Darren Aronofsky has wowed with a life-sized ark of biblical proportions created for his new film Noah, Belfast Telegraph said.

The Black Swan director's epic - starring Russell Crowe as Noah, the old testament character who was instructed by God to build a boat to save every species of animal before the earth was flooded - has started shooting on Long Island and photographer Dan Wagner has snapped the massive, man-made structure for New York magazine.

Dan said: "To see it in person, and know there's no CGI involved, was incredible."

But the photographer revealed behind the scenes the enormous wooden craft is not all it seems.

He added: "The set decorator brought in tree stumps that weren't there before, to give the effect that the ark was made with local lumber. And there's no way Noah and his sons could have built such an enormous structure themselves. That would have taken 500 years."

The film also stars Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson.