Keanu Reeves trained extensively to inhabit the raw yet seemingly effortless physicality of John Wick.
Baba Yaga doesn’t merely murder; he dispatches his hapless victims while engaging in a ballet of bullets.
In fact, the filmmakers made a conscious effort to capture everything in-camera; the film was made with a heavy reliance on practical effects.
And then, they CGI’d dog poop.
Early in the movie, when Wick’s newly-gifted dog goes out on to the backyard to relieve himself, we are shown a brief glimpse of his excrement.
Now, I don’t imagine there were many, if any, people who saw that shot and went, “Yup, that’s definitely CGI poop.”
But it was. It was CGI dog poop.
It turns out the filmmakers couldn’t entirely adhere to their practical standards in this case.
“They wouldn’t let us give laxatives to the puppy,” said director Chad Stahelski.
Since they couldn’t help the dog “perform naturally,” they spent $5,000 to create and insert dog poop into their movie digitally.
What a day at the office for the CGI artist tasked with this shitty job.
David: Hey, Matt. I’ve got some work for you on John Wick.
Matt: Oh man! That’s great. Are we rendering CGI bullets?
David: It’s shit.
Matt: Well yeah, they’re not the real thing, but if we work hard enough, we’ll get them looking like real bullets.
David: Nope, it’s dog shit.
Matt: Wow, I’m really not digging this negativity. I’m good at what I do, I can render bullets.
David: No shit. But you’re not rendering bullets. You have to make CGI dog poop.
Matt: Oh, crap.
David Schitt: Yup, but they’re paying us $5,000.
Matt Shatt: Well shit, I’m on it Mr. Schitt.