Since the dawn of filmmaking, special effects have been integral in creating the magic we see on screen. Whether you’re watching a silent film or the latest blockbuster, special effects are used to make you believe even the wildest fantasy seems real for just a few hours. As our technology continues to advance into new heights, the tricks Hollywood uses to create our entertainment change to match.
Before we begin our look into modern advances in special effects, we should make a baseline to work off of. Special effects is the catch-all term for any visual effect done in film or television that creates an illusion of something happening in a live shot that isn’t actually happening. Special effects are generally broken down into two subcategories: practical effects and digital effects.
Practical effects, as the name suggests, include anything physically used to create an illusion. Explosions, makeup, sets, false weather machines and other techniques are all considered practical effects. Practical effects are done during filming, adding a higher sense of realism to the scenes they’re used in.
Digital effects, on the other hand, are all techniques done using computers. These kinds of effects are often used in modern films and can include techniques like motion capture, green screen backgrounds and digital alterations to actors and sets. For a long time, these effects could only be done once the film had wrapped filming, but with modern advances, some digital effects can be done during the filming process.
One of the key differences between practical and digital effects is time and safety. Practical effects, for the most part, take a lot of time to set up before they are ready for use, especially if they’re potentially dangerous effects like explosions. Digital effects, however, are much less time-consuming and have a much lower chance of injuring a crew member.
Until the ‘90s, practical effects were the primary way special effects were added to films. After the release of films like “Jurassic Park” and “The Matrix,” where digital effects were heavily used to great success, studios across the globe began to shift to using more digital effects in film.
Technologies such as green screens became more widespread because of their less time-consuming nature. The use of handmade sets became rarer. Movies began being made using almost entirely digital effects as studios realized how time efficient it was in comparison to practical effects.
Fast forward to today, and special effects have never been better. Films like James Cameron’s "Avatar: The Way of Water” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” blew audiences away with their larger-than-life worlds created via digital effects. Utilizing brand new technologies, directors can make their world all the more vibrant, blurring the line between what’s real and what’s fake. Once such technology is called The Volume.
First created for the Disney+ show “The Mandalorian," The Volume is essentially a large cylindrical room filled with screens. