Pirates from outer space, caveman ninjas, dinosaurs that can fly airplanes, how in the world do they make these things happen in movies? Today I break down the wonderful world of special effects in the form of two categories: practical special effects and computer-generated special effects commonly known as CGI effects. There is not so much a great divide as there is more of an evolution standard from practical effects to computer-generated special effects, but they’re both two different schools of thought.
Practical special effects consist of manually constructing backgrounds, costumes, choreographed moves and the use of fireworks, explosions, prop weapons or sometimes real-life weapons and other memes of tangible tools and accessories to create an otherwise fictional state to allow the viewer to believe that what they see is real.
This can be dated back as early as the 1900s with one of the first movies ever made called “A Trip To The Moon” made on September 1, 1902, in France. Producer and director George Melies constructed an 18-minute groundbreaking display. Although considered crude by state standards, the costumes and props made during that time received raving reviews and as still refer to as some of the pioneering of special effects to this day.
“Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” was made in 1922 in Germany by F.W. Mumbai with not only what they considered at that time game-changing special effects, but also one of the very first legitimate horror movies ever made based on the vampire Mythos and lore.
And then with no pun intended the first monster box office hit featuring special effects were created and on March 2, 1933. “King Kong” dominated the box offices with its never-before-seen stop-motion technique special effects and was one of the originators of the giant monster Kaiju phenomenon. The tale of a gigantic gorilla who was found in the depths of the jungles and brought over to urban society is one of the most original and groundbreaking horror movies of all time. And thus, the sci-fi fantasy horror genre was born. Often duplicated and replicated, thousands of movies poured out throughout the decades.
In fact, throughout the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s, one of the most prominent names in special effects was Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen’s stop-motion technique was very time-consuming. A puppet or clay model is moved ever so slightly photographed and then adjusted again and again and again; but his technique is still practiced today. He is considered one of the forefathers of special effects, producing and being involved in such amazing hits as the Sinbad movies, Evil Dead II, Mighty Joe Young, Jason and the Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans.
Another special effects master who decided to try his hat in the arena of full feature-length movies is the godfather of puppetry, Jim Henson. Finding his early roots in commercials and television programming, he introduced the world to his signature creation, The Muppets, later coined the term puppeteering. He also produced two major groundbreaking special effects movies “The Dark Crystal” and “Labyrinth.” Set design and costume creation took nearly seven years for “The Dark Crystal” to be produced from start to finish.
Other brilliant minds and their creations since surfaced including HR Giger and James Cameron’s mind-blowing special effects hit “Aliens,” which to this day is still considered one of the best, because of the one-of-a-kind set design, costume creation and creatures that seem so lifelike it made people jump out their seats in theaters. Over 30 years later, it is still referred to as one of the best special effects movies ever made in the realm of science fiction survival horror.
Unfortunately, the only other thing the above-mentioned have in common is budgeting — their imaginations were limited to the technology they currently had available to them.
And thus the second renaissance of special effects was born: computer-generated special effects. Computer-generated special effects allowed computer programmers to create people places and things in the fraction of time it takes to physically construct and without the restraints of the laws of physics, time and space.
With the ever-growing and ever-changing technology available to us in the 1990s, we saw a way to truly bring our ideas to life with no limitations and using a quarter of an average movie budget while producing a movie in a much shorter time.
“Terminator 2 Judgment Day” which was released on July 1, 1991, was truly the movie that planted its flag into the ground and solidified the use of computer technology as a must-have tool to produce billion-dollar box-office hits. With a budget of only $94 million, it grossed $523 million, making it one of the first highly profitable mainstream computer-generated movies ever made.
Other movies soon followed including the Wachowskis brothers “Matrix” trilogy released on March 31, 1999, working off of a budget of $63 million and grossing $463 million in the United States alone. Spawning two sequels, it was considered the movie that changed science fiction movies forever as it blended a mix of science fiction, fantasy and martial arts while towing a very deep and (at times hard to follow but very provocative) story based on ironically our dependency on technology.
It was now a proven commodity that using computer-generated special effects provided more safety for the actors, preventing them and their stunt doubles from getting hurt during very dangerous scenes. It also saved money on many avenues such as teaching an actor martial arts or how to ride a skateboard or any physical activity that normally takes months to practice and years to master. Now anybody can be computer-generated and made to appear to be a master of everything. It was by no means made to make practical special effects obsolete, but in Hollywood, it is all about making the most with as little as possible for a higher profit margin.
Leaping forward into present day, you have such monster box office hits such as “Transformers,” the Ninja Turtle reboots and “Avatar” which has held the record for almost 10 years as the highest-grossing movie ever made until it’s sudden dethroning just a few weeks ago by “Avengers Endgame.”
Now for the sake of honorable mentions, some movies have put both ingredients into a blender and have made a very delectable and savory mix of movie magic from both ends of the spectrum such a Star Wars, Star Trek, A Nightmare on Elm Street and other movies any which practical effects and computer-generated effects we’re both used to tell their amazing tales.
The next time you feel yourself looking for a good movie to stream look up some of these above-mentioned hits and if you feel yourself getting a little scared just remember — it’s only special effects ... or is it?
(Omar Jeter has been a resident of Colleton County for over 25 years. A historian and enthusiast of pop culture and science fiction, he owns You-Niversal Nerd events-planning company which has been putting on productions and free events for over 10 years, including providing Colleton County with its first-ever comic book convention.)
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