Different techniques of visual and special effects developed over time
2. In camera mate(1903) - In-Camera Matte was the next big step in visual and special effects shots. This process was first used in "The Great Train Robbery" in 1903 and used a matte, a mask used to obscure part of an image in a film and allow another image to be substituted, to insert detail into the windows of a train to give it the effect of moving.
3. Glass shot(1907) - The Glass shot technique was first used in "The Missions of California" by Norman Dawn.
4. Travelling mate(1913) - The traveling matte technique was first used in the movie "Barney Oldfields Race for Life" in 1913. In this movie Barney must save a women from a speeding train. Of course it was too dangerous to place the actors in the way of an oncoming train, so the traveling matte technique was used.
5.Matte painting(1915) - Matte painting, Another technique pioneered by Norman Dawn, this allowed for unparalleled creative possibilities by using paintings for backdrops. Any Location imagined could be created and used for filming.
6. Williams Process(1922) - Williams Process was first used in the film "Beyond the Rocks", which until 2003 was lost. After years of experimentation, Williams had perfected a version of luminance keying that used a forground shot against black or white to produce a matte that would allow any background to be added behind the original scene.
7. Shuftan Process(1926) - The Shuftan Process was first used in the film "Metropolis". This technique is a traditional method of using mirrors to combine full-scale live action and miniatures in-camera.
8. Rear projection(1926) - Metropolis" didnot only pioneer the Shuftan Process, but is also the first use of rear projection with a moving background image (Until this time it had only been used with still images). This method combined live-action foregrounds with pre-filmed background scenery. Actors perform in front of a translucent screen which has still or moving images projected on to it from behind and another camera films the composite image. These are then put together to create the completed image.
9. Cloud tank(1947) - The cloud tank technique was first used in the movie "The Beginning or the End" to re-create the explosion of the atom bomb. This effect uses a glass tank filled with saline solutions of various densitites and is used to film billowing cloud formations. Similar methods have also been used to create billowing cloud formations in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Ghostbusters."
10. Motion control(1948) - This Technique was a huge step forward in filmmaking. Until this point in cinema history, successful combination of separately filmed elements was traditionally dependent on ensuring that there was no movement in any of the cameras used to film the various components. O.L. Dupy changed all this with the invention of the Dupy Duplicator which recorded the movement of a camera and reproduced it wherever and whenever different elements of a composite shot filmed, and effectively combined later.
11. Front projection(1968) - Front Projection is a method of simultaneously filming performers in a studio and pre-filmed background images which are projected on to a highly reflective backdrop from in front. This technique was being used as early as the 30's, but it wasn't until the 50's that interest in the method led to a number of practical systems. The film 2001: A Space Odyssey marked its first use in a major feature film.
12. Zoptics (1978) - Zoptics is an imaginitive variation of front projection. First used in "Superman" this technique allowed for Superman's long flights to be achieved in a small studio without any problems. To do this the zoom lens on a camera is linked with the zoom lens on a projector. by simultaneously increasing the size of the camera, the projecrted image will appear to remain the same size when rephotographed while any foreground object will appear to shrink. Thus allowing Superman to fly towards and away.
14. Electronic Composite(1980) - Electronic Composite was created by Barry Nolan. Nolan spent a million dollars to build the world's first film resolution electronic compositing system. This system scanned the film, extracted the matte from the blue layer, composited the elements, and filmed the shot back out from a high definition black and white CRT through separation filters onto color negative - entirely in analogue format
15. Introvision (1981) - Introvision was a new technique first used in the movie "Outland." This technique, a compicated variation of front projection, effectively enables the 2-D projected background image to be split into various planes. This was performers can be made to appear as if they are actually acting 'within' the environment of the projected image.
16. 3D computer graphics in a composite(1985) - For the first time in history a 3D computer generated image was successfully placed into a film background. The company that achieved this was ILM and the film they did it for was "Young Sherlock Holmes."
17. Live action 3D - The release of James Camerons' "Avatar" marked the film industry's introduction into true 3-D. Before, 3-D was only thought to be a movie gimmick, but Cameron designed dual-function cameras that simultaneously filmed in both conventional 2-D and state of the art 3-D. The result was nothing short of amazing and has led to the 3-D craze we now see with movies.
