How Does Hollywood Achieve Those Special Effects?

Published on August 7, 2019 By Chloe Draws

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Thanks to the development of CGI, actors no longer have to spend hours in the make-up chair to look the part. Just take a look at Bill Nighy, for example. To play Davy Jones, a ghost captain, all he needed to do was put some dots on his face.

Hollywood
@BehindScenesPic/Twitter

These dots were then used as reference points for the animators who would craft the CGI around his expressions. This means that while his face is unrecognizable, it still carries the same expressions and nuances that the actor intended.