Introduction to Visual Effects

1
Introduction to Visual Effects

• What is Visual Effects?
• How far back should we go?

2
Illusion Magic

• What makes a magic trick work?
• Are visual effects magic?

3
Early History

• 1879 Altamira Spain
• 8 legged animals were drawn to show movement -
  Animation
• Weve always been interested in capturing our
  real world.

4
Altamira Spain
5
First Illusions

• Ancient Egypt Wooden statues were used for
  prayer.Some were mechanical, using a series of
  pullies activated by a nearby water source.

6
First Illusions

• Pyrotechnics
• Moving stages during the Renaissance
• Automatons - What the heck are these? P.11

7
Theatre

• Importance of Technology.
• 1800s - Theatres thrived.
• They were huge and used advanced gas lighting
  systems.
• Importance of story and its appeal.

8
Theatre

• What are the elements of theatre today?

9
Theatre

• We still use projections?

10
Las Vegas

• What are the best uses of effects here in Las
  Vegas?

11
Innovation

• 1826 - Thaumatrope (Paris)

12
Innovation

• 1832 - Zoetrope (William Horner)

13
Innovation

• 1860 - Celluloid / Film
• 1888 - Kinetescope (Edison)

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Innovation
15
Innovation

• George Milies - The Father of Visual Effects
• The first edit.
• Journey to the Moon 1902.
• The first science fiction piece.

16
Whats the difference between Visual Effects and
Special Effects?

• Special Effects modify the real world
• Visual Effects modify the virtual world

17
Special Effects modify the real
world
Action
background
foreground
18
Visual Effects modify the virtual world
Camera
Post-Production
Lens
Sensor
Processing
Image
19
Why create visual effects?

• In normal photography we try to reproduce reality
• In VFX we want to create something that doesnt
  exist at all
• and also, fool people into believing it is real

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Three scenarios for VFX

• What we want to see doesnt exist
• What we want to see is too difficult or dangerous
  to photograph live
• We need to fix something we have photographed
• What about Story?

21
Format?

• Whether VFX are shot on film or video depends on
  what the effects will be used for
• Often effects shots require much higher
  resolution than the viewing format
• The ability to shoot at a variety of speeds is
  also a determining factor

22
Film Formats

• 65/70mm
• When used horizontally, its called IMAX
• 35mm
• 16mm (used for television)
• 8mm

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Film Formats
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Aspect Ratios

• Full Aperture 1.331 (Silent)
• Academy 1.371
• WideScreen 1.851
• VistaVision 1.51 (Silent)
• Cinemascope 2.351
• Television widescreen 1.781 (16x9)

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Normal ActionFilm Speeds

• 12 fps (Silent movies)
• 24 fps (all Hollywood movies)
• 25 fps (all European movies)
• 30 fps (video)