Schuth 1

Louie Schuth
ENG 416
Dr. Wilkie
5 May 2015
Will the Real Paul Walker Please Stand Up?:
The Groundbreaking Digital Realism of Furious Seven
Influential French film critic and theorist Andr Bazin once famously said,
The photographic image is the object itself, the object freed from the conditions
of time and space which govern it. No matter how fuzzy, distorted, or discolored,
no matter how lacking in documentary value the image may be, it shares, by
virtue of the very process of its becoming, the being of the model of which it is the
reproduction; it is the model (8).
For all intents and purposes, the medium of film can be studied as the
medium a moving photograph, and Bazins quote is an important entry point in
studying film under the lens of realism. According to Stephen Prince in his article
True Lies: Perceptual Realism, Digital Images, and Film Theory, the theory of
realism, at least as it relates to film, has been tied to the fact that photographic
images have an indexical relationship with their referents to which they are
connected on a casual or existential level (28). In other words, the image
captured by the camera is accurate; we know that a stationary or moving
photograph of a giraffe is of a giraffe because it looks undeniably like one. A
drawing of a giraffe would be more subjective.

Schuth 2

In todays digital world, however, we know that these statements no longer

carry the same truth that they once did. Today, an image in a film is rarely the
same as the image that is captured by the camera. In Realism and Realistic
Representation in the Digital Age, Gabriel F. Giralt discusses this as a manner of
filmic editing. We could previously consider the process of editing twodimensional where editing took place on a horizontal level where different shots
were edited together sequentially. Now, however, filmic editing has gained
another dimension. Giralt calls the inclusion of digital forms of editing such as
computer generated effects vertical editing, and this manner of editing changes
what can be referred to as real.
What does real mean, anyway? The relationship between a film image
and reality is a tough one, and we must look back at the images and their
referents to understand this. As Philip Rosen said while discussing Bazins
theories, we must keep in mind that the referent is the objective real while also
considering the process by which human subjectivity approaches the objective
(qtd in Giralt 4). Giralt discusses Bazins theories about directors who put their
faith in the image and those who put their faith in reality and says that these are
two different ways that directors can frame reality. Directors who put their faith in
an image are more apt to use digital effects to create their images, and directors
who put their faith in reality are more apt to shoot something exactly as it
appears. Both ways are subjective because in both techniques the director only
shows the exact image that they want to show. In essence, no matter if an image

Schuth 3

is filled with digital effects or not, both images are from a directors subjective
viewpoint. Because of this, neither side can claim to be more real than the other
(5).
What is real is audience perception. The viewers emotional response is
closely connected with identification with the realistic visual representation, Giralt
says. The greater the identification, that is, the greater the emotional response
and the greater the experience (10). This is why digital effects are able to have
an effect on us; when we believe what were seeing, we have reached a moment
of manufactured reality. It doesnt even matter if the digital effects are recreating
something that we know to be true or not. Take for example the dinosaurs in
Jurassic Park. Never in human history have the actual movements of dinosaurs
been recorded, but that doesnt stop us from believing that dinosaurs might have
moved the way they did in Steven Spielbergs movie. Prince explains this.
Because the computer-generated images have been rendered with such
attention to 3D special information, they acquire a powerful perceptual realism,
despite the obvious ontological problems in calling them realistic. These are
falsified correspondences, yet because the perceptual information they contain is
valid, the dinosaurs acquire a remarkable degree of photographic realism (34).
Using these concepts of reality, we can look at how Furious Seven achieved a
unique reality through its use of CGI.
On November 30, 2013, Paul Walker, a star of the Fast and Furious
franchise, died in terrible car accident at the age of 40. Like his Fast and Furious

