Although roughly a third of Marvel's The Avengers is set in New York City, precious little was actually filmed there. ILM crew members photographed 7-miles of city streets from a variety of heights and at different times of day totaling 250,000 images. The crew then digitally recreated roughly 20 square blocks of mid-town Manhattan using a variety of techniques. Live action shoots were held primarily on sound stages in New Mexico and in the streets of Cleveland.

Marvel's The Avengers is up for the Visual Effects Oscar at the 85th Annual Academy Awards this weekend. The visual effects geniuses at Industrial Light and Magic have released a new behind-the-scenes featurette that gives viewers (and Oscar voters) a look at how they recreated 20 blocks of Manhattan. Go behind-the-scenes with ILM's visual artists and see what it took to create these amazing shots.