Special Effects Edit

8/3/2019 Special Effects Edit

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SPECIAL EFFECTS

What is special effects?

Difference between special effects and visual

effectsTypes of special effects.

Breakthrough in special effects

Software used for special effects ²live examples



WHAT IS SPECIAL EFFECTS???

Special Effects

'Special effects' are often referred to as 'FX'.

Special effects are used when a sequence or scene

in a film cannot be achieved through the usualtechniques.

Examples where special effects are used are

when Superman flies or when an explosion is too

big or expensive to be filmed in reality. Advances

in computer technology have made special effects

an integral (central) part of many modern films.



Types of special effects ²

Sound effects

Visual effects



W HAT ARE SOUND F X ?

The background sounds that we hear in a movie

can be as simple as footsteps created by Foley

artists or the extremely synthesized sounds

like those of the light sabers used in Star Wars.

Fx technicians use synthesizers and mixers to

concoct their own sounds. They also mix them

with natural sounds recorded live, to make theFx sound more real. Sound Fx have gained a lot

of importance as they keep pace with the visual

effects they compliment.



DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPECIAL EFFECTS

AND

VISUAL EFFECTS While these terms are more often used

synonymously, there is indeed a subtle differencebetween them. While the term ¶special effects·covers the entire gamut of techniques employed

in the Fx industry, the term ¶visual effects· refersto those specific Fx that fall into the ¶optical·category.

For instance, computer animation would comeunder ¶visual effects· while puppetry,

pyrotechnics or miniature / model makingwouldn·t. In general, Fx that are moremechanical in nature would not be classifiedunder ¶visual effects·, while those that are moreoptical would come under that category.



W HAT IS MEANT BY THE TERM ¶MOVIE

SPECIAL EFFECTS·?

The specific techniques that filmmakers use to make audiences see

and believe something that really isn·t there are termed as ¶Movie

Special Effects·. For example, we know that dinosaurs don·t exist

anywhere on earth today (at least we assume they don·t), and yet we

see a variety of dinosaurs parading onscreen in movies like JurassicPark and King Kong. Now how do the filmmakers show things on

screen that don·t exist at present in reality? We know that humans

don·t fly or crawl up walls, and yet we see our superheroes doing

those very things on a movie screen. How do they manage to take

such shots and make them look so convincing? Well, the exact

techniques that are employed to bring such magic onto the movie

screen are what are termed as ¶Movie Special Effects·.



SEQUENCE IN WHICH F X ARE DONE IN A

MOVIE

For more practical reasons, Fx techniques are split into Pre-production,On-production, and Post-production Fx. All the Fx that need tobe done before principal shooting begins, are completed first. For instance,miniature / model making, set creation, props, makeup and all other Fxthat have to be done before the filming begins, would come under thiscategory.

Fx that are employed on the set during the shoot are done next. Pyrotechnics and various weather Fx, motion control, stunt Fx,animatronics and a host of other things that are done in real time as thecameras roll would come under this category. Finally, Fx that are doneafter the actors and shooting crew pack up and leave are done last.

CGI, compositing, sound Fx and everything else that is done with and tothe film reel on hand would come under this last category. This way of sequencing the Fx helps the technical crew divide the job and work out atime schedule.

For instance, all the Pre-production Fx have to be given priority and workon them have to start first, whereas Post-production Fx and the crewrequired for that job can be brought in much later. In fact, until filming isover and the film reel made available, the Post-production team will nothave anything to work on. So, this method of segregating the Fx work intoPre-production, On-set and Post-production Fx helps filmmakerslogistically plan and utilize their resources to the maximum.



W HAT ARE THE VARIOUS TYPES OF MOVIE

SPECIAL EFFECTS?

makeup effects,

CGI or computer generated imagery,

compositing,

puppetry and

animatronics,

motion control,

miniature /model making,

matte paintings (both traditional and digital),

pyrotechnics, stunt effects,

Clay ani



W HICH IS THE MOST POPULAR AND WIDELY

USED EFFECTS TECHNIQUE? Effects techniques are usually used in

combination for any given shot,and are seldom

used in isolation. And there is no effect that can

be singled out as the most used technique. But

the one Fx technique that can come close to being

labeled as the ¶most widely used· is compositing.

