Julie A. Turnock
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163538
- eISBN:
- 9780231535274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163538.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter studies the history of the special effects branch of the independent Hollywood service industry. The independent optical and effects business has existed since at least the early 1920s ...
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This chapter studies the history of the special effects branch of the independent Hollywood service industry. The independent optical and effects business has existed since at least the early 1920s when Frank Williams and Carroll Dunning founded the Williams Composite Laboratories and the Dunning Process Company, respectively, and worked as independent contractors with the studios. In addition to studio and independent feature films, effects houses also worked on commercials, so-called motion graphics logos, and industrial or educational films. Lucas film's special effects wing, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), has been the industry leader in special effects production since about 1980, extensively shaping and defining photorealism. Beginning with Star Wars in 1977, ILM has continued to dominate the special effects industry up to this day with films such as Transformers and Iron Man.Less
This chapter studies the history of the special effects branch of the independent Hollywood service industry. The independent optical and effects business has existed since at least the early 1920s when Frank Williams and Carroll Dunning founded the Williams Composite Laboratories and the Dunning Process Company, respectively, and worked as independent contractors with the studios. In addition to studio and independent feature films, effects houses also worked on commercials, so-called motion graphics logos, and industrial or educational films. Lucas film's special effects wing, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), has been the industry leader in special effects production since about 1980, extensively shaping and defining photorealism. Beginning with Star Wars in 1977, ILM has continued to dominate the special effects industry up to this day with films such as Transformers and Iron Man.
Bob Rehak
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479813155
- eISBN:
- 9781479897070
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479813155.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This introduction lays out the case for approaching special effects from a transmedia standpoint, focusing on the unexpected roles they play in building and maintaining the storyworlds of fantastic ...
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This introduction lays out the case for approaching special effects from a transmedia standpoint, focusing on the unexpected roles they play in building and maintaining the storyworlds of fantastic media franchises and redefining traditional notions of media authorship, performance, and genre. Relevant scholarship on spectacle, film technology and narrative, and transmedia storytelling is reviewed, with an emphasis on the gap between studies of special effects and convergence culture, which this book seeks to fill. An extended discussion of preproduction practices in early cinema and Classical Hollywood provides an alternative framework for understanding special effects as designed imagery. Previews of the book’s chapters conclude the introduction.Less
This introduction lays out the case for approaching special effects from a transmedia standpoint, focusing on the unexpected roles they play in building and maintaining the storyworlds of fantastic media franchises and redefining traditional notions of media authorship, performance, and genre. Relevant scholarship on spectacle, film technology and narrative, and transmedia storytelling is reviewed, with an emphasis on the gap between studies of special effects and convergence culture, which this book seeks to fill. An extended discussion of preproduction practices in early cinema and Classical Hollywood provides an alternative framework for understanding special effects as designed imagery. Previews of the book’s chapters conclude the introduction.
Bob Rehak
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479813155
- eISBN:
- 9781479897070
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479813155.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Today’s franchises of fantastic media depend on visual effects for their existence, not just in their local textual homes (a feature film, a TV episode, a videogame) but across multiple screens and ...
