Special effects in Hollywood : Old school vs New school

From practical effects to Computer-generated imagery, the use of special effects in live-action cinema has gone through a long way since this medium has been invented. Let's take a look at the evolution of special effects in Hollywood live-action cinema. The Early Age of Special Effects

From the very beginning, special effects have been one of cinema’s biggest advantages over other similar media. Although it is pretty much impossible to get a car to explode or a real-life scaled Dinosaur for a theatrical play, cinema does that with almost no problem. All you need to bring your exploding automobile or your hungry giant reptile to on-screen life is a valuable technique and a gifted supervisor. Oh, and a certain amount of money. Special effects should not only be considered an important part of cinema, but rather as a representation of what cinema truly is: the possibility of immerging the In The Nightmare (1896), George Melies plays banjo... Beside several copies of his spectator in anything that you own head. can imagine, for the price of his ticket.

The creator of special Some Live-action Film Special Effects Milestones effects is considered to be George Melies, a French 1902: A Trip to The Moon The first sci-fi movie of History features rick photography, trompe-l'oeil, scale director who, at the beginning models, & . of the 20th century, took inspiration from his previous 1905: Intolerance Many fight scenes of this epic tale by career as a pretender to trick David W. Griffith include realistically the spectator he was seeing gruesome wound props. magic on screen. These first 1924: Die Nibelungen: Siegfried The legendary German hero fights attempts included “primitive” against a giant dragon puppet. effects such as the use of 1927: Metropolis The first realistic miniatures and large trompe-l'oeil sceneries or sets of cinema were used to trick the filming the same twice, but spectator into thinking the giant city of with an actor removed from Metropolis was real. the second one to create the 1933: King Kong The giant creatures of this classic are illusion he had suddenly stop-motion animated action figures. disappeared. From then, the 1939: The Wizard of Oz The intensive use of make-up and use of models, props, optical matte paintings was necessary to bring illusions and on-film tricks the World of Oz to life. became a standard in 1956: The Ten Commandments Pyrotechnics, large-scale sets, and trick Hollywood cinema, especially photography were needed to make this in genre movies. adaptation of the Bible believable. 1968: 2001: A Space Odyssey The first realistic footages of space travels are still convincing today. 1973: Westworld The first use of computer animation in cinema mimics a robot's infrared vision. 1984: The Last Starfighter First (missed) attempt to realistic computer-generated imagery to create action scenes featuring spaceships. 1988: The Abyss The “pseudopod” of the movie is made of realistic digitally-animated water. 1993: Jurassic Park 4 minutes of the film feature realistic CGI dinosaurs. 2001-2003: The Lord of Rings The antagonist Gollum is animated with Trilogy the help of motion capture, and the films shows many large-scale CGI Battles. 2009: Avatar The blue aliens are bring to life with the help of realistic motion capture. Ingeniosity and Audacity: “classic” effects

The use of props, that is This kind of technique can also to say objects that are simply be combined, in the case of a displayed and used on set and scene showing a large model Matte paintings showed as they were filmed on in movement, with the use of the movie, without any post- props animated mecanically or A cheaper and riskier, yet playable production modifications, is with the help of stop-motion: variant of miniatures consists in the what we immediately think frame-by-frame animated use of painted panels of glass, about when talking about miniatures, also know as go- representing complex or huge special effects. It includes the motion in the world of live- sceneries in trompe-l'oeil, and superposed to the print or simply use of costumes, make-up, action cinema. This is for placed in front of the camera to puppets or animatronics instance the case for the ED-209 reproduce large sceneries. This (basically, remote-controlled from 1987 sci-fi classic Robocop, simple technique proves itself puppets) to recreate monsters a large walking machine that incredibly effective when cleverly or body modifications. From could not be built “for real”. used. the actor wearing prosthetic face to make him look older to One of the undeniable the 5-metres high mechanical qualities of what are creature, this includes a large nowadays considered “old range of possibilities. school” special effects is that, The use of on-set effects, as they are often done in front such as making fake rain or of the camera, they can still snow fall, using pyrotechnics to look convincing decades after produce large explosions, or having been shot. Well-made squibs and theatrical to and inventive special effects mimic bullet wounds as in the from pre-numerical era are final scene from Bonnie and timeless. The downside is that, Return of the Jedi: the matte is painted Clyde, where the protagonists if a practical or “on-film” effect with an empty space left... are gruesomely shot by the somehow appears Police, is also another form of unconvincing, it really is prop-using. unconvincing. Everybody can tell when a character falling off Another staple of a cliff is actually a dummy, practical effects is the inclusion when a robot is animated in of scale models on sets or stop-motion, when a creature is directly on films. Buildings, a bad plastic puppet with a vehicles or living creatures that limited range of animations, or would be way too expensive when the sky in which to build on scale 1 are often Superman is supposed to fly is reproduced as miniatures and actually a poorly-executed … Which will allow the picture to be filmed so to make believe they screen. superposed with a live-action footage. are actually much taller. It sometimes involves the model being placed directly on-set, with a strategical position to make believe it is part of the scenery. This trick exists with several variants, one being the “forced ”, an optical illusion that consists in superposing two objects, one in the forefront, another in the background, and to make believe they actually are in the same plane. Most of the time, models are shot in a studio as if they were real, and the prints could then be manipulated to pictures of the models in live-action shots, giving the impression that the actors really stand in front of a Special effects creator Douglas Trumbull building when it is behind a scale model from Blade Runner. actually a miniature. Pretty convincing. CGI: the Eldorado of visual effects