Compositing is the technique whereby two shots

are superimposed one over the other to form a

composite shot. This technique has been used formore than half a century and has survived all

technological innovations.



MAKEUP EFFECTS

Makeup has been around from the earliest daysof theatre. The theatre artists often used a lot of makeup to make the facial expressions look moredramatic. The same tradition followed once

motion picture came into the scene. Some movies required special

kinds of makeup than the rest. In fact a lot of monster and horror movies have relied on specialmakeup effects to a very great extent. Back in

the old days they had to rely on just powder andgrease paint for makeup Fx. But now, the art of Fx makeup has advanced to a very high degree of realism with the use of foam, liquid latex andother special materials.



How are hair, fur and other textures created by makeup

artists?

Most often, real or artificial hair and furs are used and sewn onestrand

at a time into the base to create realistic looking textures. The process

is very time-consuming and painstaking. Extremely skilled artists are

employed to create life-like textures for most of these makeup effects.

Can the same hair and fur effects be generated using

computers?

Computer software packages have become so sophisticated that hair,

fur and a number of other textures can be simulated with life-like

realism. Computers software can also make the hair and fur move

realistically in relation to the body·s movement, the impact of windand

various other physical parameters.



INTRODUCTION OF COMPUTER GENERATED

IMAGERY (CGI)

A recent and profound innovation in special effects has been the developmentof computer generated imagery, or CGI, which has changed nearly every aspectof motion picture special effects.

Digital compositing allows far more control and creative freedom than opticalcompositing, and does not degrade the image like analogue (optical) processes.

Digital imagery has enabled technicians to create detailed models, matte"paintings," and even fully realized characters with the malleability of computer software.

The most spectacular use of CGI has been the creation of photographicallyrealistic images of fantasy creations.

Images could be created in a computer using the techniques of animatedcartoons or model animation.

In 1993, stop-motion animators working on the realistic dinosaurs of StevenSpielberg's Jurassic Park were retrained in the use of computer input devices. By 1995, films such as Toy Storyunderscored that the distinction between live-action films and animated films was no longer clear. Other landmark examplesinclude a character made up of broken pieces of a stained-glass windowinYoung Sherlock Holmes, a shapeshifting character in Willow, a tentacle of water in The Abyss, the T-1000 Terminator in Terminator 2: Judgment Day,hordes of armies of robots and fantastic creatures in the Star Wars prequeltrilogy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the planet Pandora in Avatar.



W HAT IS PUPPETRY?

The art of animating puppets is known aspuppetry. Puppets find a wide range of application in Fx shots. They are normallycontrolled using wires and rods manipulated by

off-screen puppeteers. Simple puppets can bearticulated by a single person, but complex onesmight need more than one puppeteer to animatethem convincingly.

Some puppets are so elaborately built that it

would take an entire team of puppeteers to bringthe puppet to life. One person might be assignedto each limb, one might work on facialexpressions, one on the eyelids, another onbreathing movements and so on.



W HAT IS ROTOSCOPING?

This involves the tracing of shapes and figures

from live action footagefor a variety of reasons.

The earliest application of rotoscoping was

tracing live actors· body movements from live

footage to create cartoon character movements.

Creating lifelike movement solely depending on

the animators· skill was extremely difficult.

Rotoscoping provided a means of translating a

live actor·s body movement onto a cartooncharacter.

Rotoscoping is also used for creating hold-out

mattes for digital compositing.



W HAT IS A NIMATRONICS?

Animatronics is another kind of puppetry. But instead of using wires

and rods to animate the puppet, servo motors are used in the joints to

move the puppets and elaborate electronic circuits or computers are

used to control them. This method of using electronics for animation is

termed as animatronics. The puppets can be filmed live as well as

using stop-motion techniques. Famous examples of Fx moviesfeaturing puppets are Aliens, King Kong (1976), Close Encounters of

the Third Kind and E.T. all created by Carlo Rambaldi.

