Physical effects are special effects which are performed and recorded during production. Often times, these frames will be digitally altered and rendered to create a composited scene with actors, stunts, and newly created sets. Physical effects are divided into four main categories:

1) Explosions
2) Special mechanical rigs
3) Support systems
4) Stunts

Physical effects are planned out and performed by a number of people on the production team: rigging, lighting, camera, stunt coordinators, and producers. These effects are usually first modeled in a computer enviornment before actual production since these effects are costly. Some of these physical effects are actually created entirely with computers to eliminate dangerous stunts and high costs.

Explosion in The Matrix