In the early nineties, the T-1000 Robot from Terminator 2 on filmed sets are also common development of a new-school (1991). These artificial, semi- nowadays, as well as the of technology allowed for a liquid and polymorphic brand new generation of more creatures were then photorealistic visual effects: the followed by the Dinosaurs creation of computer-animated models that could be included from Jurassic Park (1993), a in live-action films. much bigger achievement Computer-generated considering the animators imagery existed and had been were working on monsters used in films before, notably in of flesh and blood. Since Tron or the Star Wars saga, yet then, CGI has been it rarely aimed to make the omnipresent in cinema and spectator feel like he or she Television, endlessly was watching a real object: improving itself. CGI models, usually “wire- frame” models, were mostly It is now well- there to represent what they known that the use of on- were: computer images, such set green or blue as holograms. But, thanks to “screens”, accessories or the innovations costumes is the basis of the use of CGI. To reproduce complex sceneries that would be impossible or too expensive to create as scale 1 models, actors are Marvel's The Avengers after and before filmed in front of blue or chroma keying. green sets (simply known numerical suppression of as “screens”): these bright existing accessories, such as computers had gone colors are then easily security cables to make stunts through during the numerically erased and less dangerous: in post- previous decade, it could replaced by 3D models of production, they are covered now be used to modify settings, creating the illusion with “numerical painting” that pictures in order to that the actors are indeed makes them totally create realistic moving around in them. This unnoticeable. This is the sceneries and technique is known as Chroma technique used in many shots creatures. Key . Although it of Sam Raimi's Spiderman has been known and used trilogy. “Numerical painting” The first notable since the 1930s, it only found a is also used to add some successful attempts to produce large use in early 2000s, when elements to backgrounds. photorealistic CGI came from visual effects actually allowed Unlike 100% CGI landscapes two separate James Cameron for realistic incrustations. and characters, these minor movies: the water tentacle The addition of modifications are often totally from The Abyss (1989) and the Computer generated-elements impossible to notice.

Motion capture CGI creatures are not only tricky to modelize with realistic skin and textures, they also are tricky to animate. It is difficult to give a sense of realism and life to their movements, physics and facial expressions without making them look cartoonish. This is the reason why Motion capture was invented. Originally used in video games to create realistic movements for the characters, “Mo-cap” consists in filming an actor in a thigh suit full of captors, that will then help CGI creators to transpose his or her movements to the animated model. Captors can also be displayed on the face of the performer to catch the subtleness of his expressions. This technique, most notably used for Gollum from Lord of the Rings and the Na'vi Aliens from Avatar, allows for talented actors to literally play animated parts, instead of leaving them in the hands of animators whose it is not really the job.

Mo-cap star Andy Serkis as Cesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. later, it is obvious to CGI is however not any spectator that without flaws. Maybe due to all the large scale the popularization of video shots showing two games, which use the same armies fighting technology and have each other in a contributed to make audiences gruesome battle more familiar with it, these that looked type of images are considered fantastic at the time by many to be easily spotable is actually 98% CGI. and to break the immersion. Combine this to the The use of unrealistic physics, popularization of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Cristal Skull: A like heavy objects flying High Definition CGI gopher. Getting a living one was probably too around as if they were made devices that make hard. of a much more light material, bad textures and incrustations bad incrustations or the visible even more noticeable, and you lack of coordination between get an audience that grows real actors and the numerical more and more bored over sets and creatures they are these new-school effects. Bad supposed to interact with are numerical effects in big-budget the most typical flaws one can flicks are constantly spotted encounter and spot. It is also and mocked by critics and believed to be overused, and moviegoers alike, and lists of often visible in scenes that visual effects failures are now would look more convincing if popular all over the internet. they only featured practical effects. The main problem of this technology is that even though perfectly executed for their time, CGI effects age especially fast: they are always improving, and general audience is now likely to harshly judge effects that are not as good as what they have seen elsewhere or more recently. The 2003 blockbuster hit Lord of the Rings – The Return of the king was praised for its numerical special effects and even won an Oscar thanks to them, but thirteen years

A 3D model of Smaug the Dragon from The Hobbit trilogy. Old and New school: which is better?