Schuth 4

character Brian OConnor, Walker enjoyed fast cars. After leaving a charity event,
Walker and friend Roger Rodas, a professional racecar driver, took a ride in a
high-performance Porsche Carrera GT. The car had been modified with an
aftermarket exhaust system that made it go faster, and it also had tires that were
over nine years old. Other than that, nothing was wrong with the car. What was
wrong was the way Rodas was illegally driving the car; his speed of between 80
and 93 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour speed limit zone at the time of the
crash was officially deemed the cause of the accident. The speed caused Rodas
and Walker to collide with a light pole and several trees. Rodas died instantly, but
Walker suffered a slower death (Duke).
The details of Walkers death are worth noting because of their effects on
Furious Seven. Given that the series and the at that time yet uncompleted
seventh installment glorifies the very activity that Walker died participating in,
Universal Studios and Furious Seven director James Wan were put in a very
tough situation regarding how to proceed. Production of the film was immediately
halted following Walkers death (McClintock and Belloni), but eventually the cast
and crew returned to complete the film. The release date was eventually pushed
from July 11th, 2014 to April 3rd, 2015, and Universal had a number of options.
They could have cancelled the film or started over completely without Walkers
involvement, but given the large amounts of money they had already invested in
the film, that wasnt really an option. Its fair to estimate that at least $100 million
of Furious Sevens final $190 million production budget (Lang Furious 7) was

Schuth 5

spent by the time of Walkers passing (reported budgets typically dont account
for marketing costs). During December 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment had to
consider not releasing their movie The Interview given the terrorist threats
surrounding the films release, an incident that made public the fact film
insurance policies typically dont cover much of a films budget (Lang Sony).
Even though Walker had died, its very unlikely that Universal would have been
able to recover the massive finances they had already invested in the film. While
Im sure they wanted to make the most human and respectful decision they
could, its evident that from a business standpoint their only real option was to
complete the movie.
Universal, director James Wan, producer and star Vin Diesel, and the rest
of the decision making team decided to complete Furious Seven. Again they had
a number of ways in which they could proceed. Obviously, killing Walkers Brian
OConnor character in a car crash would have been incredibly distasteful, and its
not likely that path was ever considered. In theory, they really only had two
options: they could either allow Brian OConnor to die in an act of bravery,
sacrificing himself for a member of his Fast and Furious family or they could retire
the character by giving him motivation to leave his life of fast cars and dangerous
antics behind to focus on his life with his wife and child. For the purposes of this
essay, Brian OConnors exact fate isnt important. What is important is the fact
that they handled the situation with as much respect as they could for Walker,
Brian OConnor, and the fans of the Fast and Furious series. Furious Seven

Schuth 6

ended with a For Paul dedication, a dedication that felt appropriate given that
the plot of the movie was crafted to honor him in the best way possible.
The shooting of Furious Seven was about halfway completed when
Walker died, and there were still many important sequences that Walker had yet
to shoot. Several of these scenes in which Brian OConnor still needed to appear
were necessary to make the overall plot of the movie make sense, and it was
also necessary that the character appear in scenes that would set up his exit
from the franchise in order for the now officially forthcoming Fast and Furious 8 to
be possible. To complete the movie, a few different tactics were used. Wan
mixed in footage from previous installments whenever he could, but this footage
alone wasnt enough to complete the movie. Wan had actors stand in for Walker
during important sequences, including a key hand-to-hand combat scene near
the end of the film. The primary stand-ins were Walkers brothers Caleb and
Cody. The other tactic used was the recreation of Walker with CGI.
To create a digital version of Walker, Universal hired the best digital
effects company in the business, WETA Digital, the company behind the Lord of
the Rings saga, the two most recent Planet of the Apes movies, King Kong, and
Avatar (Giardina). Theyve consistently succeeded in creating visuals that create
the realities that Giralt and Prince talked about. The human face is a notoriously
hard thing to digitally recreate with accuracy, especially in the eyes and the way
the face is lit, but WETA pulled it off. Theres one shot of Walker driving a car that
was obviously created with CGI. After seeing the movie, a friend of mine asked

Schuth 7

me if there was more than just that one shot. At that time I said that I had noticed
one or two other instances, but not many in total. During my second viewing of
Furious Seven, my sole goal was to try to find every instance where CGI was
used. I was shocked to find that there were many, many more instances where
Walkers face was created with CGI than I had noticed the first time, and this
goes to show that the work WETA completed was really effective. As a student of
film, I have a fairly trained eye for picking out these kinds of effects, and given
that it took me paying extremely close attention to see them, I think that WETA
did an outstanding job. Of course, it is not the filmmakers intent for someone to
pay as close of attention as I did, and the majority wont do that. I think its very
important that people go into this movie not fixated on trying to work out which is
Paul, which isnt Paul, Wan said in an interview with popular movie blog
Slashfilm. I want them to just watch the movie and enjoy the film and be caught
up in the emotion of it all. In other words, Wan wants people to embrace the
reality that he created, and the work he and his entire team did made that
possible.
Its interesting to note where and when the shots of digital Walker were
inserted. Other than the scenes that Walker had obviously yet to film, there are
many moments through out where an extra shot or two was added to a scene to
complete it. Its likely that they had completed those scenes before Walker
passed, but extra shots were added to give them more gravitas. Often the shots
that were added either put Walkers Brian OConnor character in a moment of

