this is "nightline." >> tonigh what sparked that classroom confrontation caught on camera? fueling outrage. and the investigation into the officer who seems to use excessive force on a student. new details about his pasast as first-hand accounts from inside the room reveal how and why things escalated so quickly. >>oh, my god. >> and whahat is it about new zealand? from a avatar to "lord othe rings", a new moviemaker empire is on the rise here. we're heading down under to see where the magic starts long before it lands in hollywood. and a scary look inside the science of fear.

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>> number good evenin tonight public outrage echoing

witnessed by a classroom fulof students. a school officer violently arresting a gh schoolgirl. turns out it's not the first time he's found himseself answering questions about using excessive force. now justice department investigators piecing together all that led up to this terrifying event. the violent classroom cameras. investigated by federal authorities. it all began during a morning algebra class at springalley high school in columbia, south carolina. >> this is someone that is physically in pain because of what she endured and the world watched what she endured as she literally flew across the classroom. >> reporter: authorities say a 16-yr-old female student was being disruptive in class. either texting or chewing gum and was repeatedly asked to leave. a school resource officer is lled to the classroom. he walks over to the student, shuts her laptop, moves it away, and tells her to get up. >> i treat you fair last time.

>> i don't know you. >> you don't know me? you gonna comewith me or i'm going to make you. >> he said get up, get up, get up, three times. >> reporter: that's when the situation escalates. classmates witnessing the entire encounter as he slams her on to the ground. >> give me your hands. >> trying to jack her out of the desk. when she wasn't coming he flipped the desk out and flung her out of the desk and flung her across the class. she went rolling into a table in th front of the classroom. >> reporter: sophomore tony robinson was in the class and shot this video. he says he did it out of panic. >> terrified. terrified. my first instinct was to get my phone out, that way -- because i didn't really feel like the i were to tell it, you know, people were going to really believe what ias saying. so i just grabbed my phone, you

know, got my camera out shot the record. >> reporter: classmate niya ken my said she stepped in only to be arrested herself. >> goter out of the classroom. he came back and said you want some of this, too. too. he put me in handffs. i walked out. i didn't try to resist or anything. he just put m me i handcuffs. >> reporter: the school resource ficer identified as 34-year-old ben fields, a deputy sheriff and football coach at the high hool. >> her arm was in a cast. she's god a band-aid on her forehead from rug burn. neck and back are both in pain. this is a child treated by a monster in a way i've never seen before. >> reporter: todd rutherford is the lawyer now representing the young student in the video. >> they call him officer slam in the school because he's known for slamming kids. sure enough, that's what he did. >> rorter: today school officials are outraged. >> what we all watched on that shamefully shocking video i reprehensible, unforgivable, and inconsistent with everying that this district stand for.

>> reporter: the sheriff's departrtment saythey're reviewing allll videosrom the classroom, includi another angle they say showing the student striking the officer with her fist. >> i think the public demands and expecting and should get a very quiuicknswer on this. and that's what we're goingo do. >> reporter: officer fields has been suspended without pay. and tonight the fbi is being called in to investigate whether or not this is a civil rights violation. >> that allowing cameras in more people's hands show the brew brutality that especially african-americans are havg at the hands of law enforcement. >> reporter: questions now circling around officer fields' past. last year fields received an honor for being a exceptional role model. but in 2007 he was sued by this man, carlos martin and his now ex-wife for what marti claims was excessive force after a routine encounter. >> he got upset because i called him dude. he am, slams me down to the ground. starts beating on me, macing me.

or gestures or whatever else. he's talking about h how he's glad johnnie cochran is dead, welcome to the south. i'm nothing but another notch on his belt. >> reporter: martin lost his lawsuit against offer fields but he believes the two incidents show a pattern of behavior. >> she's only 16 years old. you know, i almost kind of feel responsible because if that situation never happened to me he would have never been at that school. >> reporter: since yesterday the #assaultatspringvalleyhigh spread like wildfire on twitter. users tweeting, she didn't deserve that. and how are students supposed to learn in an environment where they can be battered on any given day? presidential hopeful hillary inton getting into the fray, there is no excuse for violence inside a school. the assault at s spring vley high should be unacceptable. schools should be safe places. bernie sanders also weighing in, tweeting, welcome to the

