Summary
The VFX supervisor forThe Aviatordetails how the film’s iconic plane crash was created.The Aviatoris a 2004 Martin Scorsese film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life Hollywood talent and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, chronicling his life from 1927 to 1947.The Aviatorwas the second collaboration betweenScorsese and DiCaprio, after the two first worked together onGangs of New Yorkin 2002.
Speaking withCorridor Crew, VFX supervisor Robert Legato speaks on how the plane crash was created inThe Aviator.
Legato explained that crazy camera moves were made impossible by the fact that he used miniatures, but he could “create the sense of rhythm and speed” through editing. Through this method, heprioritized evoking the feeling of losing control of a planein a moment like this, rather than an expensive effect. For the actual crash, Legato used a “cable cam” to basically drive a camera into the house." Check out the full quote from Legato below:
We had very little money to do it in, and I decided that I coudn’t compete with like a Michael Bay movie or these incredible CG shots.
Look at the little propellers [on the rig]. Bob Richardson, spectacular cameraman, and he was like ‘what the **** is that.’ And I said, ‘you have to look through the camera.’ Because that’s a hanging miniature, it’s all set up for this vantage point for the camera. The miniature that it really is looks like it s a big thing over here. So only through the viewfinder of the camera, and he was not looking through the camera. I was like ‘just, look through the camera.’ But you have to you know, mathematically measure, and those are quarter scale things.
Scorsese & DiCaprio’s Collaboration History
Robert De Niro Recommended DiCaprio
In addition to the visual effects behind this scene inThe Aviator, DiCaprio’s stirring performance is part of what makes the scene believable.The Aviatordid well for the careers of both DiCaprio and Scorsese, earning them Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Director, respectively. Part of what led to the greatness ofThe Aviatorwas likely the existing rapport that Scorsese and DiCaprio had developed from their collaboration inGangs of New York.
DiCaprio’s work with Scorsesewas initially influenced by another of the director’s main partners: Robert De Niro. In a 2023 interview ahead ofKillers of the Flower Moon,Scorsese revealed that De Niro informed the director about DiCaprio’s talentsafter the two actors worked together onThis Boy’s Lifein 1993. After seeing what DiCaprio could do, De Niro told Scorsese “he’s very good, you’ve got to do work with him someday.” After the production ofTitanicand the passage of almost a decade, DiCaprio finally worked with Scorsese in 2002.
Robert De Niro Vs. Leonardo DiCaprio: Which Actor Appears In More Martin Scorsese Movies?
Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio are Martin Scorsese’s go-to leading men, but one of these actors has starred in more of the director’s movies.
AfterGangs of New YorkandThe Aviator, Scorsese and DiCaprio have gone on to be collaborators on four other feature films. These films have includedThe Departed,Shutter Island,The Wolf of Wall Street,andKillers of the Flower Moon. DiCaprio also acted in Scorsese’s 2015 short filmThe Audition.As compared withThe Aviator, the budget ofKillers of the Flower Moonwas comparatively larger, with a $200 million budget as opposed to $110 million. Even with higher budgets and VFX capacities now, it is fascinating to look back on the unique visual work onThe Aviator.
The Aviator
Cast
The Aviator is a 2004 biopic about Howard Hughes, a famous film producer, and pilot that was once considered one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the world. Directed by Martin Scorsese and written by John Logan, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Hughes alongside Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, and Alec Baldwin.