In fact for King Kong, Rambaldi created a life-size arm of Kong that

was electronically activated, but manually controlled by five

technicians, one for each giant finger! Bob Mattey was another great

animatronic puppet maker who created the life-size animatronic squidfor 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and the shark for Jaws. The

current reigning wizard in this art form is Stan Winston who created

the T-Rex and other animatronic dinosaurs for Jurassic Park.



W HAT ARE M ATTE P AINTINGS AND WHERE

ARE THEY USED?

Matte paintings are an alternative to miniatures. The entire

background for the scene is painted on a rectangular piece of glass,

and forms the backdrop for the live action shot.

These paintings are very elaborate and look extremely lifelike. The

foreground action is shot against a blank screen either blue or greenin color. Then the matte painting alone is shot with a separatecamera. Both the shots are then combined by compositing themtogether.

Earlier, matte paintings used to be done manually by artists on glass.

The painting being a still image required the camera shooting it to

stay stationary as well.Nowadays, matte paintings are done in 3D using computers. Sincethey are 3D environments, the cameras are free to move inside theseenvironments and the shots have no space limitations whatsoever.



MINIATURES / MODELS

Creating full-scale models for filming can be

quite expensive and time consuming.Moreover,

the complexity of the project goes up

dramatically. Sometimes the script might need

an alien landscape that is hundreds of acres

wide. Creating such a huge set would be quite

impossible. The best alternative is creating

miniatures and filming them from a close-up

angle to make them look life-size. Spaceships,

alien creatures, alien landscapes and cityscapes

can all be built easily using this technique



COMPOSITING

Compositing is the technique whereby two shots are superimposed one over theother to form a composite shot. The two shots can be merged together opticallythrough an optical printer or digitally using composing software.Just as in backprojection, the car is stationary inside the studio. Butthe screen behind the caris not a projection screen onto which the background footage is screened as inthe back projection technique, but rather a plain blue or green screen.The flooron which the car is parked can also be blue or green so that the entire car issurrounded by this uniform color. From the camera·s perspective, the shotlooks like this.The background scenery footage is not mixed live while the car isbeing filmed. The background footage is kept separate and looks like this. Afterthe filming is completed, during the post-production phase, the two footagesare composited together either optically or digitally after erasing the blue/greenportion of the foreground footage, and the final scene looks like this.

A lot of care has to be taken while filming the car inside the studio. Thedirection and intensity of the lighting has to match that of the scenery footageas closely as possible to make the composite shot look real. The camera angles

and the focal length of the lenses also have to match perfectly to get the correctperspective. If done accurately, audiences simply won·t be able to distinguishbetween a composite FX shot and a normal shot of a car at the actual location. In fact in most movies, special effects shots like these go unnoticed. They lookso real that audiences don·t realize that they are viewing an Fx shot.



W HAT IS P YROTECHNICS? W HAT IS IT USED

FOR?

What is Pyrotechnics? What is it used for?

Pyrotechnics is the art of creating fireworks in acontrolled

environment. It is more of a science that makes use of

materials that are capable of undergoing self-contained and self-

sustained

exothermic chemical reactions that producespectacular firework

displays. Chemistry once again plays a huge rolehere. Apart from

fireworks, pyrotechnics are also used to create smoke,fog and even

certain sound effects.



W HAT IS MOTION CONTROL?

When compositing one shot over another, the

camera movement in both shots has to be

precisely identical to make the composite shot

look realistic.Any discrepancy in the movementwould make the shot look fake. To synchronize

the movements of both cameras, a computer

controlled rig is used to move the cameras with

pinpoint precision.

This technique is known as motion control and

was pioneered by John Dykstra for Star Wars

Episode IV in the late 70·s.



W HAT ARE STUNT F X ?

Action movies rely on outrageous stunts. Most of them can be very

dangerous or even prove fatal if something goes wrong. Stunt men of

the bygone days literally risked their lives while performing their

stunts.

Nowadays, even though the stunts are equally dangerous, they are

more scientifically coordinated and the outcomes are relatively morepredictable.

Stunt coordinators nowadays use computer-controlled rigs

and harnesses to guide the action of the actors, so that every

movement is precisely controlled and executed as planned.

