in motion pictures has evolved over the years into an
involved science of illusion and visual magic. The following is a
comprehensive perspective depicting the rapidly expanding realm of
cinematography.
In times of old, special effects in movies was limited to an
individual’s creativity and the constrictive limits of the tools
available. However the results of early special effects masters astounded
audiences in their age in the same manner that modern artists do today.
The ability to create an effect that was brand new was, and still is, the
key to the industry.
Techniques range from the expected to the bizarre in order to achieve
a certain image or illusion. Cinematographers to simulate a space scene in the many science-fiction movies made in that
era. There is also stories of a common plate being thrown across a
“space” backdrop to emulate a flying saucer in mid-flight.
Although the special effects persons of old were strapped with
limits, one of these was not make-up. They relied heavily on this prop to
portray the many monsters and aliens in their films. “Nosferatu” a German
film about the vampire with the same name was a huge success even in
America, where thousands marveled at the intricate detailing of the
blood-sucker’s razor-like teeth, bulging eyes and a pointed nose and ears.
“The Creature from the Black Lagoon” used a somewhat new technique of a
body suit that the actor wore along with a mask made of latex rubber and
foam. Using cooking oil or butter spread on the body and mask gave an
enhancement of sliminess added to the monster image. A fairly recent film
using heavy make-up effects is “An American Werewolf in London” done by
the master make-up artist Rick Baker who shows what can be done with a
steady hand and a lot of patience.
Another popular trick used was strings to manipulate miniature
objects. Often used in the science fiction era to show spacecraft or
other objects in flight was thin strings attached to miniatures.
Audiences did notice the obvious strings but it did not matter at the time
because it was state of the art.
The next major breakthrough in the effects world was stop-motion
animation. A process by which objects were filmed for a very short period
(3 or 4 frames) being altered or moved very slightly at each interval of
“cuts.”King Kong” and “I was a teenage werewolf” popularized this
time-consuming process but was worth the results. The teenage werewolf
program used it to show the unfortunate boy transforming into a raging
beast.
At each cut interval the special effects “crew” (usually the
producer and a make-up specialist) would add a little bit more hair to the
actor’s face. When finished, the illusion of growing hair was achieved,
although it was choppy. The reason for the choppy result is that when
using stop-motion the actor and camera must be kept as still as possible.
If not, when recording resumes the actor is not in the same place as when
recording was halted earlier. The result when viewing are “jumps” where
the actor or object moves instantly taking away from the image attempted.
“King Kong” the story of the giant ape in the Big Apple was revolutionary
in that it used an early form of stop-motion animation using clay models
(claymation) as well as a new procedure called super imposing which would
change special effects forever.
Super imposing in King Kong was created with two physical tapes that
were cut apart under magnification. One half (the bottom) containing real
actors and actresses while the other top half contained Kong and the
stop-motion animation. When specially glued together their was an entire
audience gasping at the huge ape on stage. This was only done in a brief
segment of the movie due to the difficulty. All later films incorporating
super imposure used the more common blue-screen that can take two
filmstrips and set one as a background while the other containing the
person / object is filmed in front of a blue-screen that is the canvas for
editing the background film over it using a simple computer program.
“Star Trek” the popular sci-fi television show of the 60’s and 70’s used
mostly super imposure in it’s special effects.
George Lucas’ “Star Wars” trilogy of motion pictures was a cinematic
masterpiece that set the benchmark for special effects in movies. About
ten years ahead of it’s time, “Star Wars” did not introduce anything new
to cinematography and was uncanny at how popular it became as a visual
effects film. Industrial Light & Magic led and owned by Lucas took
existing techniques, analyzed them thoroughly and fine-tuned them in any
way possible. His films use stop-motion, super imposing, masks, make-up,
intricately detailed model miniatures, animatronics and
lighting / pyrotechnic effects. Lucas works have gone down in history and
said to be the best special effects movies ever. Gaining huge popularity
worldwide for it’s visual effects, it has attracted a huge cult following
largely due to this.
An unorthodox method of visual imagery is a method called
animatronics where steel and plastic “skeletons” are made to imitate
animals, usually. Tiny motors or “servos” are then attached to imitate
the animals muscles to move the skeleton Special effects in motion pictures has evolved over the years into an
involved science of illusion and visual magic. The following is a
comprehensive perspective depicting the rapidly expanding realm of
cinematography.