More
Today’s franchises of fantastic media depend on visual effects for their existence, not just in their local textual homes (a feature film, a TV episode, a videogame) but across multiple screens and platforms, working transmedially to build ongoing storyworlds, imbue bodies with evidence of life, and ultimately to travel freely as spectacular subgenres in themselves. In this book’s four case studies, major fantastic franchises of the last half century—Star Trek, Star Wars, the Middle Earth films, and The Matrix—reveal themselves as busy sites of negotiation between the late analog era of the 1960s and 1970s and the digital blockbuster era that followed. Arguing that this colonization took place largely in and through the visual effects design and engineering of high-profile media properties, the chapters explore television series art direction and its relationship to an amateur “blueprint culture,” documenting the contents of media’s imaginary worlds; the previsualization practices through which visual effects rebrand complex webs of creative contributions under the sign of the techno-auteur; the animation traditions that bring special-effects-assisted performances to life; and the role of special effects in larger circuits of visual culture. Approaching special effects both as specific technological practices and discursive performances of behind-the-scenes labor, More Than Meets the Eye plumbs the analog roots of contemporary transmedia franchises to find the unexpected behaviors and impacts of special effects that hide in plain sight, constructing perceptions of narrative worlds and characters as on another level they construct our collective ways of imagining franchise cinema, digital media, and technological change.Less
Today’s franchises of fantastic media depend on visual effects for their existence, not just in their local textual homes (a feature film, a TV episode, a videogame) but across multiple screens and platforms, working transmedially to build ongoing storyworlds, imbue bodies with evidence of life, and ultimately to travel freely as spectacular subgenres in themselves. In this book’s four case studies, major fantastic franchises of the last half century—Star Trek, Star Wars, the Middle Earth films, and The Matrix—reveal themselves as busy sites of negotiation between the late analog era of the 1960s and 1970s and the digital blockbuster era that followed. Arguing that this colonization took place largely in and through the visual effects design and engineering of high-profile media properties, the chapters explore television series art direction and its relationship to an amateur “blueprint culture,” documenting the contents of media’s imaginary worlds; the previsualization practices through which visual effects rebrand complex webs of creative contributions under the sign of the techno-auteur; the animation traditions that bring special-effects-assisted performances to life; and the role of special effects in larger circuits of visual culture. Approaching special effects both as specific technological practices and discursive performances of behind-the-scenes labor, More Than Meets the Eye plumbs the analog roots of contemporary transmedia franchises to find the unexpected behaviors and impacts of special effects that hide in plain sight, constructing perceptions of narrative worlds and characters as on another level they construct our collective ways of imagining franchise cinema, digital media, and technological change.
Julie A. Turnock
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163538
- eISBN:
- 9780231535274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163538.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter discusses studio-era special effects from the 1930s to the 1960s, and 1970s special effects. The studio era had mostly been concerned with maintaining the more naturalistic “classical” ...
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This chapter discusses studio-era special effects from the 1930s to the 1960s, and 1970s special effects. The studio era had mostly been concerned with maintaining the more naturalistic “classical” style. Most importantly, special effects in the studio era were achieved as simply, economically, and efficiently as possible. By the 1970s, special effects became conspicuous and a more visible form of special effects emerged. Filmmaking in the 1970s tends to be divided into two periods—the naturalistic “New Wave” period and the spectacular “blockbuster” era. However, filmmakers like Lucas, Coppola, and Spielberg suggest that they saw the turn toward intensified, visible special effects as enabling an alternative style of realism. The technological prominence of special effects in the 1970s eventually transformed almost all the areas of cinematic production.Less
This chapter discusses studio-era special effects from the 1930s to the 1960s, and 1970s special effects. The studio era had mostly been concerned with maintaining the more naturalistic “classical” style. Most importantly, special effects in the studio era were achieved as simply, economically, and efficiently as possible. By the 1970s, special effects became conspicuous and a more visible form of special effects emerged. Filmmaking in the 1970s tends to be divided into two periods—the naturalistic “New Wave” period and the spectacular “blockbuster” era. However, filmmakers like Lucas, Coppola, and Spielberg suggest that they saw the turn toward intensified, visible special effects as enabling an alternative style of realism. The technological prominence of special effects in the 1970s eventually transformed almost all the areas of cinematic production.
Julie A. Turnock
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163538
- eISBN:
- 9780231535274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163538.003.0010
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book provides a history of the development of special effects, and its significance in cinema and media studies. The book studies 1970s special effects aesthetics, and mid- to late 1970s science ...
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This book provides a history of the development of special effects, and its significance in cinema and media studies. The book studies 1970s special effects aesthetics, and mid- to late 1970s science fiction and fantasy blockbusters, arguing that “New Hollywood” auteurist filmmaking allowed the filmmakers to fully express their own personal vision through the effects work. Films such as Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind led to the development of special effects technology and aesthetic, allowing greater control over the image to better express the filmmaker's “vision,” and the presentation of a highly personalized manifestation of that style. The book also deals with the topic of realism because special effects material is generally designed to match or complement live-action footage.Less
This book provides a history of the development of special effects, and its significance in cinema and media studies. The book studies 1970s special effects aesthetics, and mid- to late 1970s science fiction and fantasy blockbusters, arguing that “New Hollywood” auteurist filmmaking allowed the filmmakers to fully express their own personal vision through the effects work. Films such as Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind led to the development of special effects technology and aesthetic, allowing greater control over the image to better express the filmmaker's “vision,” and the presentation of a highly personalized manifestation of that style. The book also deals with the topic of realism because special effects material is generally designed to match or complement live-action footage.