Such advancements have raised the limits of complexity of the stuntsdramatically and brought about thrilling and outrageous stunts onto

the movie screen. Stunt Fx coupled with visual Fx have spawned a new

breed of movies like the Matrix and the Spiderman series.



W HAT IS MEANT BY FRONT OR B ACK

PROJECTION?

What is meant by Front or Back Projection?

This is a technique used for combining live action with existing footage. The footage isprojected on translucent screen and the live action is enacted in front of the screen,and both together are captured on camera. The position of the projector before orbehind the screen determines whether it is front or back projection.

For instance, to take a shot of a car cruising on a highway using back projection, you canpark a car inside a studio, and position it just in front of a projection screen. A livefootage of the highway is projected onto the screen from a projector placed behind thescreen. The car, its occupants and the footage are then filmed together by positioninga camera in front of the car. The resultant footage looks as if the car is cruising onthe highway.

This technique was used almost till the 70·s and was later replaced by the moresophisticated technique of compositing. It was used most often when conversationbetween the actors in the car had to be recorded without much external disturbance. By taking the entire shot inside a studio, the filmmaker had more control over theenvironment and could record a sound track with much more clarity than if it weredone outdoors on a real highway. Though it made things simpler for filmmakers, itwas at the expense of realism.



W HAT IS FORCED PERSPECTIVE?

W HERE IS IT USED?

Forced perspective is an ingenious technique used to createthe illusion of large space within a confined area. Objectsseem to look smaller as they recede into the background. A six foot tall person standing a few feet from the camera anda huge mountain 10 miles away would be the same heightdue to perspective. To recreate this scene inside a smallstudio, you can place a 6 foot tall painting of a mountain

just behind the person, and make the artificial set seem toextend for 10 miles.

How is Forced Perspective used to shrink or enlargeactors?

Forced perspective can create the illusion of different sizebased on the distance of a subject from the camera. A person standing close to the camera will look larger thanlife, while a person standing very far away will look like aminiature.



How are people made to look smaller on the screen than they reallyare?

In the movie ´Little Manµ, Marlon Wayans plays Calvin Simms, a dwarf

just 2 ft 6 inches tall. Since Marlon Wayans is not a dwarf in real life,

special effects techniques had to be used to help him play the role of a

dwarf .

Two actors eventually had to play the role. The scenes were first filmed with

Linden Porco, a nine-year-old 75 cm (2 ft 6 in) tall dwarf actor interacting withthe other actors in the set. Later, Marlon Wayans alone was shot against agreen screen wearing a green skin-tight suit. When the green was removed,only Marlon Wayans· head remained in the shot.

In post-production, Porco's head was replaced with Marlon·sfrom the greenscreen shots. Porco's body was also painted brown to match Marlon's face.

While computer technology enables us to erase and replace heads today, such

conveniences were not available even two decades ago. Filmmakers had to relyon another technique known as Forced Perspective to shrink or enlarge actorson screen.



MORPHING



STOP-MOTION AND GO-MOTION



W HAT IS CLAY A NIMATION

Sometimes clay models and puppets are usedinstead of pictures, to create animated movies. The models have to be positioned and poseddepicting progressive action and shot one frame

at a time using a movie camera. This technique isknown as stop-motion animation. One of thedrawbacks of this technique is that the film looksa little jerky. To overcome this problem, themodels are moved at the precise time of film

exposure to introduce a slight motion blur in theframe to smoothen the action. This technique isknown as go-motion animation. Phil Tippetpioneered this technique while filming ´TheEmpire Strikes Backµ.



LIVE SPECIAL EFFECTS

Live special effects are effects that are used in front

of a live audience, mostly during sporting events,

concerts and corporate shows. Types of effects

that are commonly used include: flying

effects, laser lighting, Theatrical smoke and

fog, CO2 effects, pyrotechnics, confetti and other

atmospheric effects such as bubbles and snow.



BULLET TIME



W HAT ARE BLUE SCREEN AND GREEN

SCREEN? W HAT ARE THEY USED

FOR?



HOW TO CREATE CERTAIN EFFECTS-LIVE

EXAMPLE USING SOFTWARE.

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Special Effects Edit