Gravity:

Visual effects and Technology

Technology created for the film:

They created a new piece of technology, known on set as 'Sandy's cage' it was a 10m cube, with huge LED panels containing almost two million lights making up its walls making the Lightbox. They collaborated with Bot, Daily Motion Control and the on-set special effects team (the masters of physical, in-camera effects as opposed to the computer-based world of visual effects). They strapped cameras onto huge robotic arms and George Clooney and Sandra Bullock were put in many different rigs, most of which were newly developed and created for the film.

This ground-breaking technology was then used in filming to create the effects of no gravity in space. 

The IRIS:

Another piece of technology they created was the IRIS, this is a motion controlled platform, 7 axis robot and can have a 3 axis head attached to it. This is a example of technological synergy as it combines two different parts of technology to make one new one, it combines robotics with cameras to make one big robotic camera. 

What did this creation mean?

This creation meant that Clooney and Bullock didn't have to make hundreds of trips in 'the vomit comet'. It also meant that the actors could be lit with much greater flexibility than traditional film lights. The LED lights in 'Sandy's cage' made a huge difference as it allowed them to create the different colours reflecting off of the Earth, Moon, sunlight and starlight to be replicated, making it much more realistic. It also meant that whilst Clooney and Bulock were acting, it was easier for them to get a sense and feel for where they were (although they couldn't actually film in space), if they could see the Earth or moon it made positioning easier when filming. Although the majority of the film is computer graphics (CG).

Why did they create this?

This was created because they needed technology that didn't wholly exist so they combined some existing technology with some new technology they made in order to get what they wanted. They needed to create technology that meant cameras could move around the actors in such was that it makes it look the they are floating around in space. An example of this is shown in the clip below from 5:20 - 5:38, this is where Sandra Bullock's character is being flung around on a piece of the ship that has just been in a collision. They way they made it look like she is moving was by putting her in a tilt rig in 'Sandy's cage' and using a new piece of technology to move around her.