Science Fiction Film Essay (School)

8/11/2019 Science Fiction Film Essay (School)

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In the modern day film industry, visual effects (VFX) and special effects (SFX) are used in

almost every film, especially in science fiction films (sci-fi films), to create a sense of

suspense, mystery, surrealism and sometimes humour. Some of the best known sci-fi films

today that uses a mass amount of visual effects and special effects are Doctor Who 50th

Anniversary Special, Marvel: The Avengers, Marvel Thor: The Dark World and

Marvel: Iron Man 3.Special effects are either optical or mechanical illusions used to film

things that are surreal, using elements that are physically real and can be filmed with a

camera.

Many are misled to think that visual effects are the same as special effects, as they overlap

and are often used together. Visual effects are the techniques that were used in creating and

manipulating imagery that is outside of the context of the live action set. There are two

categories in special effects, optical special effects (Optical SFX) and mechanical special

effects (Mechanical SFX). Optical SFX are the optical photo-manipulation techniques that

are applied to a moving footage, whereas mechanical SFX are the making of on-set

elements that create a real and filmable scene such as wind fans, artificial rain, explosions

and fires. Some of the common are visual effects green screen, blue screen, computer-

generated imagery (CGI), digital animation and digital effects (Digital FX). Green screen

and blue screen are primarily the same thing. They are either green or blue background in

which moving subjects are filmed in front of. This allows a separately filmed background

to be added to the final image. CGI, digital animation, digital FX and three-dimensional

rendering (3D rendering) are almost the same; they are all creating surreal images through

using computer software. CGI is creating images in scenes, settings, characters, animation,

where as digital animation is creating characters, digital FX are effects, images and


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projections, and 3D rendering is the process of creating an image based on three-

dimensional data stored.

The Doctor Who 50thAnniversary Specialwas mostly created by using SFX and VFX. In

this film, one of the important points is Gallifray in a painting during the time war. In the

beginning sequence, there is a scene where we see the painting is a 3D way in Claras point

of view. This was created through green screen, in a way different from normal shooting. It

was a green screen in a box so that it will give it an illusion that it is inside a painting. The

scene where audience seems to be flying through the Time War was completely done by

the use of CGI. Another significant use of CGI was the time vortex, Gallifray, and the

ending sequence of the flying T.A.R.D.I.S.s. The Doctors and some Daleks in the Gallifray

painting and Dalek spaceships were created through 3D Rendering. When scenes involve

the T.A.R.D.I.S., it seems as if it is short in a room, but the set is only half T.A.R.D.I.S.

This illusion is created through camera angles and multiple shots. Mechanical FX were also

used in creating this film such as the gust of wind from the arriving and departing

T.A.R.D.I.S. and the created by the time vortex.

Marvel: The Avengersis one of the films that use the most VFX and SFX. Many scenes

in film were filmed using green screen. One of the biggest scenes in this film, the battle of

New York was film using green screen and CGI. To prepare the background image of the

scene, they had their crew take pictures of various places in New York in various angles,

day and night and combined them together. Using CGI, some parts of New York was

changed to match The Marvel Universe. Though some may not know, in some parts of

this scene, the superheroes were CGI. For most part, they shot the actors in front of the

green screen so they could add in the New York background. The mechanical SFX that


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were used were creating lightning, false wind, and other natural elements. Hulk would be

considered the most important and biggest CGI character, or thing in this entire film. By

taking the structure of Mark Ruffalos face and using the technology of CGI a character

with human features was created. Tonys house, in which some may not have realised, was

created using CGI. The land in which it is located is actually a nature-reserve park. Other

things like the helicarrier and the advanced technology of S.H.I.E.L.D. were created

through CGI. By shooting in a birds eye view and a close up following shots, a sense of

suspense and a feeling of heroes save the day was created. Many different angles were

used to add emphasis on a characters emotions or action, such as the close up shot on

Tonys hand when he secretly plugged in the thumb-drive to get information from

S.H.I.E.L.D., giving it a sense of secrecy, or the feeling of suspense given though full body

close up shot of Hulk chasing Black Widow and destroying everything in its way.

In Marvel: Thor The Dark World,majority of the film was created using SFX and VFX.

Many scenes in this film were short using green screen and sometimes blue screen. Two of

the most significant scenes, two battles in the desert were shot using green screen and

sometimes blue screen as it was a place that was not of Earth. This film uses a considerably

large of amount of CGI, as it has to incorporate elements that are not of this world to make

it seem God like, which creates a sense of surrealism and slight mystery. Other uses of CGI

were the monsters. Though the close up fighting scenes of the monsters were pre-filmed,

they were only to guide the editors of the moves that the monsters should have. Different

camera angles were used to create breath-taking emotion in fight scenes. Camera angles

such as over view, close up and filming from the ground to the head of the monsters create

a sense of power, important and suspense. To create more emotion, mechanical FX were

used such as adding in wind, the lighting and thunder of Thor and the gloomy sky.


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Like its prequels, Marvel: Iron Man 3,uses a lot of VFX and SFX. Not a lot of scenes

were shot using green screen as this film had a lot of acting. Using green screen to shoot

this level of action is sometimes challenging. One of the scenes that did involve the use of

green screen was the effect of the attack of Tonys house on the inside. Some of the

important scenes that involved 3D rendering were the flying Iron Man suits in the ending

battle and other scenes. Mechanical FX were used a lot in this film. Some of the significant

scenes are the explosions of the live shot scenes in fighting scene in the ending sequence,

the explosion of the human specimens, and the attack of Tonys house. Some of the major

or significant scenes that use CGI are fighting scene in the ending sequence, Iron Man

jumping off the plane to fly down and save civilians, Tonys house through birds eye view,

and when the audience is able to see through the iron man suit in Tonys point of view with

holographic information.

Majority of the films in the modern day uses some form of either special effects or visual

effects, or both. As they overlap, they are often used together. Like the majority of the

modern day sci-fi films, Doctor Who 50th

Anniversary Special, Marvel: The Avengers,

Marvel Thor: The Dark World and Marvel: Iron Man 3uses a lot of special effects and

visual effects to create a sense of suspense, mystery, surrealism and sometimes humour.


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interesting facts about Tony Starks House. 02 May 2013. 20 May 2014

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5. Stephan. Special Effects vs. Visual Effects. 30 May 2012. 22 May 2014

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6. Marvel: The Avengers. By Joss Whedon. Dir. Joss Whedon. Perf. Robert Jr

Downey, et al. Prod. Kelvin Feige. 2012.

7. Marvel: Iron Man 3. By Drew Pearce and Shane Black. Dir. Shane Black. Perf.

Robert Jr. Downey, et al. Prod. Kevin Feige. 2013.


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8.

Marvel: Thor The Dark World. By Stephen McFeely, Christopher Markus and

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Feige. 2013.

9. Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special. By Steven Moffat. Dir. Nick Hurran. Perf.

Billie Piper, et al. Prod. Marcus Wilson. 2013.

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Schweickart, Stephen. Whats The Difference Between Green Screen & Blue

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based on three-dimensional data stored within a computer. 2002. 22 May 2014

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14.MILK. The Day of the Doctor. February 2013. 18 May 2014 .

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16.Moltenbrey, Karen. "The Gold Standard." Computer Graphics World 36.7 (2013).

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Blur. Thor :The Dark World VFX Breakdown. 18 December 2013. 22 May 2014

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Science Fiction Film Essay (School)