How could they make Sam paralytic?

[ZenitYerkes]

Sam is no paralytic (as you can notice in Clash of the Titans), but have you seen how weak his legs are when he gets out the link bed?

[Sacred Tsahaylu]

In the same way they made him blue and 10 feet tall. Computers

[Fridge Magnet]

actually I read somewhere on the net during an interview or something. During the scenes when he is in a wheel chair they placed prosthetic legs on his chair so when he moved around he was actually kneeling and crawling on his legs, thats what Cameron said. They actually got a real paraplegic's legs and used that silicon shaping stuff to get the correct shape

[Human No More]

Yeah, IIRC it's just post production.

I did read somewhere that his legs were based on a cast of real ones to get them right.

[Stanley_9875]

yea, they were fake legs and his real legs were... somewhere else haha it was in Entertainment Weekly... too lazy to get it right now

[Fkeu'itan]

I was wondering this too. I can honestly say it was one of the most amazing, but also most subtle effects in the movie. Just another thing that adds to the unparalleled depth...

[zongtseng]

The most amazing effects always seem subtle because the best effects are done so well they seem absolutely real.

For me, the ultimate example of that is the "I see you" scene near the end. You have CG and live action directly interacting with each other. However, it is done so well I didn't even realize what was going on technically until I thought about it later. The Na'vi, and especially Neytiri, are so completely real to you by that point that it's easy to miss.

[Vauktu]

Those are not computer generated legs, but actually prosthetics. The real legs are hidden underneath the chair, where a green screen and some computer graphics come into play. Unbelievably real looking - I had a hard time figuring out whether Jake was really paralyzed or not during my first viewing.

[ZitaX]

It looks amasing! Also, it's one of the most sad scenes in the movie. Jake comes back from his dreamlife as a Na'Vi to his thin and frail human body! Most people i've talked to actually thinks that this is one of the strongest scenes in the movie.