There aren't a lot of special effects these days that really get you wondering "How did they do that?"-- after all, CGI makes it possible to fake just about anything, and stunt doubles typically handle the rest. But when it comes to effects that make it look like something truly awful is happening to a famous face, you can look 3 or 4 times without figuring out the secret, never expecting it to be some of the simplest editing tricks in the world. That's how the visual effects supervisor of Contraband, Aron Hjartarson, made it look very, very much like Giovanni Ribisi really was slamming Kate Beckinsale's head into a mirror-- even though the two were just horsing around on set with some Mylar.
In this exclusive clip from the upcoming Blu-Ray release of Contraband, you can see exactly how they made that stunt work.
If you couldn't guess from the clip, Ribisi plays the bad guy in Contraband, a mobster who demands that Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) make up for his brother's mistake by paying to replace a lot of stolen drugs. When Chris decides to take on a smuggling mission on a container ship bound for Panama, Ribisi's character Briggs begins targeting the family he left behind... including his wife Kate (Beckinsale).
For much more behind-the-scenes footage where that came from, including the full featurette "Reality Factor: The Stunts & Action Of Contraband", you can check out Contraband on Blu-Ray and DVD when it hits shelves April 24.
