Behind-the-scenes ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ video reveals the surprising amount of CGI

Audiences expect to see flashy visual effects in high concept sci-fi movies like “Gravity” and “Pacific Rim.” But CGI in a movie like Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street"?

But as this recently posted VFX reel by Brainstorm digital reveals, all of the computer generated imagery in the Leonardo DiCaprio film is designed to be completely invisible. A background removed here, a lion tamer erased there, an Italian port added over there, a London park tweaked over here. The video pulls back the curtain on this less conspicuous use of visual effects, and it shows just how much behind-the-scenes work actually went into Scorsese’s white collar crime saga.

Of course, there are more obvious computer effects in the film (like ill-fated voyage of Jordan Belfort’s yacht Naomi and subsequent rescue), but you wouldn’t notice the majority of the VFX in “Wolf” if you didn’t know to look for it. The video highlights the extent to which VFX are being used in almost every movie that Hollywood produces these days.

From augmenting location shoots to performing digital touch-ups on actor’s faces (and everything in between), digital technology opens up a Pandora's box of possibilities for filmmakers. The F-bomb filled "Wolf of Wall Street" is anything but subtle, but if there were an Oscar for Most Subtle Visual Effects, it would definitely take the cake this year.

"The Wolf of Wall Street," which just earned DiCaprio a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, is now playing.