Paul Walker’s unexpected death due to an automobile accident came as a big shock during the production of Furious 7 (2015). The studio and the film’s director, James Wan, considered scrapping the project as a result, since Walker’s character Brian is a staple in the Fast & Furious franchise, and shooting was only half done at the time of his death. Instead, as a credit to his memory and the film’s significance as his final role, they completed the film with some rewrites and excellent effects skills.

Paul Walker’s character appears throughout the entire picture. If they were only half done with shooting when he passed away, how did they get him into the whole film? It was a brilliant combination of body doubles, CGI effects, repurposed old content, and rotoscoping. It stands as one of cinema’s greatest achievements in incorporating a deceased actor into a film.

As MoviePilot’s Peter Flynn says, “Just as a magician will distract you long enough so the coin he pulled out your ear really feels like magic, Furious 7 indulges the scenes Walker was able to shoot fully to give the impression that he was on set the entire time.”

Variety’s Scott Foundas notes that “although there are moments [where Walker] is conspicuously filmed from behind or with his face obscured, for most of the time Walker is on screen, it’s nigh impossible to tell whether he is fully real or partly virtual.” The Hollywood Reporter’s John Defore calls it a “technical miracle.”

One of the simplest ways to replace an actor is using long shots where the person’s face is not fully in focus. Certain shots of Walker’s character were taken from farther away than they otherwise would have been, so it was unclear who belonged to the body. Since Walker’s very similar-looking brothers, Cody and Caleb Walker, became body doubles after Paul’s accident, it was easy for them to resemble Paul from afar.

The long shot is used for body doubling in television and cinema all the time, not just in the case of an actor’s death. Long shots of actors are frequently of stunt doubles or body doubles and not the actual character.

On the subject of Walker’s brothers, the film occasionally utilized face mapping to put Walker’s face on his brothers’ bodies in various scenes where Walker’s character wasn’t the foremost center of attention. Face mapping is an old technique, and with modern CGI, isn’t much of a challenge for effects departments. Though usually employed in more subtle shots, this technique was most noticeably done during the film’s ending tribute, where Brian speaks cross-car to Dom (Vin Diesel) before splitting off in different paths. It’s a bit noticeable and awkward, but at this point in the film, doesn’t matter. The dedication to Walker stands out beyond the effect to craft a heartfelt ending.

“At this moment, [the film] seems to stop trying to hide the death of Paul Walker, as the entire movie is intentionally paying homage. This has led fans to speculate whether these final moments are actually happening in Dom Toretto’s mind, though it really doesn’t matter. The scene reflects the character’s emotional state whether it’s “real” or not, and is a perfect way to cap off the arcs of these men. Perhaps this shows that the best way to get around the death of a lead actor is not to paste over the holes, but to acknowledge it, and write it into the emotional conceit of the story itself!”

Furious 7 also pulled some deleted scenes from other films to create more Walker footage. Cut scenes from earlier Fast & Furious titles were dug up to fill in gaps.

It seems there were also occasions in group shots where Walker was pulled from previously unused footage and pasted into the setting. This is sometimes evidenced by the fact he’s looking a different way from all the other characters, or his interactions just seem genuinely off from what they would be if he were actually in the scene.

What’s the result of all this? A beautifully-crafted film with Paul Walker as one of its stars. Unless you’re nitpicking and trying to distinguish what’s him and what isn’t, it’s almost impossible to tell. The film is an incredibly-constructed piece that does justice to Walker’s legacy, and serves as a beautiful, moving tribute to his name.