By Esther L.

New Technology of the 21st Century

• Since the beginning of film, many technological breakthroughs have advanced the art into what it is today.– Films with sound

– Color film

– And much more!

Kinemacolor was the first successful color process used in

motion pictures. (invented in 1906)

Special Effects and the 21st Century

• Since the 1990’s, CGI (computer generated imagery) has become the most advanced of special effects technologies

• Creates very realistic effects without compromising safety and budgetToy Story (1995) was the

first feature film that was entirely computer-generated.

What is CGI?• Computer-generated

imagery is the use of computer graphics (especially 3D) to create special effects in media such as film and television.

• More easily controlled than other physical processes (hiring extra actors, using miniature models)

• Looks just like the real thing. This is not a picture, it is a

computer generated image.

Examples of CGI in Movies:Sky Captain and the World of TomorrowSky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

• Filmed in only 26 days– Usually takes 3-4 months to

film a movie

• How did they do it?– Used bluescreen stages (the

blue can be edited out and replaced with CGI imagery)

– Almost 100 animators, digital artists, and modelers created the 2D and 3D backgrounds of the entire movie from prepared sketches.

Examples of CGI in Movies:The Lord of the Rings TrilogyThe Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

• All three movies used extensive digital special effects.

• For the entire movie, actor Elijah Wood (5’6”) and others portrayed 4-foot-tall hobbits – with much believability.

A noticeable height difference even when sitting – all created

through the magic of computers.

Examples of CGI in Movies:The Lord of the Rings TrilogyThe Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

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• Computer-generated imagery helped to create many of the landscapes and cities of the fictitious Middle Earth, like the land of Mordor and the city of Gondor.

• Some creatures, such as the Fell Beasts on the left, were actual props that were converted into nasty flying digital monsters.

Examples of CGI in Movies:The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch,The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch,

and the Wardrobeand the Wardrobe (2005)

• All of the talking animals in the movie were computer-generated, including the lion Aslan.

• Actors portraying half-human creatures wore some parts of their costumes during filming while their goat legs and horse bodies were added on afterwards.

• Sequences such as the bombing of London and the White Witch’s castle were also computer-generated.

Examples of CGI in Movies:RatatouilleRatatouille (2007)

• During movie production, professional chefs cooked for and consulted the animators at Pixar in order that they could use them as references when animating and modeling the food.

• Programs that imitated organic texture and movement were used to create the food, and other programs were used to create realistic lighting.

Other Examples of CGI in Movies• The robotic androids from I,

Robot (2004)• The anti-crime interface from

Minority Report (2002)• Davy Jones’s costume (and

beard) from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

• The Pale Man’s eyes from Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

• Bruce using God’s powers to part his tomato soup in Bruce Almighty (2003)

Hollywood Trends• In the 2000’s, film studios

at Hollywood began releasing many remakes of older films– Phantom of the Opera (2004)– King Kong (2005)– Charlie and the Chocolate

Factory (2005)

• Many superhero films were also made.– Fantastic Four (2005)– Elektra (2005)– Batman Begins (2005)– Spiderman (2002)

Most Influential Directors of the 2000’s

• Many of these following people created the best movies of the 2000’s. These directors have established themselves in the film industry with their groundbreaking and revolutionary movies.

Most Influential Directors of the 2000’s

• Steven Spielberg, famed for directing Jurassic Park, Jaws, E.T., Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan in previous decades– Men in Black II (2002)– Minority Report (2002)– Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)– War of the Worlds (2005)– Letters from Iwo Jima

(2006)– Indiana Jones and the

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Most Influential Directors of the 2000’s

• M. Night Shyamalan, famed for his supernatural plots and twist endings (as in The Sixth Sense (1999) )– Unbreakable (2000)

– Signs (2002)

– The Village (2004)

– Lady in the Water (2006)

– The Happening (2008)

Most Influential Directors of the 2000’s

• Tim Burton, famed for his direction of Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Beetlejuice (1988)– Planet of the Apes (2001)

– Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

– Corpse Bride (2005)

– Sweeney Todd (2007)

Popular Actors of the 2000’s

• Johnny Depp– Pirates of the

Caribbean Trilogy

– Finding Neverland

– Secret Window

– Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

– Corpse Bride

– Sweeney Todd

• Keira Knightley– Bend It Like Beckam

– Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy

– Love Actually

– King Arthur

– Pride and Prejudice

– Atonement

Popular Actors of the 2000’s

• Will Smith– Ali

– Men in Black II

– I, Robot

– Shark Tale

– The Pursuit of Happyness

– I Am Legend

Popular Actors of the 2000’s

What’s in the Future for Film?

• With today’s advanced computer imaging effects and technology, movies keep changing by the decade.

• Who knows what’s in store? Maybe you could have the next breakthrough idea for the film industry in the future.