Julie A. Turnock
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163538
- eISBN:
- 9780231535274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163538.003.0007
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines special effects in the 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s, industry professionals became increasingly concerned with the audience's experience and the role of cinema in the overall ...
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This chapter examines special effects in the 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s, industry professionals became increasingly concerned with the audience's experience and the role of cinema in the overall entertainment landscape, as well as the kinds of experiences the movie industry was expected to provide. The popularity of Hollywood blockbusters suggested a demand for more special effects films. The transformation of the film industry following the rise of technology-heavy mode of filmmaking marks a shift in cinematic aesthetics toward greater reliance on postproduction and a composite mise-en-scène. This led to innovations such as Industrial Light & Magic's (ILM) Go-Motion—an updated photorealistic “improvement” of stop motion; the emergence of rival effects companies; and the increase in competition for feature work.Less
This chapter examines special effects in the 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s, industry professionals became increasingly concerned with the audience's experience and the role of cinema in the overall entertainment landscape, as well as the kinds of experiences the movie industry was expected to provide. The popularity of Hollywood blockbusters suggested a demand for more special effects films. The transformation of the film industry following the rise of technology-heavy mode of filmmaking marks a shift in cinematic aesthetics toward greater reliance on postproduction and a composite mise-en-scène. This led to innovations such as Industrial Light & Magic's (ILM) Go-Motion—an updated photorealistic “improvement” of stop motion; the emergence of rival effects companies; and the increase in competition for feature work.
Julie Turnock
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163538
- eISBN:
- 9780231535274
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163538.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book tracks the use and evolution of special effects in 1970s filmmaking, a development as revolutionary to film as the form's transition to sound in the 1920s. Beginning with the classical ...
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This book tracks the use and evolution of special effects in 1970s filmmaking, a development as revolutionary to film as the form's transition to sound in the 1920s. Beginning with the classical studio era's early approaches to special effects, it follows the industry's slow build toward the significant advances of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which set the stage for the groundbreaking achievements of 1977. The text analyzes the far-reaching impact of the convincing, absorbing, and seemingly unlimited fantasy environments of that year's iconic films, with a section of the book dedicated to the unparalleled innovations of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It then traces these films' technological, cultural, and aesthetic influence into the 1980s in the deployment of optical special effects as well as the “not-too-realistic” and hyper-realistic techniques of traditional stop motion and Showscan. The book concludes with a critique of special effects practices in the 2000s and their implications for the future of filmmaking and the production and experience of other visual media.Less
This book tracks the use and evolution of special effects in 1970s filmmaking, a development as revolutionary to film as the form's transition to sound in the 1920s. Beginning with the classical studio era's early approaches to special effects, it follows the industry's slow build toward the significant advances of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which set the stage for the groundbreaking achievements of 1977. The text analyzes the far-reaching impact of the convincing, absorbing, and seemingly unlimited fantasy environments of that year's iconic films, with a section of the book dedicated to the unparalleled innovations of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It then traces these films' technological, cultural, and aesthetic influence into the 1980s in the deployment of optical special effects as well as the “not-too-realistic” and hyper-realistic techniques of traditional stop motion and Showscan. The book concludes with a critique of special effects practices in the 2000s and their implications for the future of filmmaking and the production and experience of other visual media.
Bob Rehak
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479813155
- eISBN:
- 9781479897070
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479813155.003.0006
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This conclusion considers the larger set of changes confronting cinema and its siblings at this juncture between the analog and digital eras. Restating the book’s central argument that special ...