In times of old, special effects in movies was limited to an
individual’s creativity and the constrictive limits of the tools
available. However the results of early special effects masters astounded
audiences in their age in the same manner that modern artists do today.
The ability to create an effect that was brand new was, and still is, the
key to the industry.
Techniques range from the expected to the bizarre in order to achieve
a certain image or illusion. Cinematographers to simulate a space scene in the many science-fiction movies made in that
era. There is also stories of a common plate being thrown across a
“space” backdrop to emulate a flying saucer in mid-flight.
Although the special effects persons of old were strapped with
limits, one of these was not make-up. They relied heavily on this prop to
portray the many monsters and aliens in their films.
“Nosferatu” a German
film about the vampire with the same name was a huge success even in
America, where thousands marveled at the intricate detailing of the
blood-sucker’s razor-like teeth, bulging eyes and a pointed nose and ears.
“The Creature from the Black Lagoon” used a somewhat new technique of a
body suit that the actor wore along with a mask made of latex rubber and
foam. Using cooking oil or butter spread on the body and mask gave an
enhancement of sliminess added to the monster image. A fairly recent film
using heavy make-up effects is “An American Werewolf in London” done by
the master make-up artist Rick Baker who shows what can be done with a
steady hand and a lot of patience.
Another popular trick used was strings to manipulate miniature
objects. Often used in the science fiction era to show spacecraft or
other objects in flight was thin strings attached to miniatures.
Audiences did notice the obvious strings but it did not matter at the time
because it was state of the art.
The next major breakthrough in the effects world was stop-motion
animation. A process by which objects were filmed for a very short period
(3 or 4 frames) being altered or moved very slightly at each interval of
“cuts.”King Kong” and “I was a teenage werewolf” popularized this
time-consuming process but was worth the results. The teenage werewolf
program used it to show the unfortunate boy transforming into a raging
beast. At each cut interval the special effects “crew” (usually the
producer and a make-up specialist) would add a little bit more hair to the
actor’s face. When finished, the illusion of growing hair was achieved,
although it was choppy.
The reason for the choppy result is that when
using stop-motion the actor and camera must be kept as still as possible.
If not, when recording resumes the actor is not in the same place as when
recording was halted earlier. The result when viewing are “jumps” where
the actor or object moves instantly taking away from the image attempted.
“King Kong” the story of the giant ape in the Big Apple was revolutionary
in that it used an early form of stop-motion animation using clay models
(claymation) as well as a new procedure called super imposing which would
change special effects forever.
Super imposing in King Kong was created with two physical tapes that
were cut apart under magnification.
One half (the bottom) containing real
actors and actresses while the other top half contained Kong and the
stop-motion animation. When specially glued together their was an entire
audience gasping at the huge ape on stage. This was only done in a brief
segment of the movie due to the difficulty. All later films incorporating
super imposure used the more common blue-screen that can take two
filmstrips and set one as a background while the other containing the
person / object is filmed in front of a blue-screen that is the canvas for
editing the background film over it using a simple computer program.
“Star Trek” the popular sci-fi television show of the 60’s and 70’s used
mostly super imposure in it’s special effects.
George Lucas’ “Star Wars” trilogy of motion pictures was a cinematic
masterpiece that set the benchmark for special effects in movies. About
ten years ahead of it’s time, “Star Wars” did not introduce anything new
to cinematography and was uncanny at how popular it became as a visual
effects film. Industrial Light & Magic led and owned by Lucas took
existing techniques, analyzed them thoroughly and fine-tuned them in any
way possible. His films use stop-motion, super imposing, masks, make-up,
intricately detailed model miniatures, animatronics and
lighting / pyrotechnic effects.
Lucas works have gone down in history and
said to be the best special effects movies ever. Gaining huge popularity
worldwide for it’s visual effects, it has attracted a huge cult following
largely due to this.
An unorthodox method of visual imagery is a method called
animatronics where steel and plastic “skeletons” are made to imitate
animals, usually. Tiny motors or “servos” are then attached to imitate
the animals muscles to move the skeleton.