back in bissness in a day or two, as if nothing had happened, well the place got closed down about 3 months later, and about 3 more month it turn into car parking lot? seemed a bit pointless really going to all that trouble to not damage the building and nock it now for real?

[@themadplotter]

Can I just say thanks for putting these up, just so cool and interesting.

[@piercefilm]

Thanks for watching!

[@alantheskinhead]

These people put CGI to shame. In those days they worked for their dosh. These are some of the best effects in visual cinema history. Also remember that this was seen on the big screen so it's more amazing as you would never of known this was all perspex and paper. Even now that film is still the best ever made. These people are so underrated and need more credit.

[@lancegoodthrust546]

F'n genius. I would seriously never have known unless they told me. Greatest compliment. To get the explosions to look way bigger than it is? Skill. And WAY better than CGI.

[@southlondon86]

Seen Die Hard hundreds of times. Never once thought that shot was done in miniatures. Which just goes to show how creativity & practical effects can be with the right people. CGI overwhelmingly looks like a video game.

[@Treblaine]

You know you did a good job with the special effects when most people who watch your movie don't even know there were a lot of special effects. Watching the movie you just get the impression they partially demolished a real building.

[@matthewpaul6904]

My heart sank when I saw the Nakatomi model in pieces. Any one of us would've happily took that home.

[@ryangettig274]

Take it home,erect it by the Christmas Tree&throw a killer Vintage Model Train set running around both!

[@DanceySteveYNWA]

I wish it wasn't blown up just to see you try to take it home. 😂

[@houstonhelicoptertours1006]

Sad truth is that _most_ physically models age terribly...unless you put them into an air-tight, UV-proof container at just the right temperatures. They warp, sag, bend, fade and fall apart otherwise. Masks and costumes age even worse. It's heartbreaking.

[@betweentheripples8847]

Kind of a double-edged sword of the craft, isn't it? A perfect result leaves leaves no fingerprints, which in turn leaves audiences oblivious to the ingenuity and skill of those who've delivered it. While a handful of FX teams do get the royal BTS featurette (Star Wars, Terminator, et al), it's awesome to find a channel giving love to countless others in the industry. It's fascinating stuff, and I'm hooked. 👍

[@piercefilm]

Thanks for watching! The late, Gene Warren Jr mentions exactly what you said in my upcoming segment on Mothman Prophecies. Invisible effects.

[@houstonhelicoptertours1006]

This is why I never liked projects with overly "realistic" and "worldly" requirements while working in VFX. No one's gonna know you and your studio did a great job = no one's gonna hire you for that next big project. I will always love sci-fi, fantasy and larger-than-life stuff in general.

[@Kurtiscott]

Die Hard always makes me think of the awesome bigature effects that were done by L.B. Abbott for The Towering Inferno (12 years before DH). Imo still quite effective and impressive even by todays standards. Fantastic post!

[@sclogse1]

I'm in the crowd when the mayor pulls up. I was out on a date, and this car was stopped in the street in front of us. I was honkinh at it, etc. We find out later, when we saw the extras on the Bank plaza, that car was the mayor car waiting....I really need to get a Blu-Ray to find me and my date. I raised my fists for the cheering scene.

[@kirnpu]

Towering Inferno was awesome for that time. Great movie!

[@benbishop1131]

I had no idea about the tiny tissue paper made to look like office paper. I still wonder how they shot McClane jumping off the roof during that rooftop explosion. I still get chills when he says "oh god please don't let me die"

[@dan_hitchman007]

They composited the real building with a stuntman hanging from the top and the miniature exploding top section, so it looked like one seamless take.

[@bringyourtoystolife]

LOVED seeing the miniature Airwolf helicopters at 3:45 :))

[@j_holtslander]

As a mega fan of Die Hard since it came out I really enjoyed this one. Lot of stills I’ve never seen before. And I never knew that the surface of the model was made up of photographs!

[@j_holtslander]

Part of me is kind of sad that there wasn’t a way to get some of the model to break away during the explosion. Windows shattering etc.

[@Durwood71]

I would have loved living across the street from that shop! Can you imagine seeing these awesome models and pyro effects on a regular basis?

[@Bonoscot]

Love the Practical Effects and no CGI shit....Till this Day THE THING is still one of the best movies for effects with Animatronics/Effects and Puppets.

