No, they didn’t use CGI for the car drop scene in Furious Seven, but rather real vehicles. They hired 30-year stunt veteran Spiro Razatos to make it happen. He says: “For the fourth film (“Fast & Furious”) they kind of relied too much on CGI. So they realized they wanted to do less. That’s what I do.” Razatos is also responsible for the scene in Fast Five when the crew dragged a giant bank vault through the busy streets of Rio de Janeiro. Continue reading for two video featurettes and more information.
“The stunt took months of prep time to solve problems. Cameras needed to be mounted onto cars in a way that they wouldn’t be destroyed when the cars landed, and the crew needed a safe way to get the cars out of the plane. With a green light, shooting took place in Colorado with two airplane runs, flying at 12,000 feet, that would drop two cars apiece. Over 10 cameras were used for the sequence. In addition to cameras on the ground, there were cameras remotely operated inside the plane and another three mounted outside each car. Skydivers would either jump out before cars or after them,” according to Business Insider.
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