should have happened. >> reporter: curtis, a school resource officer for 25 years, says their job is to de-escalate tensions in the classroom. >> i've never had it come t to a point wherive had to arrest a student for disciplinary measure such as what wee saw yesterday. >> reporter: 43% of the nation's high schools employed school resource officers in the 2013-2014 schoolary. year. qualifications as beat cop but school environments. >> you want to have an officer that understands adolescent behaviors, understands mental health issues with young people, understands how to deal with parents and the uniqueness of being on a campus tting. >> reporter: officer fields could not be reached for comment tonight and sheriff lott says he will likely decide tomorrow if he will be fired. he could also face potential iminal charges or a civil suit from the family. >> this kind of officer is

expected to know how to deal with students. and as a result, it could make it even easier for a student and her family to sue. >> reporter: as of tonight, fields is also being investigated by the justice division. but legal analysts say, a biased case carries a higher burden of proof. >> even if this officer was absolutely wrong to do what he did, it's only going to be a civil rights viola if he targeted this student because of her race. >> reporter: regardless of what happens in court, the girl's family says this kind of behavior should never happen in a classroom. >> there were 10, 12 other things he could have done rather than flipping her chair back and tossing her across the room. that's one thing that should never have h happened. up next, from "lord of the rings" to "avatar." is there anythinghese movie magigicians c't eate? we're heading down underer f a

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think of these epic movies, the cinematic events really that transport you inside someone's imagination. well, that magic begins far from the red carpet in, of all places, new zealand. the unlikely pin nickle of movie technology and art. tonight movie insiderss bris sarah hanes inside their spectacular, fantastical world. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: the majestic landscapes in "avatar" made from far from hollywood as you can imagine. new zealand is wherere much of the epic movie happenings are happening these days. mountains of middle earth in "ld of the rings." we traveled there to meet the people responsible for this

hollywood down under, from design and makeup to visual effects, even helicopter pilots. >> we have these back in the states and they're kind of a big deal. >> we've been very fortunate. taylor. >> reporter: back in 2002 richard taylor was a relative unknown when he won his first of "lord of the rings" film, one effects. >> i he the ears of a fox. >> my journey is being made wholey the love of my partner tanya roger and the wonderful genius of the small group of young new zealanders. >> reporter: that small group, a woworkshop, taylor's company back in new zealand, helped create the makeup, visual effects, and costume design on t "lord of the rings" films. how would you describe what a workshop, what do you do here? >> we do design, miniatures, prosthetic, costumes, and vehicles.

>> reporter: despite his success winning three more oscars, tataylor is still energized and ready for a new challenge as we enter the workshop in welllington. >> up above us is a one to one scale. this train is from the second "zorro" movie. the clclient wanted to see an explosion like no exexplosion he had ever seen so the explosion was so big the last piece of debris took 14 minutes after the explosn. >> reporter: he's just as excited by movie memorabilia. >>his is the armor that we built for "the king ofrohan." detail t inside of the armor. >> reporter: as by the tools of his trade. >> this is a sandblaster, sandblast all the weapons. he is making some sort of crash dummy. >> reporter: there was a time you thought about make it in the business it automatically meant hollywood. how did it tern to new zealand halfway around the globe. >> youon't have to at the heart of the industry, you have to be at the heart of

it's not about hardware, it't's about heartware. five-minute radius from where i'm standing now is all the infrastructure to make a movie as large as any blockbuster feature film in the world. >> reporter: this little town has helped make some of the biggest moviesever. sleepy, residential town in new zealand and right beyond these doors are weta digital, one of the leading digital effect stud yeses in the world and we're about to see where the magic happens. come on. magic that has helped create five of the top 2 20 grossingg films of all time. matt aiken is the visual effecects supervisor here. >> "lord of the rings" was really the project that put us on the map. when it hit the screen and second "lord of the rings"film, it was a moment for us. until that point, we weren't sure that we were going to be able tochieve what peter was asking us to do whi was to

create a living, breathing performance. but since then we've worked with peter on a number of his shows "king kong" all of the way through the "hobbit" trilogy. we jus wrapped up with that. worked with other filmmakers. james cameron on "avatar" and "planet of the apes." >> reporter: they have mathematicians to help them brick it to life and developed artificial intelligence software for huge battle scene for the bat of the five armies. >> crowd scenes for armies. 200,000 soldiers on a battlefield. and have them not just kind of look like they're just kind of trotting along doing something stupid b to have them behaving like a fully organanized arm so we can do sequences for films like the "lord of the rings" battle sequences and the "bate of the five armies." the average digital soldier is about as smart as a common earth worm. not that smart but recently

