Question: How did the people behind the film achieve the effect of making the actors look like ghosts. I truly have no idea.
The Frighteners (1996)
1 question
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey, John Astin, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson
Revealing mistake: After Lucy discovers Mrs. Bradley in her bed, as she fights off and runs from Patricia, it is obvious that she wears knee pads for these shots.
Old Lady Bradley: The wicked will be punished.
Trivia: During the filming, Michael J. Fox kept accidentally calling out "Doc" (from Back To The Future) instead of "Judge."
Chosen answer: For the most part, the actors playing the ghosts were shot separately on blue-screens, and then comped into the scenes. (By removing the blue background through a process called "color keying", and placing them over the scenes) They were simply given a blueish glow and made semi-translucent to complete the effect. It was pretty cutting edge back in the 90's, but nowadays, it'd be very easy to make the exact same effect using a simple program like Adobe After Effects.
TedStixon