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This conclusion considers the larger set of changes confronting cinema and its siblings at this juncture between the analog and digital eras. Restating the book’s central argument that special effects play a central role in negotiating this transition, the conclusion argues in addition that many of these behaviors pass beneath conscious observation, in an ideological effect unique to engineered spectacle. In addition to noting areas the book wasn’t able to touch on for reasons of length, the conclusion discusses questions for further study, sketching a foundation for special-effects scholarship that attends both to their industrial and discursive dimensions as they forge a transmedia landscape.Less
This conclusion considers the larger set of changes confronting cinema and its siblings at this juncture between the analog and digital eras. Restating the book’s central argument that special effects play a central role in negotiating this transition, the conclusion argues in addition that many of these behaviors pass beneath conscious observation, in an ideological effect unique to engineered spectacle. In addition to noting areas the book wasn’t able to touch on for reasons of length, the conclusion discusses questions for further study, sketching a foundation for special-effects scholarship that attends both to their industrial and discursive dimensions as they forge a transmedia landscape.
Julie A. Turnock
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163538
- eISBN:
- 9780231535274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163538.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines auteurism and special effects-driven blockbuster filmmaking. Auteurism, an approach to mid-century filmmaking in which a film reflects the director's personal creative vision, ...
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This chapter examines auteurism and special effects-driven blockbuster filmmaking. Auteurism, an approach to mid-century filmmaking in which a film reflects the director's personal creative vision, was initiated by French critics and filmmakers such as André Bazin and Alexandre Astruc, François Truffault and Jean-Luc Godard. George Lucas's and Steven Spielberg's investment in visual filmmaking and graphic dynamics places them among the critically embraced auteurs of the New Hollywood generation, including Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Terrence Malick, and Francis Ford Coppola. Lucas's and Spielberg's 1977 films, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, transformed the parameters of cinematic diegesis in portraying intricately realized fantasy environments rather than fictional settings that simply stage a fantasy narrative. The success of these films initiated a shift toward more special effects-driven filmmaking and had economic outgrowth well beyond the effects business.Less
This chapter examines auteurism and special effects-driven blockbuster filmmaking. Auteurism, an approach to mid-century filmmaking in which a film reflects the director's personal creative vision, was initiated by French critics and filmmakers such as André Bazin and Alexandre Astruc, François Truffault and Jean-Luc Godard. George Lucas's and Steven Spielberg's investment in visual filmmaking and graphic dynamics places them among the critically embraced auteurs of the New Hollywood generation, including Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Terrence Malick, and Francis Ford Coppola. Lucas's and Spielberg's 1977 films, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, transformed the parameters of cinematic diegesis in portraying intricately realized fantasy environments rather than fictional settings that simply stage a fantasy narrative. The success of these films initiated a shift toward more special effects-driven filmmaking and had economic outgrowth well beyond the effects business.
Andrew B. R. Elliott
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780748684021
- eISBN:
- 9780748697069
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748684021.003.0008
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
With the return of the historical epic to our screens, advances in CGI and digital effects have allowed for even greater (and sometimes cheaper) special effects to return along with them. Matte ...
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With the return of the historical epic to our screens, advances in CGI and digital effects have allowed for even greater (and sometimes cheaper) special effects to return along with them. Matte paintings have given way to blue- and green-screen, models cede to CGI in post-production and casts of thousands yield to crowd-building software which emphasizes “the emergence of the multitude as a collective force in history.” Yet, they can also play an even greater role beyond simple spectacle: they can in some ways be seen as a prime motivation for the epic’s return. Comparing the role of digital effects in Kingdom of Heaven, The Eagle and the remake of Clash of the Titans (2010), this chapter argues that CGI effects of the new epics often serve two functions. Not only do they announce the film’s epic credentials but they also heighten the reality of these epic worlds by a greater degree of spectatorial immersion.Less
With the return of the historical epic to our screens, advances in CGI and digital effects have allowed for even greater (and sometimes cheaper) special effects to return along with them. Matte paintings have given way to blue- and green-screen, models cede to CGI in post-production and casts of thousands yield to crowd-building software which emphasizes “the emergence of the multitude as a collective force in history.” Yet, they can also play an even greater role beyond simple spectacle: they can in some ways be seen as a prime motivation for the epic’s return. Comparing the role of digital effects in Kingdom of Heaven, The Eagle and the remake of Clash of the Titans (2010), this chapter argues that CGI effects of the new epics often serve two functions. Not only do they announce the film’s epic credentials but they also heighten the reality of these epic worlds by a greater degree of spectatorial immersion.