[@Daveyboy100880]

There are a couple of shots in Die Hard that still amaze me. One is the shot mentioned by Pat McClung near the end there, where the camera tilts down from the miniature pryo to the real building, and the tracking is indeed seamless! The other is when McClane is about to jump off the building and we see the helicopter appear behind him. The camera racks focus from McClane to the copter, and it took me a long long time to realise that it’s actually an optical composite! I’m not sure if it’s the miniature copter or the live action one, but it was certainly filmed at a different time to the foreground, and it’s about as good an optical as you can ever hope to see - especially with the change in camera focus! Even though I’m a huge fan of ILM, I agree that it’s a shame that BOSS didn’t get Die Hard 2. I think that ILM’s house style was perhaps just a little too flashy for the material… though the pyro was awesome! I’d also be interested to hear more about BOSS losing The Abyss to ILM, because I wasn’t aware of that one. I know that ILM was only involved with the pseudopod scene, so was this what BOSS was originally hired to do? The model work was done by Dreamquest, Fantasy II and 4Ward, so I’d have thought that was the area that BOSS would’ve been more involved in.

[@Marvdogger2]

Same with Ghostbusters, Boss did the first one and ILM the sequel and the ghosts just dont have the same feel. Especially Slimmer not sure why the re-designed him.

[@Daveyboy100880]

@@Marvdogger2 Agreed. With Slimer in particular, I have a feeling that the redesign might’ve come from a mandate to move him a little closer to the cartoon version. He was certainly supposed to have a bigger role so they made him have more detailed articulation, but I think it made him less expressive. Most of his shots were cut anyway! I guess a big problem with BOSS being ditched at the last minute to be replaced by ILM meant that the FX had to be done in too much a hurry (same with Die Hard 2 and Hunt For The Red October), so that could also have impacted the quality somewhat. I remember reading a comment by Dennis Muren, saying how Ivan Reitman told him that he didn’t want to see them getting any Oscars for their work! He just wanted it to get done in time. Regardless, BOSS got shafted too many times.

[@TrippingHawk]

@@Marvdogger2 Slimer was redesigned primarily to tie in with the unexpected success of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon. They made him more cartoonish and kid friendly, probably to sell more RGB merchandise.

[@stephenkissane4268]

The building looks so real and the model is massive

[@castlecircle7612]

I had no idea until 9/2/22 the extent on miniature work done on this film. Amazing.

[@matycee]

Benzoyl Peroxide - "you look at it cross-eyed and it catches on fire, so...." classic

[@papagen00]

DIE HARD (1988) is my favorite Christmas movie!

[@coreym162]

These VFX hold up to this day. I was fooled into thinking the VFX were done on location. The photos of the window panes was genius.

[@Indylimburg]

I never would have known that was a miniature. Pretty cool.

[@dominickeefe2454]

Amazing effects.Real ingenuity.

[@MisatoBestWoman]

Such an amazing KZbin recommendation

[@RonaldReaganRocks1]

I believe every second of that movie. Awesome.

[@Hykje]

It's actually harder to fly a radio-controlled helicopter than a real one because when you sit in the pilot seat of a real helicopter you physically "feel" how it behaves something you can't do standing outside and watching it.

[@williamshaw9047]

For the radio-controlled car bomb in "The Dead Pool" and the runaway baby carriage in "Ghostbusters II", they hired a guy who was the national or world champion RC car driver.

[@benbishop1131]

I totally get that. Like trying to ride a bike without feeling your own balance.

[@spinsandneedles]

@@williamshaw9047 I well remember the R/C car bomb scene on the streets of San Francisco in The Dead Pool. I'm glad the idea didn't take off with real killers. There probably will be some movie though with drones like the way they are being used in Ukraine. Also there was a funny R/C scene in Poltergeist.

[@bryanlatimer-davies1222]

And you do not need to translate left for right and up for down

[@themadplotter]

Absolute nonsense, I’ve been flying rc helis for years, no way I could fly with dials and gauges and pedals instead of my fingers and thumbs. I’d agree it makes it hard to emulate because the pitching can be way more extreme and violent in an RC because nobody is gonna fall out.

[@simonhaslam]

Thaine Morris’s name rang a bell with me. Used to work at ILM doing pyrotechnics. I think he did the shot of the Super Star destroyer crashing into the Death Star in Return of the Jedi.

[@joshbaker1581]

If that's so, he is then my favorite person

[@CycolacFan]

These videos are great, the way they come up with techniques and solve problems I find this stuff utterly fascinating. I presume the original footage is copyrighted since the only way this could be any better is watching the scene as they’re discussing it.

[@piercefilm]

Other people have uploaded the scenes here on KZbin. I try to avoid copyright issues...

[@kentallard8852]

copyright law allows for 'fair use' for commentary and criticism, so you could compare clips from the finished film with these behind the scenes photos and videos, but it would probably be a headache to clear with youtube

[@spinsandneedles]

@@kentallard8852 There are seemingly hundreds of "reaction videos" of entire movies here on youtube now. They usually skip through the movie from scene to scene but do show clips. I've heard people say they can't show scenes with the score.

[@dennissmith5807]

Dang I thought that was real when I first saw it.

[@tac6044]

Honestly these old models effects were so much better than modern cgi. The brain can discern the difference and tell that an effect is computer created.

