If you’ve ever talked to someone who is a movie fanatic, then you know how much passion can go into the hobbyist aspect of enjoying cinema. One of the elements of moviemaking that can be the most fun once you get into the details is how all of the special-effects work. You can spend a lifetime learning how people and companies put together these effects, and that will help you immerse in the world of filmmaking more than if you never took the time to study.
Take a few examples of the perspectives surrounding special-effects to learn about to begin your intellectual journey into this cinematic realm. How do special-effects artists create appropriate makeup? How do you use green screens? What sort of animation techniques are available to moviemakers these days? And, how does the audio side of films work respecting special-effects and their multimedia associations?
Makeup
Creating special effects makeup is a very niche industry. The people who do it are phenomenally and talented at their jobs and have produced some of the most emotionally compelling scenes in movies ever. Beyond the idea of digital effects, creating physical makeup for actors is a particular skill that very few people master, but those who do are the ones that can play with your emotions as a viewer.
Green Screens
Most movies these days rely heavily on green screens. Though it may seem in some cases like this is cheating, it is an art in itself. Movie producers have to have all of their scenes in mind beforehand because the actors and cameraman are filming essentially invisible scenes. Everything has to be in the producer’s mind, so they know how the scene will look after all of the effects are added later. If you ever see behind the scenes tutorials about movies, you’ll be amazed at how imaginative filmmakers have to be when they use green screens during primary filming.
Animation Techniques
Some of the most popular movies these days are animations. What’s interesting is that even inside animations, filmmakers have to utilize the concept of special-effects to work within the structure of what they’re doing. Though animation in itself is a special effect, this means creative cinematographers have to figure out how to add additional elements to create these dynamic animated environments.
The Audio Side of the House
And what movie would be complete that has extensive use of special effects if they didn’t have the audio to go with it? People can often let loose frames in a movie go. However, as soon as you hear an audio glitch or something that doesn’t match with your sound expectation, you are distracted and taken out of the scene. Audio must always match with video, and any audio special-effects have an exponentially high-value to create more profound effects on the screen.