Julie A. Turnock
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163538
- eISBN:
- 9780231535274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163538.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter considers the special effects technology in Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In both films, the postproduction units had to match the principal photography to make all ...
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This chapter considers the special effects technology in Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In both films, the postproduction units had to match the principal photography to make all motion look “natural” to the eye, thus exhibiting a photorealist aesthetic. By using motion control, which has been considered as one of the historical breakthroughs of special effects technology, both films' effects were able to provide the sense of acceleration and kineticism. Motion control furthered the notion of what is now called “virtual” camera movement and virtual mise-en-scène by detaching the camera motion from live action. Star Wars, which had the historical advantage of being released a few months earlier than Close Encounters, is usually credited as being the first to use a computer-assisted system to control the camera motion on a feature film.Less
This chapter considers the special effects technology in Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In both films, the postproduction units had to match the principal photography to make all motion look “natural” to the eye, thus exhibiting a photorealist aesthetic. By using motion control, which has been considered as one of the historical breakthroughs of special effects technology, both films' effects were able to provide the sense of acceleration and kineticism. Motion control furthered the notion of what is now called “virtual” camera movement and virtual mise-en-scène by detaching the camera motion from live action. Star Wars, which had the historical advantage of being released a few months earlier than Close Encounters, is usually credited as being the first to use a computer-assisted system to control the camera motion on a feature film.
Julie A. Turnock
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163538
- eISBN:
- 9780231535274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163538.003.0006
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter studies the production and aesthetic of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Weary of the effects problems from Jaws, Steven Spielberg approached Douglas Trumbull to give him full control ...
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This chapter studies the production and aesthetic of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Weary of the effects problems from Jaws, Steven Spielberg approached Douglas Trumbull to give him full control of the effects unit of Close Encounters. Spielberg had illustrations and storyboards already drawn up when he met with Trumbull for the first time, so Trumbull's job was to work out how to present them in the mise-en-scène. Trumbull's special effects realize the rather generalized thematic motif of light as enlightenment and insight in the script, which lends the light materialized substance and significance in the overall film. The strong graphic and kinetic properties of Close Encounters' effects were meant to add value to the overall impact of the film, not just invisibly supplement it.Less
This chapter studies the production and aesthetic of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Weary of the effects problems from Jaws, Steven Spielberg approached Douglas Trumbull to give him full control of the effects unit of Close Encounters. Spielberg had illustrations and storyboards already drawn up when he met with Trumbull for the first time, so Trumbull's job was to work out how to present them in the mise-en-scène. Trumbull's special effects realize the rather generalized thematic motif of light as enlightenment and insight in the script, which lends the light materialized substance and significance in the overall film. The strong graphic and kinetic properties of Close Encounters' effects were meant to add value to the overall impact of the film, not just invisibly supplement it.
David Roche
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617039621
- eISBN:
- 9781626740129
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617039621.003.0009
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The conclusion makes a case that, generally speaking, the 1970s films are, in effect, more “disturbing,” both politically and aesthetically, than the 2000s remakes. The remakes tend out to be more ...
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The conclusion makes a case that, generally speaking, the 1970s films are, in effect, more “disturbing,” both politically and aesthetically, than the 2000s remakes. The remakes tend out to be more “incoherent” politically than the films of the 1970s, while forming a more coherent body of films in terms of aesthetics. The chapter then takes up the often made suggestion of critics and filmmakers alike that the technical and financial limitations of the independent horror movies of the 1970s make them all the more effective by looking at several pragmatic aspects: cinematography, special effects and acting. In short, the added contingencies that went into the actual filmmaking process seem to have added to their “disturbing” quality.Less
The conclusion makes a case that, generally speaking, the 1970s films are, in effect, more “disturbing,” both politically and aesthetically, than the 2000s remakes. The remakes tend out to be more “incoherent” politically than the films of the 1970s, while forming a more coherent body of films in terms of aesthetics. The chapter then takes up the often made suggestion of critics and filmmakers alike that the technical and financial limitations of the independent horror movies of the 1970s make them all the more effective by looking at several pragmatic aspects: cinematography, special effects and acting. In short, the added contingencies that went into the actual filmmaking process seem to have added to their “disturbing” quality.
