SCENESTEALER

When using visual effects to give a movie like “Leatherheads” a period feel, one fumble and it’s all over.

So when George Clooney was prepping “Leatherheads,” his ode to the early days of pro football, he huddled with boutique VFX house CIS Hollywood to show the evolution of the sport, beginning with primitive games played in cow pastures and ending in a massive, double-decker Chicago stadium. For that game, CIS added an extra tier of seats around the stadium, an extremely detailed CG model of the upper-deck support beams and a matte painting of the period Chicago skyline. They added cars and clouds and such “to get away from the static painting look,” says visual-effects supervisor Tom Smith.

The crowds were created using the Massive software that brought clashing armies to life in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, only these digital creations had to kibitz, jump and cheer. So with such subtle additions, how does CIS know if its work is a success?

If nobody notices a thing, that’s how.