A lot of people are involved in the making of films. Let’s talk about the evolution of special effects and some of the business’s biggest names.
Most people are familiar with the names of directors, actors, and cinematographers because they are the most prominent individuals in the filmmaking process. However, there are a lot of people involved in the making of films. For instance, costume designers, stunt performers, and set designers are all talented individuals who know their craft.
SFX
The modern viewer prefers visual effects based on big-budget blockbusters, where explosions can appear in real-world locations. They also use computer-generated imagery to create these effects. Unfortunately, many films still feature artificial rain, which is an effect that’s only practical and only used in special effects.
The goal of visual effects and special effects is to create a realistic image on the screen. This is done through the use of various tools and techniques.
George Méliès
French filmmaker George Méliès was one of the first to explore the playfulness of cinema. He did so by creating films that featured fantastical plots and sets. Unlike the other filmmakers who believed that reality could be captured through real-world locations, he wanted to make films that were completely different from reality.
During the time of his career, George Méliès was able to create various special effects and tricks that are still used in today’s movies. One of these is the jump-cut technique, which he pioneered. Although it’s still considered a comic effect, in the 1920s, it was a type of magic.
Another technique that Méliès pioneered was the split-screen method, which allowed two actors to appear simultaneously on the screen. He was also the first to use double exposure techniques, which allowed him to create the first ghosts. He was also the first to realize that the speed of a film’s roll over a frame affects how fast it is taken. Méliès took cinema seriously and established his own effects department and film studio.
Eiji Tsuburaya
Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese filmmaker who worked in the horror and fanfiction genres. His work was known for using miniature craftsmanship, such as the replicas of volcanoes and cities featured in his movies, which were destroyed in the end.
When Ishiro Honda asked Eiji Tsuburaya to create the stop-motion animation for his upcoming movie “Godzilla,” he was supposed to shoot it in the same style as “King Kong.” However, due to the lack of a suitable stop-motion artist in Japan, he hired an actor to play the role of the titular character. To make the sets of “Godzilla” as detailed as possible, Eiji Tsuburaya was able to expand the sets. This resulted in a frightening film regarded as one of the most influential films of its time.
Eiji Tsuburaya was a pioneer in the use of stop-motion animation. He dared to break the conventional idea of stop-motion and created a frightening depiction of the monster that had conquered the world.
Carlo Rambaldi
Although his work is known for creating realistic creatures, Carlo Rambaldi’s contributions are not seen in the recreated destruction and blubber on the screen. Instead, they are made up of whimsical and practical characters.
After being spotted in Hollywood, he was asked to create a massive puppet for the 1976 remake of “King Kong.” He built a creature that weighed five tons and was powered by hydraulic and wire hoses. It’s considered the most extensive and complex puppet ever made in a film. Due to the current technological limitations, no studio would be able to make similar creations.
Steven Spielberg was so impressed by the technical details of “King Kong” that he asked Rambaldi to create a similar creature for his next project, which was entitled “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” He then collaborated with other filmmakers like Ridley Scott to create the frightening creature “Alien.” Rambaldi built the creature’s head, which featured over 900 moving parts, intending to make it look incredibly realistic.
Despite the complexity of his work, Rambaldi was still able to make a living creature that people could believe in. He is a true artist and filmmaker who has changed cinema with his detailed and realistic miniatures.