Speaking recently on a press tour for his latest movie Bloodshot Vin Diesel discussed Paul Walker’s final scene in c7.
Diesel said the scene might be the best in cinematic history. Do you agree?
Paul Walker’s Final Scene
Midway through the production of Furious 7 Paul Walker along with car customization business owner Roger Rodas died in a car crash.
The writers of the movie had to revamp the script in Walker’s absence.
It was a goal of the production to pay tribute to the late actor of whom the cast and crew adored.
Walker’s final scene had Brian O Connor (his character in the franchise) retire from the life of crime and settle down with his wife and child.
The last moments of the film had Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) saying goodbye to one another whilst driving side by side on an open road.
A body double was used for this heartwarming scene and Walker’s face was super-imposed in post-production to achieve this effect.
What resulted was an incredibly emotional ending to a movie that didn’t leave a dry eye in any auditorium in the world.
For actor Vin Diesel it’s certainly one of his most treasured movie moments.
He said:
The scene might be the best moment in cinematic history. Not just in my career but in cinematic history. Men around the world, everyone was able to cry, but men around the planet for the first time in history were able to cry together.
I can’t quite agree that it’s the best scene in cinematic history. Sorry Vin. But it certainly would mean a lot to those closest to Paul and I can fully respect how much it meant to Vin Diesel.
The ending of the movie was incredibly moving.
They really paid a resounding and emotional tribute to the late actor.
Paul Walker Digital Scenes Proved Hard for Production
Production had to digitally add Walker’s face into the scene for the final send-off but that wasn’t all.
They had to implement him into more scenes spaced throughout the movie that hadn’t been shot yet.
With 50% of the movie featuring Paul already shot prior to his death the other 50% resulted in various digital effects to add Paul into specific scenes.
Trying to add Paul in digitally whilst making it look believable and fitting with the story wasn’t easy.
Director James Wan said that old Furious footage was used for various scenes.
As a whole, I think they did a stellar job.
Weta Digital VFX supervisor Joe Letter told Vanity Fair in 2015 about three very tough scenes that production had trouble with.
Desert Scene
In one scene in Furious 7, Brian is driving through the desert with Dom and Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) in the backseat.
Paul is trying to get to Los Angeles quickly and is also reacting in a subtle way to the injured Kurt Russell in the backseat.
The performance was very nuanced. . . . That’s a high bar in itself, to create that. Beyond that, this actor was known to millions of fans.
This had to be Paul Walker—more specifically, Walker in character as Brian O’Conner.
After the Skyscraper Jump
That infamous jump that got our hearts racing from the trailer alone. Weta had the job of capturing quite the moment after Brian and Dom survive the jump.
They had to make sure that Brian’s face was showing the right emotion for that particular scene. They also had to make sure they were keeping everything in context.
One of the Final Scenes
The team is lined up shoulder to shoulder much like on the original Fast & Furious 7 poster in Los Angeles.
Walker looks across to Dom as he delivers his line and it’s a full-frame shot. The visual effects had to be perfect.
The shot worked so well it was echoed in the key art for the film’s ad campaign and Walker got the emotional send-off he deserved.
Paul Walker passed away on November 30th, 2013 along with Roger Rodas in Los Angeles.