Schuth 8

danger, gave him a moment of tenderness with specific characters, or both. The
possibility of death hangs over Furious Seven like a cloud. While the franchise
has seen the return of a character from the dead, between the climax of Fast &
Furious 6 and the beginning of Furious Seven, two important supporting
characters were killed off. For the first time, the death of a character feels like an
imminent threat, and the movies mantra of no more funerals feels real, and not
only because the audience knows the franchise will have to dispose of Brian
OConnor by the end of this installment. I think its important to note strong this
strong thematic material as its an important element of what makes the movie
work. Yes, the creation of a digital Walker was astounding, but without these real
stakes in the movie it might not have worked in quite the same way. This
thematic material helped established Furious Sevens fiction, and thats what
made it feel truly real. This goes back to the Giralts ideas that I brought up earlier
in the essay. When Giralt says the greater the identification, the greater the
emotional response and the greater the experience, this is what he is talking
about. The use of CGI in these instances helps create the fiction and since the
illusion works so well, it helps create the maximum emotional resonance in these
situations. If the illusion wasnt successful, these moments in particular wouldnt
work.
The idea of realism takes an interesting and arguably more disturbing turn
when we ponder whether theres any difference between the late Walker and his
CGI counterpart. When under the consideration of the theories of realism, and if

Schuth 9

the audience perceives the two the same way, theres really no difference
between the two at all. And frankly, I find that terrifying. Sure, the use of CGI to
recreate Walker was done out of necessity, but how long will it be before its done
for the simple reason of it being possible? I cannot tell you whether or not we will
ever accept digital actors in the same way we do human actors. If we dont, and
for the sake of the art form, I hope we dont, the illusion of reality will collapse and
we will reject the idea. Is it really that hard to see a future where we accept the
illusion? I dont think so. Digital effects have been used to recreate virtually
everything else, so whats really going to stop us from filling our movies with
virtual actors? The day that happens is the day I stop caring about movies.

Schuth 10

Works Cited
Bazin, Andre and Hugh Gray. The Ontology of the Photographic Image. Film
Quarterly 13.4 (Summer, 1960): 4-9. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Duke, Alan. Investigators: Speed not Drugs, Racing or Mechanical Failure
Killed Paul Walker. CNN. CNN, 26 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
Furious 7. Dir. James Wan. Perf. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham,
Michelle Rodriguez, and Dwayne Johnson. Universal, 2015. Film.
Giardina, Carolyn. Furious 7 and How Peter Jacksons Weta Created Digital
Paul Walker. The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Mar.
2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2015
Giralt, Gabriel F. Realism and Realistic Representation in a Digital Age. Journal
of Film and Video 16.3 (Fall, 2010): 3-16. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
Lang, Brent. Furious 7: How the Fast Franchise Avoided a Straight-to-DVD
Fate and Kept Growing. Variety. Variety, 5 April 2015. Web. 27 April
2015.
Lang, Brent. Sony Could Lose $75 Million on The Interview. Variety. Variety,
18 Dec. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
McClintock, Pamela and Matthew Belloni. Paul Walkers Death: Fast and
Furious 7 Delayed But Wont Be Scrapped. The Hollywood Reporter. The
Hollywood Reporter, 1 Dec. 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
Prince, Steven. True Lies: Perceptual Realism, Digital Images, and Film Theory.
Film Quarterly 49.3 (Spring, 1996): 27-37. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

Schuth 11

Wan, James. Interview by Germain Lussier. Furious 7: James Wan Talks Paul
Walkers Role, Plus Box Office Record, Tribute Video, Fast 8 Rumor.
Slashfilm. Slashfilm, 6 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015