Julie A. Turnock
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163538
- eISBN:
- 9780231535274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163538.003.0009
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This concluding chapter discusses the legacy of the 1970s special effects. Special effects technology enabled filmmakers to provide alternate world possibilities, prompting moviegoers to think about ...
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This concluding chapter discusses the legacy of the 1970s special effects. Special effects technology enabled filmmakers to provide alternate world possibilities, prompting moviegoers to think about the world's transformation or alteration. Recent critics' dislike for excessive use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in “over-animated” action films suggests the extent to which the original context, in which optical animation was conceived, has been largely forgotten. Many filmmakers quickly used technology to convey the negative potential for over-technologization to express pessimism and dystopia. However, films such as Zodiac and There Will Be Blood followed the style of 1970s filmmaking. Critic Mark Harris suggests that many still prefer 1970s photorealism, and that the novelty of physics-defying CGI has begun to wear out. Recent films like Avatar and Gravity show that 1970s filmmakers' goal to have complete aesthetic control over all aspects of the composite mise-en-scène have been realized.Less
This concluding chapter discusses the legacy of the 1970s special effects. Special effects technology enabled filmmakers to provide alternate world possibilities, prompting moviegoers to think about the world's transformation or alteration. Recent critics' dislike for excessive use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in “over-animated” action films suggests the extent to which the original context, in which optical animation was conceived, has been largely forgotten. Many filmmakers quickly used technology to convey the negative potential for over-technologization to express pessimism and dystopia. However, films such as Zodiac and There Will Be Blood followed the style of 1970s filmmaking. Critic Mark Harris suggests that many still prefer 1970s photorealism, and that the novelty of physics-defying CGI has begun to wear out. Recent films like Avatar and Gravity show that 1970s filmmakers' goal to have complete aesthetic control over all aspects of the composite mise-en-scène have been realized.
Nathan Platte
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- December 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190663179
- eISBN:
- 9780190663216
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190663179.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
Chapter 4 discusses the musical underscore in The Wizard of Oz. Contemporary discourse on the musical soundtrack has emphasized its role in underscoring—literally and figuratively—the film’s ...
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Chapter 4 discusses the musical underscore in The Wizard of Oz. Contemporary discourse on the musical soundtrack has emphasized its role in underscoring—literally and figuratively—the film’s extraordinary content, often stressing its “special” and “effect”-like qualities. Studio publicists plugged the score’s idiosyncratic length and complexity, and Herbert Stothart also drew connections between music and elaborate illusions: “music and sound must be highly imaginative, unreal while super-realistic. Here sounds must stir the fantasy. . . . The difficulty is to blend music and the special sound effects.” Elsewhere Stothart averred that the striking hues of Technicolor warranted special musical treatment. From studio records, contemporary newspaper accounts, the conductor’s score, and the film itself, musical gestures are identified in the underscore that work as and in tandem with special effects.Less
Chapter 4 discusses the musical underscore in The Wizard of Oz. Contemporary discourse on the musical soundtrack has emphasized its role in underscoring—literally and figuratively—the film’s extraordinary content, often stressing its “special” and “effect”-like qualities. Studio publicists plugged the score’s idiosyncratic length and complexity, and Herbert Stothart also drew connections between music and elaborate illusions: “music and sound must be highly imaginative, unreal while super-realistic. Here sounds must stir the fantasy. . . . The difficulty is to blend music and the special sound effects.” Elsewhere Stothart averred that the striking hues of Technicolor warranted special musical treatment. From studio records, contemporary newspaper accounts, the conductor’s score, and the film itself, musical gestures are identified in the underscore that work as and in tandem with special effects.
Inge Hinterwaldner
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035040
- eISBN:
- 9780262335546
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035040.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
Informed with how modelling practices take place, positions in model theory have revised too simplistic syntactic or semantic views. Analogously, it is now necessary to recognize that also the ...
