Young moviegoers of a certain generation might not even realize sometimes that they're watching exhaustively recreated historical footage. Maybe they saw Natalie Portman giving a tour of the White House in Jackie without realising it comes from an actual CBS and NBC broadcast of Jackie Kennedy on Valentine's Day 1962. Maybe they saw Catch Me If You Can and thought the game show scene was just a good storytelling trick from Martin Scorsese rather than recreated footage from To Tell the Truth in 1977.

But, in most cases, these moments of filmed history are so important, and so well known, they can be very difficult to recreate. These need to be believable. And when scenes like the march from Selma to Montgomery and the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald are so ingrained in American history, filmmakers must go through incredible lengths to do them right—as the short video essay below displays. Notice how in Selma, each marcher's posture and speed and demeanor matches the actual footage, and how Portman's Jackie Kennedy stiffly backs—hands folded—into frame in the White House.

From: Esquire US