Special Effects Essay
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Special EFFECTS
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 in the early fifties would use a black cloth backdrop with white paint splattered off of toothpicks 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...
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