By Kristene S. Marie || The Star
In the world of cinema, we have seen superheroes of all shapes and sizes perform incredible feats. To bring them to life on the screen, computer-generated special effects are often used.
Let’s take a moment to revisit the early days of superhero films, specifically Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, which was released in 2002. That’s 23 years ago!
Remember the scene in the school cafeteria where Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire), who just got his Spider-Man powers, leapt into action when Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) slips, causing her tray of cafeteria food to go flying? Parker swoops in, catches her and skillfully manages to catch every single piece of food on the tray.
Was that stunt enhanced with visual effects in post-production?
Verdict:
FALSE
Believe it or not, the iconic cafeteria tray scene was achieved without any computer-generated effects. The production team accomplished this through good old-fashioned patience and persistence.
Tobey Maguire practised the scene repeatedly until he got the catch right—all in one shot.
Remarkably, it required 156 attempts to create this “amazing” scene, making every dropped lunch item worth it.
The team used a special adhesive on the tray to help the food stick and to attach Maguire’s hand to the tray. All Tobey had to do was catch everything, which was still easier said than done.
Despite being an impressive stunt, the scene was almost cut from the film during the editing process after the studio decided to remove it. They only changed their minds after director Sam Raimi insisted on keeping it, despite the fact that shooting it took a gruelling 16-hour day.
In the end, Peter catching Mary Jane’s lunch became one of the most memorable scenes from Spider-Man. With enough practice, maybe we could all recreate it someday!
Source: quickcheck-did-the-iconic-cafeteria-tray-scene-in-spider-man-2002-feature-visual-effects
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