VIN DIESEL PAYS TRIBUTE TO PAUL WALKER , How ‘Furious 7’ Created CGI Version of Paul Walker For His Unfinished Scenes

The picture struck a chord with fans of the movies. At Sunday's MTV movie awards, Diesel reprised his cover of Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again."

"The last time I stood up on this stage, I was with my brother Pablo," Diesel said in his emotional tribute to his friend.

How ‘Furious 7’ Created a CGI Version of Paul Walker For His Unfinished Scenes

With the untimely passing of Paul Walker midway through the production of Furious 7, now in theaters, it was questioned for months how they would replace the unfinished shots needed with the star. Many stories were circulated including the complete scrapping of the film, but with the help of CGI and Paul's brothers Cody and Caleb Walker they were able to finish the movie and fill in the gaps that Paul had not yet finished.Universal Studios has created what could be toted as the largest and most profitable original film franchise of the last twenty years. Yes, the films has its quirky and outrageously unrealistic stunts but overall it's exactly what many go to the movies to enjoy. Over the last 14 years we have watched an undercover FBI agent and a street racer by the name of Dominic Toretto sweep the box office in the hunt for James Bond like stunts and action scenes. Though when the unexpected death of Paul Walker shook the world in late 2013 the movie was put on hold and then reworked to release almost a year later. 

It has been confirmed that WETA, the well known digital effects company, recreated Walker in the final scenes of the film. This is the same team that brought you Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and Caesar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I have seen the film and could not find one scene in question outside of the one making the rounds on Twitter currently from one of the final scenes in the movie. At first glance and especially while in the theater I didn't think much of it until analyzing the image later that it was indeed a slightly different than what I had seen in the rest of the film. In my own opinion, I thought the movie was very well done considering one of the major stars passed midway through production. It's astounding what we can do with post production and Furious 7 paid outstanding respect to a fallen costar in the best way possible. What do you think? Do you see the difference, or would you have noticed while in the theatre?

Now, this is not a new trick production companies are pushing out but of course it's become much easier to pull off with companies such as WETA at the helm. Check out more of their work at the link provided and be sure to sound off in the comments below as to what you think about the added scenes of Paul Walker. 

A few days back, we reported on how Paul Walker's scenes were shot for Fast & Furious 7. Now that the film has been released, there has been no stopping ‘Fast and Furious 7’ at the box office, as the film has zoomed off with some record breaking numbers. It's debatable whether the film did well on its merit, or whether it was all just a perfect send off for Paul Walker. Either way, we miss him as much as you guys do.

The makers also released the video of the title track by Wiz Khalifa ‘See You Again’, that has garnered over 7.5 million hits on YouTube. 

You must know that the movie that made even the toughest of boys cry, would not have been possible without the late Paul Walker’s brothers, who took the wheel soon after his tragic and sudden death. The actor passed away in a car accident in November 2013, leaving several scenes in the movie incomplete. 

As Paul was such a big part of the ‘Fast and Furious’ family, the makers thought of giving him and his character Brian O'Connor, a proper send off in the movie. A great gesture, we think. For that, a special CGI team and four body doubles were hired to shoot his incomplete scenes of the film.

Cody Walker, Paul’s youngest brother, who has been close to the entire cast since the age of 11 (when his brother first starred in the hit franchise), agreed to lend his body as a double to replace that of his dear brother. Cody stepped in as a base for Paul’s CGI image to be mapped over. You can see a still from the film's trailer right here.

Impossible to tell the difference right?

Who is Cody Walker?

He is the youngest of the three Walker boys, who not only shares a striking resemblance to his late brother in height and build, but also shares in his ideas and passion for philanthropy. Cody has been actively involved in maintaining Paul’s ‘Reach Out WorldWide’ non-profit organisation, as its brand manager. 

The blue-eyed-boy is also a licensed paramedic, who worked his way through school by working on an ambulance as an EMT. A few reports state that he worked as a movie stuntman.

He has also been the most outspoken family member, who has made several appearances on talk shows and has let fans in on their lives post Paul’s demise. 

However, Cody wasn't the only one to fill in Paul's shoes. Paul’s older brother Caleb, also filled in for a few action scenes and even accompanied the team to Abu Dhabi, stepping in for Paul. You can spot him on the right in this picture below.

Neither Cody nor Caleb had any prior acting experience and so director James Wan paired them with actor John Brotherton, who'd already been cast as another character in Furious 7, and as acting coach, to help them.

'They’d never been in front of the cameras before,' Wan told Variety Magazine. 'Those poor guys went through a crash course in knowing how to perform for the camera. It was a whole different world for them and I think they had new found respect for what their brother did.' 

The Walkers can be seen getting some tips from Vin Diesel here.

Here's a scene from the movie for where the Walker brothers stepped in as body doubles and had Paul's face mapped on theirs.

The director said that it was a ‘bittersweet’ experience filming the movie, and he thought that Paul would be proud of the outcome. We are sure he will be smiling wherever he is.

RIP Paul.