And more than jaded general audiences, Computer Generated Imagery has found a way more dreaded enemy to struggle with: its arrival has indeed seemingly spawned a generation of nostalgic moviegoers, to whom CGI looks irredeemably fake. And even though these supporters of old-school technology usually admit that many practical-effects era visuals look disastrous today (and Mad Max Fury Road: almost everything is shot for real, just not at the same sometimes already did at their time. release), they also believe that even failed attempts to bring magic to the screen had a certain charm, a poetry that is absent from computer- animated models. The stop- motion animated puppet from the first King-Kong movie looks totally fake, but isn't there some kind of cinematic beauty in the akward movements and unrealistic proportions of this giant gorilla, that clearly is a 12-inch high action figure? A practical set for Interstellar. There is nowadays a clear opposition between moviegoers more and more attracted by returning to more “authentic” effects and the studios and directors that have a propensity to use numerical effects for absolutely anything. However, many talented and ambitious film directors and effects supervisors tend to refuse to use numerical effects when they can do otherwise. Director Guillermo Del Toro with the faun's costume from Pan's Labyrinth. Christopher Nolan or Guillermo Del Toro are notably known for using practical sets and air, it would give a much more audiences. As a consequence, props when they can. realistic result to suspend the their passion for practical and According to most critics, the actor to cables, and then classical effects tends to remain vastly appreciated quality of numerically erase these cables, marginalized, but maybe their visual styles heavily relies rather than creating a fully things are going to change. on showing “authentic” digitized figure, and to add it Partly thanks to them, pictures rather than “fake” swinging in front of the camera who manage to gain significant ones. Does this mean they in post-production. fanbases and whose films are totally reject computer often financially succesful, generated elements and do not These directors are often stereotypes about special rely on it at all? No. Actually, known to be some kind of effects, from both old and new most of their films contain Hollywood outcasts, protesting schools, start to disappear from loads of CGI, sometimes really against the current the popular mind: studios and noticeable, but they mostly use standardization of movies and audiences have started to it as a last resort, when a scene having difficulty getting understand that CGI is not would be unfilmable financial supports to shoot their necessarily cheaper and more otherwise, or to improve or films. Their artistic choices are photorealistic than classic modify a picture rather than indeed often considered by the effects, and that there are creating one: if a scene has to studios to be expensive and many impressive and show someone flying up in the unappreciated by general convincing visuals that would be impossible to get with only props and miniatures. 2015 saw the release of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens: Three popular sequels to “old-school” action franchises, that cleverly combine practical and numerical effects to get the best of both. Many stunts and sets that can be seen on screen were shot “for real”, but computers were still used to add backgrounds, modify minor details and create things that could not be built practically. According to many critics and directors, 2015 was a game-changer in special effects, and will be remembered as the year where studios, filmmakers and audiences learnt that the most convincing effects often result from a clever balance between old and new school techniques. Louis Misandeau

Sources of pictures used (in order of appearance): 1st page Background: http://www.iclaverofilms.es/mediapool/125/1250111/resources/big_24283170_0_1024-681.jp Die Nibelungen: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=pM3Dzw7Bcx0&index=18&list=PLDCVxR16HqmzrZxVMuhA2IDHNaMmipxcK The Nightmare: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/- Hmz6Kc9kdxs/TuHQOEBU2GI/AAAAAAAABLo/ojFmh9DNMdk/s1600/George-Melies.jpg The Terminator: http://www.theterminatorfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/T-800-Endoskeleton-Genisys.jpg Matte painting 1: http://www.bloggang.com/data/n/noplucifer/picture/1387503744.jpg Matte painting 2: http://1.fwcdn.pl/ph/05/47/547/211186.1.jpg Blade Runner: http://www.devo.com/bladerunner/sector/1/pics/pyramid.jpeg Jurassic Park: http://www.cgsociety.org/cgsarchive/newgallerycrits/g77/372577/372577_1265697850_large.jpg The Avengers: http://digitalsynopsis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/movies-before-after-green-screen-cgi-avengers-5.jpg Planet of the Apes: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fkf3Llbap14/hqdefault.jpg Indiana Jones: http://animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/indy-skulls-08.JPG The Hobbit: http://i.imgur.com/vTFoY7r.jpg Mad Max: https://www.visualnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Fury-Road-VFX-2.jpg Interstellar: http://www.cultjer.com/img/ug_photo/2014_11/78715220141103173905.jpg Pan's Labyrinth: http://www.cinesnob.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/interviews/guillermodeltoropic.jpg