VFX
Information Source: VFXTalkSpecial Effects or ‘SFX’ are used in film, television, and the entertainment industry to recreate scenes that cannot be achieved by live action or normal means.They are also used when creating the effect by normal means is prohibitively expensive; for example, it would be extremely expensive to construct a historical castle or to create the Titanic and then sink it, but these can be simulated with special effects. With the advent of computer graphics imaging, special effects are also used to enhance previously-filmed elements, by adding, removing or enhancing objects within the scene.
Many different special effects techniques exist, ranging from traditional theater effects or elaborately staged, through classic film techniques invented in the early 20th century, such as aerial image photography and optical printers, to modern Computer generated imagery (or CGI). Often several different techniques are used together in a single scene or shot to achieve the desired effect.
Visual Effects or ‘VFX’ is the term given to a sub-category of special effects in which images or film frames are created or manipulated for film and video. Visual effects usually involve the integration of live-action footage with computer generated imagery or other elements (such as pyrotechnics or model work) in order to create environments or scenarios which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture on film. They have become increasingly common in big-budget films, and have also recently become accessible to the amateur filmmaker with the introduction of affordable animation and compositing software.
COMPOSITING
The art of compositing is that of combining two images, or elements of two images, together into one seamless shot. This can be done through green screen/blue screen, optical printing, and rotoscoping. Nowadays, this is usually done digitally, and often involves the incorporation of 3D models. Special effects artists can trace an element in a shot, and the software, such as Apple Shake, will follow that object throughout the duration of the clip. The item can then be extraced from the shot, placed in another shot, and the edges softened or the “layer” colorized to match its new environment.Compositing is done in layers, such as in programs like Photoshop. Individual layers, each with a certain amount of transparency, are added on top of each other to create a final image. It is necessary that some of the layers be partially transparent, so that they can blend with the other layers, and not dominate the full frame.
SPECIAL EFFECTS ANIMATION
Also known as effects animation, special effects animation is a specialization of the traditional animation and computer animation processes. Anything that moves in an animated film and is not a character (handled by character animators) is considered a special effect, and is left up to the special effects animators to create. Effects animation tasks can include animating cars, trains, rain, snow, fire, magic, shadows, or other non-character entities, objects, and phenomena. A classic case of this would be the light sabres and laser-bolts in the original Star Wars, which were created by rotoscopy.Sometimes, special processes are used to produce effects animation instead of drawing or rendering. Rain, for example, has been created in Walt Disney Feature Animation/Disney films since the late-1930s by filming slow-motion footage of water in front of a black background, with the resulting film superimposed over the animation.
Among the most notable effects animators in history are A.C. Gamer from Termite Terrace/Warner Bros.; and Joshua Meador, Cy Young, Mark Dindal, and Randy Fullmer from the Walt Disney animation studio.
Special effects animation is also common in live-action films to create certain images that cannot be traditionally filmed. In that respect, special effects animation is more commonplace than character animation, since special effects of many different types and varieties have been used in film for a century.
CGI and SFX
Effects that are created via computers are known as CGI (Computer generated Imagery) effects and they fit into the category of optical effects - a subset of SFX - because they involve altering a photographic image. Some people claim that because CGI effects are not produced during filming on-set (as in bullet hits, fire, flame, and explosions, wind, rain, etc.) that they are not SFX at all. However, as discussed above, effects produced during filming on-set are a different subset of SFX known as mechanical or practical effects. Other categories of SFX do exist, and CGI effects are still SFX.The art of adding audio effects to a film is done through either Foley, or pre-recorded sound effects. Foley refers to acting out the scene in a recording studio with the necessary props, such as doors, umbrellas, shoes, or whatever the characters in the scene are doing. If a person was walking across concrete, the Foley artist would probably put the shoes on his hands and tap them on concrete, while watching a screen to make sure he is doing it in sync with the action. Often, Foley sounds become better-known to moviegoers than the real sounds; an example is the traditional use of coconut shells for horses’ hoofs.
Foley is required because so little actual production audio is used; there is often too much camera/crew noise and unwanted environmental noise for location audio to be useful as more than a reference. Shooting on a soundstage reduces the problem of unwanted sounds, but Foley recording is still necessary because the sounds produced on the stage may not be the same ones the director wants in the film, or may not be sufficiently clear due to the necessity of keeping microphones out of the scene.
AUDIO EFFECTS
The art of adding audio effects to a film is done through either Foley, or pre-recorded sound effects. Foley refers to acting out the scene in a recording studio with the necessary props, such as doors, umbrellas, shoes, or whatever the characters in the scene are doing. If a person was walking across concrete, the Foley artist would probably put the shoes on his hands and tap them on concrete, while watching a screen to make sure he is doing it in sync with the action. Often, Foley sounds become better-known to moviegoers than the real sounds; an example is the traditional use of coconut shells for horses’ hoofs.Foley is required because so little actual production audio is used; there is often too much camera/crew noise and unwanted environmental noise for location audio to be useful as more than a reference. Shooting on a soundstage reduces the problem of unwanted sounds, but Foley recording is still necessary because the sounds produced on the stage may not be the same ones the director wants in the film, or may not be sufficiently clear due to the necessity of keeping microphones out of the scene.
VISUAL/SPECIAL EFFECTS TECHNIQUES
Miniature EffectsMatte Paintings
Rotoscoping
Dolly Zoom
Optical Effects
Travelling Matte
Aerial Image Effects
Bluescreen
Motion Control Photography
Audio-Animatronic Models
Digital Compositing
Wire Removal
Morphing
Computer-generated Imagery
Match Moving
Virtual Cinematography
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