The Scene: Steve Freeling is surprised by a massive face that pops through the doorway.

How It Was Done: A clever trick called “force perspective” was used. A “force perspective” shot uses an in-camera trick to alter one’s perception of the distance and/or size of an object, person, or set piece. In this case, a 15 inch-high doorframe was placed in the foreground and was lined up with an actual set, with Craig T. Nelson standing nearly 10 feet away from the miniature. A soft focus, along with a custom lens designed by Richard Edlund,  was then used to make the miniature, full-sized set pieces, and the actor appear as if they were interacting.

Modelmaker Paul Huston spoke of his experiences with building and shooting the head model:

“….I started sculpting this large skull with a bunch of rotting flesh on it to match the rest of the graveyard material. I also made a rig on a track that I could wheel forward and back, keeping it in a really predictable position. It could go in and out from behind the door from the same position every time, so we wouldn’t have a focus problem on different takes.

So I ended up doing it all by hand., using the track as a guide while holding the head and the jaw. It gave me a lot more flexibility, The head had one simple neck joint, to seemingly drop down and lunge at Craig. I left part of it open in the back, exposing the plywood armature, and put an I-bolt there just to grab hold of it like a handle. C02 smoke came out of the eyes. Small light bulbs were also in the eyes and lit  up as the gas pumped through. “

This was actually the second attempt for this shoot. The original concept was designed by Craig Reardon, who spoke of his design with Cinefex: 

“Steven’s concept for the head was something like Mr. Sardonicus- a name that was even mentioned a few times- what with a face sporting an enormous, humorless, macabre grin. Steven wanted it to look pale, slightly blue and bloodless, like a face underwater. Dead, but not decayed. 

The smile would pull way back and the upper lip would pull away from the gums.  The mouth, which opened very wide in a kind of Lon Chaney ‘Phantom of the Opera’ leer, was made with translucent  backing so that a brilliant light could be directed out through it.”

The original shot differed from the final film version. Instead of the profile shot of the face, it was designed to be a head on shot with Steve Freeling in the foreground. It was an “in-camera” composit shot utilizing a beam splitter to combine two separate images. The camera was in front of a breakaway door and the head, on a track with specific curtains to make the head “appear” and “disappear,”  was positioned to the side, at a 45 degree angle. “

Steven Spielberg had a change of heart for the scene.  Richard Edlund spoke of this decision:

“Craig had done a wonderful job on the head; but suddenly, it became apparent that it looked too human. Steven wanted it to be scary. But in that original shot, you were looking straight into the doorway and no matter what you did, you were going to telegraph the punchline- because you saw it coming.  As a result, the shot softened whatever scariness a close up would have offered. “

The beam splitter shot was traded in for the force perspective shot because it was quick and effective. 

The Scene: “The Beast” appears to Diane in the hallway.

How It Was Done: A 7×5 tank was built with 2 1/2 inch thick glass, which was then filled with water. The puppet, designed by John Bruno and Nilo Rodis, was then placed in the tank. To give the creature its thin look, an anamorphic lens was used to squeeze the image. It was then composited into the shot, while JoBeth Williams’ interaction required rotoscoping.

This, of course, was the second attempt. The original concept was to build the beast with a rig within its body and pump Cyalume glow juices throughout its “circulatory system.”

Craig Reardon on the initial attempt:

“It was wrongheaded only because it could operate in one or two axes of movement. Once the body parts were married to this complicated rig, the whole thing got to be like a washing machine with wings. They do anything but jettison the entire body! All that retained of my sculpture was the head.”

Even though a similar concept  from Reardon was initially rejected, Rodis and Lorne Peterson later came up with the marionette that was used in the film. Weighing in at about 5 lbs. , the marionette’s skin was made of rubber and used plastic tubes for “bones.” It was operated by three men on a scaffolding.

Scenes: Storm clouds approach Cuesta Verde and a tornado attacks the Freeling residence.

How They Were Done: A “cloud tank” was used for some of the effects shots. A 7×5 tank was built with 2 1/2in thick glass, which is half-filled with salt water with a peice of plastic rolled onto the surface, which is then covered with  fresh water, filling the entire tank. The plastic is then removed, creating a soft, flat layer. Paint is then squirted into the tank and softly flows into the water. A device sometimes called “the atomic arm” is used to manipulate the paint into cloud shapes. The effect was used for several other films, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Child’s Play, in the pre-CGI era.

For the shot of  Robbie watching the clouds approach the suburbs, a composite shot of cloud tank footage and a matte painting of Cuesta Verde was used.  The clouds were designed by Gary Platek and Garry Walker. Platek had previously generated cloud effects for Raiders of the Lost Ark, from which two of these shots were lifted for sky plates in the tornado sequence. Platek and Walker created the shots in two weeks, using blue and orange colored shots. Some touch ups, such as the base of the cloud and the shadows on the hillside, had to be made to shot via matte painting to make the shots blend better.

For the establishing view of the tornado, the tank was once again used, but this time with a sock , with air bubble, via a high speed impeller and bubble generator used to give the vortex its form. Gary Platek talked about the effect in Cinefex Magazine (#10):

“What we finally decided upon was a rotor impeller that we placed in the  bottom of the tank, with a drive shaft linkage that connected to a one-horsepower motor. Interestingly, there’s a pulley you can stick into a breaker that stirs itself and is known to make a vortex. So we copied that and made our own vortex, which at full force measured about two feet high.”

But that wasn’t enough. The effect was too smooth and was clearly made up of water, so a bubble wand (a device that uses compressed air to create hundreds of tiny bubbles) was attached to “the atomic arm” to make the funnel more convincing. Each shot had to be done quickly, as the process had a would eventually  fogging up the whole tank as a result.

For the shot in which we get a glimpse of the tornado’s innards as the tree is sucked into the funnel, a spinning cotton cone was formed and mirrors were used to photograph the proper angle. The miniature tree, shot against blue screen using motion control technology, was then composited into the shot.

Scenes: Carol Anne Gets Abducted, Diane on the Walls

How It Was Done: These scenes were shot on a gimbal set. A gimbal set is, for lack of a better definition, a large, rotating set. Variations of gimbal sets have been used for decades to create similar effects. Everything that isn’t supposed to move on frame, including the camera and its operator, is locked in place. The actors then move while the room is turned. The final effect is a shot where it appears our heroes are defying the laws of gravity.

Mechanical Effects Supervisor Michael Wood described the rotating set for an article in Cinefex Magazine (#10):

“The sets were built on special platforms so the gimbal could just clamp on, top and bottom, and pivot the whole room. Then by mounting the camera stationary, there was nothing to relate to the fact  that it was actually turning. The gimbal was built in three sections and rigged with hydraulic motors so it could do a full 360 degrees. Each motor had 75,000 lbs. of torque. The sets themselves sat on a platform that 30×30 feet- with the corners cut off to facilitate the turning points of the gimbal.”

For scene where Carol Anne is abducted, the contents of her bedroom had to be rigged with trip wires, so that they could slide on cue. Alternatively, in the scene where Diane is dragged on to her bedroom walls, everything had to be glued down, including the drapes.

Gimbals were also used in films such as A Nightmare on Elm St. and one of it’s sequels, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, as well as The Fly for scenes where Jeff Goldblum had to appear like he was crawling on the walls.  More recently, the technique was used in Inception.