Daniel Wray

Mrs. Maxwell

Brit. Lit.

11/01/11

Special Effects

The world of Special Effects (Visual Effects, fx, vfx) has always been one of the most

important aspects of any kind of video production. Special effects create the “oooh, ahh” effect

that people get when they watch movies. This area of the film production industry covers a wide

spectrum including physical effects that are used while the movie, commercial, is being

recorded. Then, there is the behind the scenes portion. VFX is truly one of the most influential

processes of filmmaking and it has greatly advanced throughout the years. The history of special

effects is extremely fascinating along with the process of implementing these effects; with both

of these the development of movies over the years has become possible.

Special effects go as far back as the 1700’s. Magicians used special effects in many of

their acts such as spiritism (Luis Carrera). This was done by placing a semi transparent slide in

front of a light source to project an image onto some kind of background whether is be a screen

or a wall. Then in the 1800’s came the first paid motion picture show was staged. We still see a

little of this today with comedic acts and commercials. The use of the projector and camera were

used to portray different scenes in different places. For example, old western movies were made

by using a projector behind a screen to display a certain scene or scenario. Then the camera,

which was positioned in front of the screen, recorded the background being project while the

actor(s) and/or actress(s) performed in front of the screen. Many times, in this era, if this method

is used a conveyor belt is lain below the acting area so that the illusion of the actor/actress’s

walking could be conveyed. Throughout the years we have created many new forms of special

effects such as the smoke/fog machine, robotics, blood bags et cetera. Fog machines are almost

always used to create a sense of uncertainty and even a dark and gloomy feeling. A good

example of this would be in the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in the scene where

Harry has to proceed through the shrub maze. The makers of this movie used fog machines to

make the audience feel anxious, but not only does it do that but it also makes the audience more

attentive to what is happening and it increases their sight for detail. Fog machines can even be

used for simple purposes such as making a small amount of fog coat a lake or small pond.

Details like these make the movie seem even more legitimate. Its is truly only been about ten

years that the use of special effects software, such as Adobe After Effects, has been put into play.

Nowadays, there is quite a bit of postproduction special effects implementation that occurs.

Some general examples of this would be the animation of some explosions, there are still a lot of

movies that create actual explosions and have special effects animators just up scale it a little.

One excellent example of postproduction special effects is in the movie Gamer. The scene where

Kable is walking through the battlefield and we are in a 3rd person point of view and the (HUD)

Heads up display is visible in red around the edges of the screen. The history of visual/special

effects has countless amounts of breakthroughs and enhancements. Next on the list is Jurassic

Park being the first movie using CGI (Computer generated imagery). There were many Dinosaur

movies, but Jurassic park was the first to include computer-generated dinosaurs. In the scene

where the T-Rex is storming down the city street flipping cars the T-Rex was actually computer

generated. CGI can be used in many different situations. In fact, CGI is used in almost all

modern movies. Movies like Monster Inc. are completely computer generated. Anything from

the buildings, trees, grass, and even the hair on the characters are all computer generated.

The process of making a movie or any other type of video is actually very complex. The

first and probably the most important step is to have an idea. Once you have the idea you are able

to make a script, which will enable you to determine how exactly you want your video to look

like. The next step is storyboarding; Storyboarding allows the maker of the film to sketch out

how they want each shot to look and what is heard throughout the video. Once the storyboarding

process is complete, the moviemakers start contacting agent for the people they want in the

video. This can be a long and very tedious process but usually pays off in the end. Then come

filming, this process can take 6-8 months depending on how long the movie is. After comes

Postproduction. Post Production consists of all the editing that come along with making a film.

The actual editing process takes quite awhile depending on what actually needs to be

done. The reason for this is because each little effect has to be entered individually. It’s not as

simple as photo shopping a still image onto another still image. The whole editing process can

take many months to complete. The Editors now what to add in mainly because of the storyboard

that was made long before the movie even is filmed. Next come the actual addition of the effects.

First the editor has to figure out what effects he/she needs to apply. Some examples would be,

muzzle flash, some explosions, earthquakes, different light effects like neon streams running

behind the motorcycles in the movie Tron. Next the Fx artist has to determine what the effect

needs to look like, such as color, shape, size, etc. This is determined by the surroundings,

lighting, time of day, the object the effect is originating from and so forth. Once the Fx artist

knows exactly what they need to apply they can begin by tracking the motion of the film. This is

done because if they just tried to add the effect right on the film the effect would just stay on that

same part of the screen no matter if the object it is originating from is moving or not. Motion

tracking is basically locking on to one area of the screen and as you play the film the computer

will track how bad the film moves. After motion tracking, the editor can start adding in the

effects and connecting them to the motion track. Doing the motion tracking is probably the

easiest part of the whole editing process, because all that has to be done is selecting a certain

region to track and starting the motion tracking process via command. There is an infinite

amount of effects that can be added to a film clip. The only reason that no more effects could be

added would be because the screen was completely covered.

The Harry Potter movies are probably one of the most popular movie series. It consists

of eight movies, Sorcerer’s stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire,

Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and finally Deathly Hallows parts one and two. In each

of these films special effects are added throughout the story. Each spell has to be animated

differently because of the uniqueness of each individual cast. All of the steps of special effects

editing are used in this process, including, motion tracking, basic color choice etc.

Avatar, one of the biggest blockbuster hits ever, took approximately four years to film

and edit. Probably the most extraordinary features of this film is that it is mostly CGI (computer

generated). The scenes where filmed on small sets with a green screen backdrop [A Green screen

is used to put non existing features in the background]. 100% of the animals are computer

generated. Another key aspect of the movie is that each of the navi had to be acted out by real

actors before editors could replace them with a navi body. This is done by attaching little radio

sensors onto an actor, and when the actor moves they transmit a signal showing exactly how they

moved and how fast they moved.

The movie Gamer has some very unique forms of special effects. Including some really

strange backdrops integrated wit a green screen and a HUD [Heads Up Display] just like a video

game. All effects like these can be done using a program such as Adobe After Effects.

All in all, special effects have been used even before movies were even being made.

Magicians used special effects to create the illusion of different spirits. In today’s world this is

majorly unrealistic. But throughout the years special effects have progressed greatly to a point

that we can even create whole new worlds with just a computer on place real people in these

worlds. Sure, people can make films without special effects. But, where is the true interest

factor? It lies in the art of special effects.

Works Cited

Carrera, Luis. "The History of Special Effects." The Revolution of Special      Effects in Movies. Luis Carrera, Sept.-Oct. 8, 15, 2011. Web. 15 Sept.      2011. <http://utminers.utep.edu/lacarrera/history.htm>.

"Computer Animation." Britannica School Edition. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.      <http://www.school.eb.com.proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/eb/      article-9113602?query=CGI&ct=null>.

"Computer-generated imagery." Wikipedia. N.p., 24 Sept. 2011. Web. 25 Sept.      2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery>.

"Computer science." Britannica School Edition. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.      <http://www.school.eb.com.proxygsu-sche.galileo.usg.edu/eb/      article-21968?query=computer%20animation&ct=null>.