[@Marvdogger2]

Nice, the minutures on Die Hard are pretty seamless with the first unit photography. Unless you know the behind the scenes I dont think the average movie viewer would know.

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

It took till 5 minutes ago to learn

[@genericreference6969]

Speaking as an average movie viewer, I certainly didn’t know :)

[@TheTuubster]

Applying photos onto a structure to emulate real surfaces is the analogue form of texturing in CGI. :)

[@piercefilm]

But it looks more real! Because it is. It's so frustrating to see people spend so much time trying to recreate reality when it can be such a simple solution and look perfect. Real is real.

[@TheTuubster]

@@piercefilm Well, it's all about "controlled environment", I guess. Why Hitchcock for example shot many outside scenes in a studio. But CGI is getting closer to reality now, even in realtime, as Unreal Engine 5 for example is demostrating (which the Star Wars series use for creating realtime CGI environments while filming). Just look at the game "Stray", which uses Unreal Engine 4 to create realistic environments with home computer graphics cards. In a couple of years you see analogue and digital melting, as you will be able to create "happy accidents" with realtime CGI you were used to have in the analogue world.

[@ryangettig274]

🎄Great Preamble Companion piece if one were to screen Die Hard Christmas Eve:)I've heard many do...🎄

[@geigertec5921]

I never questioned how they did the scenes with the exploding helicopter and burning building, looking back it's so obvious they had to be miniatures but watching the movie it doesn't even cross one's mind, just figured they crashed a real helicopter and blew up a real building.

[@captlazer5509]

I like the effects in the first Die Hard. Doesn't take you out of the movie for a minute. It's seamless. Die Hard 2 just didn't look realistic in many of the effect shots.

[@TotalMeltdown2]

Die Hard 2 is a great sequel. Probably the most underrated Die Hard film. Colonel Stuart is no Hans Gruber but he's a good villain and a sadistic one considering he intentionally crashes a plane full of people

[@houstonhelicoptertours1006]

@John Doe It was one of the first that was digitally composited. There was really no "good" way to do this shot. It would've look far worse with the compositing done optically.

[@saulescobedo]

This is a great clip of Sense of Scale!

[@mart446]

3:12 words of gold

[@johntnguyen1976]

Yes...love this so much!

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

Wow! It wasn't an actual building!? Incredible!

[@piercefilm]

Well, it is an actual building in Los Angeles, but the explosions were miniature.

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

@@piercefilm incredible! I just found out ten minutes ago! A testament to the skills!

[@BombDaBass2000]

Back then, I didn't realize that they made a model.. - these old school special effects were way better than today's CGI - miss the good old days

[@heene]

This is a surprise. I had no idea the building and helecopters were models.

[@GarretGrayCamera]

This is a great series! It's movie history and it's fascinating to hear these first hand stories. It must've been great to use these photographic processes back in the day as opposed to CGI today.

[@mickesmanymovies]

I remember seeing a behind-the-scenes thing about that roof explosion, and partly being amazed that it was a (HUGE) model, but what I remember mostly about that is the sound of all the cameras running at some insane speed, to make the model explosion look really big and "heavy" when run at normal speed in the movie. It was a long time ago now, but as far as a can remember it was a really high pitched sound coming from those cameras.

[@HighwayLand]

I have seen Die hard dozens of times and yet not one time did I ever think about miniatures. I guess I always believed that a fake helicopter really did fall off the building.

[@starlightsign8666]

I never for once believed it wasn’t real! Wow…

[@johnn.4407]

I love this stuff. LOVE IT!

[@billcame6991]

Very fascinating and you guys did a spectacular job on that movie. BTW, the background models that were on display during the interviews were very distracting...but in a good way, of course.

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

Models are so interesting

[@jedrek11]

Absolutely awesome 😎

[@sclogse1]

Thank you for this. Brilliant guys.

[@FFrrEEddRRiiKK1]

Very cool.

[@royksk]

I’ll have to watch Die Hard again after seeing this. The work they did was quite amazing. Nowadays it’s probably all CGI by very clever folk just sat on their arses in front of monitors.

[@wickywoo1635]

You Fx guys are geniuses....

[@studinthemaking]

At 0:19. What movie is that spaceship from?

[@piercefilm]

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV show

[@studinthemaking]

@@piercefilm I knew it looked familiar. But I just could not place it.

[@kentallard8852]

looks like Airwolf at 3:46 for the helicopter guy

[@homecinemademo]

Wow. This is so amazing.

[@onceuponatimeonearth]

Going from analog to digital has always been 3 steps forward 2 steps back. From CGI to music to drawings to LCD replacing CRT, something visceral and pure is lost that can't be replaced by the cleanliness of digital. I wouldn't be surprised if 100-200 years from now nearly all in person music is made on fully digital instruments instead of using actual real life acoustics.

