Fast 7....These Scenes..?? but How..??

Furious 7, the latest of the Fast & Furious franchise is on the record breaking spree at the Box Office. Furious 7 has also made us all cry, around the world. It was that one time the world was united, and the magic was brought to us by Paul Walker.
The breathtaking stunts, the emotions, the love – how it was all done? Let’s go behind the wheel, and discover it all.

1. Creating a digital Paul Walker

  

Paul Walker died before the filming ended. The makers used Paul’s brothers Cody and Caleb Walker as body doubles for him. Also, they created a digital Paul Walker to finish the movie, which was re-scripted keeping in mind the loss.
The scene where this creation is the most apparent is the last shot of the movie where Toretto and Brian are racing together on the empty road before parting way.
Paul was just not there in that scene at all.

2. Cars dropping out of the plane scene

 

You might ask, if they actually jumped the cars off the flying plane? The answer is YES! They did drop cars out of the plane. Just that there wasn’t anybody in those cars! The scene was recorded by skydivers and helicopters, while the cars were being dropped off the plane.
To simulate the last part where the cars landed on the windy road with the drivers speeding away, they had the drivers seat in the cars and dropped them only 6-8 feet off the ground.

3. Flying the $3.4 million Lykan Hypersport

 

The second thrilling sequence is of that very expensive car jumping through the Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi. Well, they actually made the car jump, but not the Etihad Towers. A 40-foot glass building was created in a sound studio, and the car was jumped through it. The Lykan Hypersport costs a whopping $3.4 million, and there are only 7 built worldwide. It has custom rubies and diamonds in its headlights, and a gold plated roof.

 

Now the question is: did they actually use the real car? Not at all! The same company that build the original car, created a replica for the film. So, no difference spotted!

4. Paul Walker’s bus scene

 

When Brian jumped off the bus, and held onto Letty’s car, the audience had gone gaga with whistles and cheers. Most thought it was all special effects. Well, not really. They actually shot that too entirely. Of course with safety harnesses, and all other safety measures.

 

The bus was held down to the ground, so that Brian could walk on it safely. Letty’s car was rigged with a safety harness to prevent it from going over the cliff as it spurned around. Brian did jump and held onto Letty’s car, and the bus did make its way down the 160-foot cliff.
Stunt double was used for Paul Walker to film this scene.

5. Shaw & Toretto heads on crash

 

The part where Shaw & Toretto crashed into each other! Looks like that too happened for real. They actually crashed the Maserati Ghibli which had Shaw in it. Of course the replica. And nobody was in the car when it crashed!
Director James Wan said that they actually created several backup replicas of those cars. Just in case the scene didn’t turn out the way they wanted.

6. And now, last but not the least: HOW MANY CARS WERE CRASHED?
About 230 cars were crashed during the entire film, which included the latest Mercedes Benz AMGs and several high utility sports vehicles.

 

Michael Jackson Patented His Very Own Anti-gravity Shoes

Back in the year 1988, Michael Jackson blew away his fans with astonishment when he released the music video for his 1987 single “Smooth Criminal”. Apart from his well-known dance moves, he did something new and crazy- in the video he leaned 45 degrees forward, thus defying gravity. In the video, dancers were able to stand up straight and lean towards the floor.

In the Smooth Criminal video, Michael did this by using string, but he wanted to something more fascinating and went on to create Anti-Gravity Shoes. He did so to incorporate this magic into his live performances. He created these special Anti-Gravity Shoes with the help of two co-inventors and received a U.S patent for the same in 1993.
And these shoes, there was a slot that was engaged with a bolt in the floor. Keeping the heels fixed, dancers were able to lean forward.

However, this wasn’t a 100% successful product. A few years later during a show in Moscow, an accident occurred with one of Michael’s heels and this was the end of the Anti-Gravity Shoes.

The United States Patent’s abstract reads:

“A system for allowing a shoe wearer to lean forwardly beyond his center of gravity by virtue of wearing a specially designed pair of shoes which will engage with a hitch member movably projectable through a stage surface. The shoes have a specially designed heel slot which can be detachably engaged with the hitch member by simply sliding the shoe wearer’s foot forward, thereby engaging with the hitch member.”