An evening discussion between Reeves and a young lady on an outdoor terrace is the scene for over a dozen bluescreen composites, where the actors performed in front of a bluescreen, later to be replaced by the New York skyline. Nearly every shot in this sequence looked a bit odd; normal moviegoers can spot these sequences much easier nowadays. The sequence is much like a similar scene in HEAT, where two characters had an evening discussion out on a terrace. In both cases, the foreground and the extreme background are in perfect focus, which is a phenomenon that simply does not happen with non-effects shots of this nature. Add to this, in THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, that the edge of the terrace, only a few feet behind the actress, is *out* of focus, while the skyline, supposedly hundreds of feet behind her are in *perfect* focus. This kind of manipulation of the composite leads the viewer's eye into confusion, and therefore the viewer must conclude that the shot is some kind of effect. The tracking of the foreground and background elements during camera moves is quite good, even during subtle, small camera moves.

Many cheesy morphs are utilized in the film, as well, reminding me of sci-fi films of a few years back, each of which used at least four morphing shots. In ADVOCATE, no less than four or five extremely traditional morphs are used. I call them traditional because they seem quite old fashioned. Even the beginning and end of the morphs are jarringly sudden, and do not seemed 'eased' in and out of transformation.

Some wonderful animation occurs as certain human characters quickly show their true colors, as demonic faces take over briefly, only to disappear. The demons are Rick Baker creations, while some fantastic tracking was necessary to blend various pieces of footage together. Two sequences utilize this effect brilliantly; the first scene where Reeves' wife witnesses a demon, and the second where two 'homeless' demons commit a nasty murder. These effects are the best in the film.

The movie concludes with dozens of bluescreen composites and digitally composited fire and pyrotechnic elements. Interestingly, the ghostly statues that come to life behind Pacino were actually actors filmed in front of a bluescreen underwater. This lent to the flowing, graceful, almost hypnotic movement of the statues. For the most part, the overall composites were crisp, especially the fire composites.