>> we're hearing what you do, you clearly do a large chunk of this sitting in some of the movies, you guys are kind of unsung her oes to the general public. >> yeah, i suppose, for a lot of us, that suits us. i love the fact that we're now integral to modern filmmaking. >> reporter: the technical wizardry isn't just computers. this camera mount was designed in new zealand. as impressive as it looks, it's nothing without the right pilot which is where alfypate comes in. 10-4, alfy. oh, my gosh. >> i could show you a little place up here we did a bit for "lord of the rings." >> i don't think i could miss it but just in case. >> there won't be any hobbits for you today. >> reporter: alfy is a man of few words but h his portfolio speaks for itself. that scene here. the cameras down here.

corner in front of us. >> oh, my goodness. you've got the best office with a view. his cool demeanor has made him one of the most sought after pilots in the world. >> i don't know why they keep picking me but there's other people around that do it as well. >> maybe you're not too shabby either. >> reporter: and whethert's a nerve rattling fly-by or landing on what seems like the top of the world -- alphie, you're a chill guy -- nothing seems to phase this kiwi. >> it's a good view, isn't it? >> i'm not seeing a change in any of your reactions. there we go. that was like a party on your face. >> a party. party face. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm sarah hanes in queenstown, new zealand. up next, they endured the stuff of nightmares on "buried alive." so was it worth it?

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you know, i'm quite sure there isn't enough money in the world you could pay me to be buried alove under any circumstances rrt let alone on live tv. >> reporter: but with halloween fast approaching some very braf souls actually signed up to do it. and as, a bc's david wright is about to find out, they may have been on to something. >> reporter: facing your worst fears in realtime. >> you overcoming your fears, brandon. >> yeah, you can say that. >> reporter: "fear, buried alive" is a reality tv billed as a psychological experiment. >> my fear is actually fluffy

puppies. can i get a box of fluffy puppies instead. >> reporter: all of it broadcast live on the a a&e netwo partly owned byy abc. >> they understand anything can happen, including the possibility of death. >> when you're in that dark and 's just you and your thoughts you go completely crazy. >> reporter: to ratchet up the fright factor the show's producer turn to eli roth. >> i think you're going to have people who are going to start clawing until their fipgngers blooed. >> reporter: of course that's why it was all about science, that's why y have larry, david in a lab coat there, and bright screens, to make this a little git. fear socialist margi kerr insists conquering your inr demons is not just entertaining, it's healthy. >> you know you c definitely survivivehe inevitable zombie apockkcalypse apocalypse. >> a survey found many of f the things you would expect we're afraid of, things like ghost,

clowns mbies. butt the very top of the list there's bugs and heights and public speaking. as it turns out, on this show, being buried alive was just for starters. surprprise, surprise for the test subject, in came snakes and rat s s and creepy crawlers. the test subjects' family and friends watching in horror. >> ow. don't nip at me. stop trying to bite me. ow. >> we really are trying to overcome our fears right now. >> let me tell you something, i'm going to -- >> you're in here. you're doing it. >> i'm going give you a big hug. we're going to exchange facebook inrmation. >> reporter: it all got to be too much for one of the three. >> get me out! get me outut! get me out now! >> reporter: can you blame him?

i'm david wrighght for "nhtline" in new york. >> get me out! thanks for watching abc news. tune in for "good morning america" tomorrow and we're online 24/7 and at abcnews.com. good night, america. the insider from hollywood. your 24/7 celebrity conve ladies and gentlemen -- >> can you do a "saturday night live" that, is very much an honor.