1. Stop action(1985) - Stop Action is the oldest known visual effects shot. It was first used in "The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots"
2. In camera mate(1903) - In-Camera Matte was the next big step in visual and special effects shots. This process was first used in "The Great Train Robbery" in 1903 and used a matte, a mask used to obscure part of an image in a film and allow another image to be substituted, to insert detail into the windows of a train to give it the effect of moving.
3. Glass shot(1907) - The Glass shot technique was first used in "The Missions of California" by Norman Dawn.
4. Travelling mate(1913) - The traveling matte technique was first used in the movie "Barney Oldfields Race for Life" in 1913. In this movie Barney must save a women from a speeding train. Of course it was too dangerous to place the actors in the way of an oncoming train, so the traveling matte technique was used.
5.Matte painting(1915) - Matte painting, Another technique pioneered by Norman Dawn, this allowed for unparalleled creative possibilities by using paintings for backdrops. Any Location imagined could be created and used for filming.
6. Williams Process(1922) - Williams Process was first used in the film "Beyond the Rocks", which until 2003 was lost. After years of experimentation, Williams had perfected a version of luminance keying that used a forground shot against black or white to produce a matte that would allow any background to be added behind the original scene.
7. Shuftan Process(1926) - The Shuftan Process was first used in the film "Metropolis". This technique is a traditional method of using mirrors to combine full-scale live action and miniatures in-camera.
8. Rear projection(1926) - Metropolis" didnot only pioneer the Shuftan Process, but is also the first use of rear projection with a moving background image (Until this time it had only been used with still images). This method combined live-action foregrounds with pre-filmed background scenery. Actors perform in front of a translucent screen which has still or moving images projected on to it from behind and another camera films the composite image. These are then put together to create the completed image.
9. Cloud tank(1947) - The cloud tank technique was first used in the movie "The Beginning or the End" to re-create the explosion of the atom bomb. This effect uses a glass tank filled with saline solutions of various densitites and is used to film billowing cloud formations. Similar methods have also been used to create billowing cloud formations in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Ghostbusters."
10. Motion control(1948) - This Technique was a huge step forward in filmmaking. Until this point in cinema history, successful combination of separately filmed elements was traditionally dependent on ensuring that there was no movement in any of the cameras used to film the various components. O.L. Dupy changed all this with the invention of the Dupy Duplicator which recorded the movement of a camera and reproduced it wherever and whenever different elements of a composite shot filmed, and effectively combined later.
12. Zoptics (1978) - Zoptics is an imaginitive variation of front projection. First used in "Superman" this technique allowed for Superman's long flights to be achieved in a small studio without any problems. To do this the zoom lens on a camera is linked with the zoom lens on a projector. by simultaneously increasing the size of the camera, the projecrted image will appear to remain the same size when rephotographed while any foreground object will appear to shrink. Thus allowing Superman to fly towards and away.
14. Electronic Composite(1980) - Electronic Composite was created by Barry Nolan. Nolan spent a million dollars to build the world's first film resolution electronic compositing system. This system scanned the film, extracted the matte from the blue layer, composited the elements, and filmed the shot back out from a high definition black and white CRT through separation filters onto color negative - entirely in analogue format
15. Introvision (1981) - Introvision was a new technique first used in the movie "Outland." This technique, a compicated variation of front projection, effectively enables the 2-D projected background image to be split into various planes. This was performers can be made to appear as if they are actually acting 'within' the environment of the projected image.
16. 3D computer graphics in a composite(1985) - For the first time in history a 3D computer generated image was successfully placed into a film background. The company that achieved this was ILM and the film they did it for was "Young Sherlock Holmes."
17. Live action 3D - The release of James Camerons' "Avatar" marked the film industry's introduction into true 3-D. Before, 3-D was only thought to be a movie gimmick, but Cameron designed dual-function cameras that simultaneously filmed in both conventional 2-D and state of the art 3-D. The result was nothing short of amazing and has led to the 3-D craze we now see with movies.
