How Do Productions Create the Illusion of Zero Gravity?

Creating the illusion of a zero gravity environment on the big screen can be a daunting task, especially if the production wants to make sure that it looks as realistic as possible. There are a variety of methods that can be used and combined to achieve this effect. Below is a quick rundown of just a few of the many ways that productions pull off the illusion of zero gravity environments.

1. Wires and Acting

Actors and actresses can help create the illusion of zero gravity simply by moving slower and more smoothly. In the 2013 sci-fi thriller Gravity, Sandra Bullock practiced moving at 30 percent speed and listened to a variety of classical music and ambient sounds to calm her mind and help her body relax and move fluidly.

Wires are also often used to suspend actors in the air. The wires are later removed during post-production editing.

2. Camera Choreography

Camera movements can be synchronized with actors’ movements to simulate real-life actions that would happen in a zero gravity environment, such as a person flipping upside down. Sometimes, just the camera movement alone is able to give the appearance of actors and objects floating as the subjects remain still and the camera rotates around them.

3. Rotating Sets

One year before the first moon landing in 1969, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was released. To simulate weightlessness, a 30-ton rotating ferris wheel-type set was built for actors to stand at the bottom of and walk or run in place while the set rotated in sync with the actors’ speed to keep them at the bottom of the wheel as the set turned. Everything within the set – chairs, desks, and control panels – were all bolted down.

“2001: A Space Odyssey” Centrifuge Set

Inspired by Kubrick’s technique, the production team for the 2010 film Inception also built a rotating set for the dream sequences where gravity behaved differently. Check out the video below for more about how gravity fight scenes were filmed for Inception using a rotating set:

4. Filming Inside Falling Aircrafts

In the 1995 space docudrama film Apollo 13, director Ron Howard set up an incredible, groundbreaking approach to filming actors in weightless environments. Howard and the film’s actors experienced first-hand what astronauts go through when they are introduced to the feeling of weightlessness – they got to take a ride (and a dive) inside NASA’s KC-135 plane, also known as the “vomit comet”. The KC-135 flies up to 36,000 feet and dives towards the ground, countering the force of gravity during a very brief 25-second period.

After experiencing the free fall for themselves, Howard and his production team decided to film actual zero gravity scenes inside the KC-135 as it dove repeatedly towards the ground. By the time shooting had wrapped up, the cast and crew had taken 612 parabolic dives – totaling about 4 hours of weightlessness.

If you are looking for set designers, camera crew, actors, and other industry professionals to help you create the illusion of zero gravity environments, be sure to check out our online Nevada Production Directory to find experienced professionals in the media, video game, and entertainment industry.

If you offer services related to the film, television, and video game industry and are not yet listed in our Nevada Production Directory, you can learn more about how to sign up for the NPD here.

We also have a variety of filming locations throughout Nevada that can be used as doubles for other planets as well as local studios offering full production services. Browse through our Nevada Filming Locations Database and contact us if you are interested in learning more about a filming location!

Sources:
https://www.npr.org/2013/10/04/228883196/sandra-bullock-boxed-in-on-the-set-of-gravity
https://news.avclub.com/on-apollo-13-s-20th-anniversary-a-look-at-how-they-mad-1798281369
https://2001archive.org/resources/the-special-effects-of-2001-a-space-odyssey/

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