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Informed with how modelling practices take place, positions in model theory have revised too simplistic syntactic or semantic views. Analogously, it is now necessary to recognize that also the relationship between the data from the computational models and their sensualization is non-trivial either. ‘Visualization’ is often praised, but naturalized and thus overlooked in its structuring or creative potential. The present approach reveals the complex situation in ‘visualized’ simulations; there is no such thing as a simple equivalent between the calculated data and its depiction. Especially for the scenic rendering of the process it is necessary to develop relationships between the dynamics and the form in the first instance. The reason why the form is needed lies in the simple fact that dynamics have to be embodied in order to be perceivable. On a very basic level we can say that time and space enter into negotiations.Less
Informed with how modelling practices take place, positions in model theory have revised too simplistic syntactic or semantic views. Analogously, it is now necessary to recognize that also the relationship between the data from the computational models and their sensualization is non-trivial either. ‘Visualization’ is often praised, but naturalized and thus overlooked in its structuring or creative potential. The present approach reveals the complex situation in ‘visualized’ simulations; there is no such thing as a simple equivalent between the calculated data and its depiction. Especially for the scenic rendering of the process it is necessary to develop relationships between the dynamics and the form in the first instance. The reason why the form is needed lies in the simple fact that dynamics have to be embodied in order to be perceivable. On a very basic level we can say that time and space enter into negotiations.
Paul Wells
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748626014
- eISBN:
- 9780748670673
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748626014.003.0019
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
In this chapter, Paul Wells argues that the literal and metaphorical developments of animation in the twenty-first century allow ‘virtual histories’ to be constructed from the subjective and relative ...
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In this chapter, Paul Wells argues that the literal and metaphorical developments of animation in the twenty-first century allow ‘virtual histories’ to be constructed from the subjective and relative contexts of the contemporary period. He examines special effects in animations and controversial works such as Edouard Salieri’s short film Flesh (2006), which juxtaposes images of the 9/11 terrorist attacks with images drawn from the booming pornography industry, as well as more mainstream animations such as the two Ice Age films (2002, 2005) and Happy Feet (2006), which struck a more conventional liberal-ecological note. He looks beyond the shift from Disney’s classical 2D aesthetic to Pixar’s 3D computer imagery, and argues that 21st-century animation has become a richly nuanced language, incorporating metamorphosis, fabrication, symbol and metaphor, and interweaving memory, history and fabrication to challenge the dominant ideological myths of the day.Less
In this chapter, Paul Wells argues that the literal and metaphorical developments of animation in the twenty-first century allow ‘virtual histories’ to be constructed from the subjective and relative contexts of the contemporary period. He examines special effects in animations and controversial works such as Edouard Salieri’s short film Flesh (2006), which juxtaposes images of the 9/11 terrorist attacks with images drawn from the booming pornography industry, as well as more mainstream animations such as the two Ice Age films (2002, 2005) and Happy Feet (2006), which struck a more conventional liberal-ecological note. He looks beyond the shift from Disney’s classical 2D aesthetic to Pixar’s 3D computer imagery, and argues that 21st-century animation has become a richly nuanced language, incorporating metamorphosis, fabrication, symbol and metaphor, and interweaving memory, history and fabrication to challenge the dominant ideological myths of the day.
André Gaudreault and Philippe Marion
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231173575
- eISBN:
- 9780231539388
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231173575.003.0008
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This concluding chapter cites Michael Gondry's film, Mood Indigo (2013), in presenting the pitched battle raging constantly in matters concerning cinema and between attraction and narration. Being a ...
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This concluding chapter cites Michael Gondry's film, Mood Indigo (2013), in presenting the pitched battle raging constantly in matters concerning cinema and between attraction and narration. Being a driving force in the genealogy of the medium, this tension has been revived, in this day and age, in several critics' discussion of the film. The attractional effect produced by special effects, undermining the narrative economy parallels the tension between the homochrone and the heterochrone. In cinema, the homochrone reinforces the overloading of the special effect, in which viewers have no control. The digital world and its boundless possibilities are fascinating, but such a fascination must not compromise the rigor of one's research. However, digital technology makes it possible to fuse the two systems of artistic interpretation and total representation. This spirit of convergence gives birth to the concept of animage.Less
This concluding chapter cites Michael Gondry's film, Mood Indigo (2013), in presenting the pitched battle raging constantly in matters concerning cinema and between attraction and narration. Being a driving force in the genealogy of the medium, this tension has been revived, in this day and age, in several critics' discussion of the film. The attractional effect produced by special effects, undermining the narrative economy parallels the tension between the homochrone and the heterochrone. In cinema, the homochrone reinforces the overloading of the special effect, in which viewers have no control. The digital world and its boundless possibilities are fascinating, but such a fascination must not compromise the rigor of one's research. However, digital technology makes it possible to fuse the two systems of artistic interpretation and total representation. This spirit of convergence gives birth to the concept of animage.
