Brendan Fraser is an exceptionally talented and well-recognized actor. He has made a name for himself through his work in massively successful projects like The Mummy film series, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Bedazzled, and Blast from the Past. Showcasing great skill and versatility, Fraser has won an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor for his work in the 2022 drama film, The Whale.
One of the first films in Fraser’s career, Encino Man, was quite a fun film, having an incredible cast as well as an incredible story. The film follows the characters of Dave and Stoney, who accidentally stumble upon a caveman named Link, who is frozen in ice. What many may not know however is the fact that quite a big sum of the movie’s budget went into quite an odd thing.
Brendan Fraser’s Encino Man Spent A Huge Amount On An Ice Block
In Encino Man, Brendan Fraser‘s character, Link was frozen in a huge block of ice. Not wanting to use special effects, it was decided that the scene would be shot with the help of a dummy, which would be frozen into an ice block, and that ice would be melted away and Fraser would appear. What they soon realized, however, was that this would not be as easy as they thought. The reason for this was the fact that when ice is frozen, it gets cloudy on the inside, making the dummy not visible.
Dennis Dion, the film’s special-effects coordinator explained that many different experiments were done to find a solution to this problem, taking them nearly three months on a scene that was to last merely thirty seconds. A solution was finally found, however, a new problem arose when it ice block cost $50,000 to make.
The Ice Block Ended Up Failing
Despite this, the scene was shot and another problem presented itself. Halfway through the shot, the ice block broke in half, breaking the dummy inside right along with it. This was so grotesque that Brendan Fraser muttered an ‘ouch’ when he saw this happen, being glad that he was not inside the ice and that that dummy wasn’t even more realistic than it already was.
In the end, the production team simply decided to cut away from the ice block with the break happened and jump to Fraser on the floor, sitting up surrounded by crushed ice. The difference is quite unnoticeable for the general audience, making the expenditure and decision pointless.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