[@actioncom2748]

Didn't The helicopter hull make it over to Phil Cook and the Eagle Films crew for Invader?

[@DoctorNemmo]

So you tellin' me that elevator shaft was basically built as Ned Flander's house ?

[@flashtu]

Miniatures over CGI every time!

[@raccoon874]

*Kudos to the SFX team, it was seamless I must say.. Ten billion percent better than CGI fuckery.*

[@cesarriquelme9487]

okay piercefilm _Die hard _ miniature efects is biurifore vvorks congratulations guys tanks you very much piercefilm okay bye bye 👍👍👍👍👍👍♥️♥️♥️♥️👌👌👌👌👌👌😘😷😂🆗🙏🙏

[@Renegade2786]

Who would have thought. If it wasn't for Supermarionation, we wouldn't have Die Hard, Star Wars and all the other films that used miniature scaled sets.

[@piercefilm]

Miniatures were being used in cinema since the early 1900's. The Lydecker Brothers, John Fulton and many others were doing amazing models for movies in the 30's and 40's. Supermarianation came way later.

[@williamgiesen4910]

Wondering, was there a shot of a real explosion on the building roof. Because there was that one shot of the explosion happening that was shot from seemingly a mile or two away. I always assumed that was real

[@dutchvanhelsing6671]

Big Al - Chicky Bwoy

[@aaronwalderslade]

Alan Rickman was told they would let him go on the count of 3, but let him go on 2, to get his surprised look.

[@e.l.norton]

He's not wrong about ILM. The models were not as convincing on the sequel. They looked like minitaures.

[@chikato7106]

Imagine how different the Twilight Zone Movie would be if they used mianture effects instead of killing 3 people.

[@mattgiguere5638]

Very cool shit 😨❤💋👍🤔

[@meketone]

There are no sequels to Die Hard.

[@Atom.Storm.]

Every one of those complaining residents now tells the story of how they lived across from filming die hard and remember standing outside watching that scene.

[@piercefilm]

Yes, it's like when Terry Gilliam said his crew on Jabberwocky had just worked on Star Wars, and were dissing on the young American director making a B sci fi movie. Then after Star Wars opened huge they only talked about they worked on Star Wars and forgot about Gilliam's movie.

[@shiva6104]

You guy's doing super awesome N amazing thing..but can you upload a making video on it like BTS? Bcoz mostly we see photos and all .but great content 👌👍

[@piercefilm]

No. It's called copyright, and I don't work for the studios. My channel is about the model makers and their work. I prefer showing their photos. If someone worked on a film and has video footage I will gladly include it. But most of these films are older and there isn't a lot of BTS footage from movies back then.

[@ark9515]

@3:45 Airwolf radio controlled miniature

[@CalvinKlown]

Casual Maltese Falcon in background to flex on Adam Savage.

[@piercefilm]

Adam Savage worked at ILM. He didn't work on Die Hard.

[@CalvinKlown]

@@piercefilm Sorry if I was unclear, I mean he hasn't got one, and has been trying to make one for years.

[@mr.adventure0142]

The Die Hard effects was'nt new! In the early 70s it was THE TOWERING INFERNO with the huge glasstower, and the miniatur-effects team constructed for this movie with dosen't of explosions and spectacle effects.

[@TH33QUALIZ3R]

CGI sadly destroyed a lot of careers. It also, took away a lot of the 'magic' of FX movies imo. I say that now as a kid that was inspired to go on and work in CGI after seeing T2.

[@aaronwalderslade]

Go watch T2 again. I watched it last week and was horrified at how awful the CGI looks now...

[@TH33QUALIZ3R]

@@aaronwalderslade It's 31 years old.

[@gelogonzales3504]

it's a nakatomi plaza for ants

[@joshup1275]

Oh shit I always wonder how they destroyed a building shit it was a fake building that's cool

[@cavy95]

What!? This is why I don’t talk to Disney employees, it ruins the magic.

[@tinderbox218]

Who moves to Hollywood USA and then complains that movies are being made across the street? 🙄

[@piercefilm]

In this case it wasn't filmed in Hollywood directly, but in a rather upscale affluent part of Marina del Rey. Those folks get angry at anything that disturbs their peace and quiet.

[@gorgen23]

I wish I didn’t watch this

[@cesarriquelme9487]

okay piercefilm _Die hard _ miniature efects is biurifore vvorks congratulations guys tanks you very much piercefilm okay bye bye 👍👍👍👍👍👍♥️♥️♥️♥️👌👌👌👌👌👌😘😷😂🆗🙏🙏

[@cesarriquelme9487]

okay piercefilm guys tanks you very much okay bye bye 👍♥️👌😂😁😘😘😷🆗🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏😘♥️👍👌