Empire of The Ants (film) - Special Effects

Special Effects

As with most Bert I. Gordon films, the giant ants are rendered by way of photographically enlarged animal footage and rear projection. The size of the ants varies from scene to scene. They often appear to suddenly crawl off the ground and walk vertically upwards in thin air. This is due to real ants being placed in a set lined with photographs of the locations where the scenes were shot. When an ant walked onto the rear photograph it appeared to walk on the sky. Where the film calls for actors to interact with the ants, large mock-up props are used. On the props, Joan Collins later said she didn't like working with the ant props as they bumped and scratched the actors, including herself. She even took small bleeding marks to her legs from the props, but she recovered later.