Anustup Basu
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748641024
- eISBN:
- 9780748651245
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748641024.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Since the 1990s, erstwhile major formats such as the dacait (bandit) film and the rural melodrama that fashioned some of the greatest box office hits have been gradually relegated to B- and C-status ...
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Since the 1990s, erstwhile major formats such as the dacait (bandit) film and the rural melodrama that fashioned some of the greatest box office hits have been gradually relegated to B- and C-status or to regional industries, while others such as sci-fi, horror or sensationalist crime thrillers have been upgraded. This chapter analyses the interface between myth and science fiction, focusing on Mani Shankar's 2004 film Rudraksh (The Seed). Shankar's new age mythological does not cast tradition (the story of the indigenous self) and modernity (the story of the world) as overarching metanarratives locked in an agonistic battle. Rather, signs of tradition — the Vedas, the Puranas, the kundali or the swapna akash — become pliant and are brought into a state of informatic orchestration with those of the techno-modern: the Internet, the brain scan, Albert Einstein, the quantum zone. This chapter also discusses the notion of temporality and the sacralisation of special effects in Rudraksh.Less
Since the 1990s, erstwhile major formats such as the dacait (bandit) film and the rural melodrama that fashioned some of the greatest box office hits have been gradually relegated to B- and C-status or to regional industries, while others such as sci-fi, horror or sensationalist crime thrillers have been upgraded. This chapter analyses the interface between myth and science fiction, focusing on Mani Shankar's 2004 film Rudraksh (The Seed). Shankar's new age mythological does not cast tradition (the story of the indigenous self) and modernity (the story of the world) as overarching metanarratives locked in an agonistic battle. Rather, signs of tradition — the Vedas, the Puranas, the kundali or the swapna akash — become pliant and are brought into a state of informatic orchestration with those of the techno-modern: the Internet, the brain scan, Albert Einstein, the quantum zone. This chapter also discusses the notion of temporality and the sacralisation of special effects in Rudraksh.
J. P. Telotte
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190949655
- eISBN:
- 9780190949693
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190949655.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
Abstract: Film, Francesco Casetti argues, provided a common “field of convergence for different dimensions” of the popular imagination in the early twentieth century. We can see evidence of the ...
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Abstract: Film, Francesco Casetti argues, provided a common “field of convergence for different dimensions” of the popular imagination in the early twentieth century. We can see evidence of the extent of that “convergence” in the sort of discourse that unfolded in various other internal features of the pulps. Editorials, readers’ letters, and film reviews converge to demonstrate a sense of enthusiasm about the ability of films to supplement the work of SF by visualizing or realizing the genre’s ideas for reshaping the world and the self. That enthusiasm would bring repeated calls for the film industry to produce more SF-themed films, even to adapt favorite stories from the pulps. But as reviews of SF films began to proliferate in the pulps, particularly in the late 1930s, they would increasingly attest to a frustration or dissatisfaction with the sense of reality that was being achieved by the SF film and point to a rift beginning between the films and the world of SF literature.Less
Abstract: Film, Francesco Casetti argues, provided a common “field of convergence for different dimensions” of the popular imagination in the early twentieth century. We can see evidence of the extent of that “convergence” in the sort of discourse that unfolded in various other internal features of the pulps. Editorials, readers’ letters, and film reviews converge to demonstrate a sense of enthusiasm about the ability of films to supplement the work of SF by visualizing or realizing the genre’s ideas for reshaping the world and the self. That enthusiasm would bring repeated calls for the film industry to produce more SF-themed films, even to adapt favorite stories from the pulps. But as reviews of SF films began to proliferate in the pulps, particularly in the late 1930s, they would increasingly attest to a frustration or dissatisfaction with the sense of reality that was being achieved by the SF film and point to a rift beginning between the films and the world of SF literature.
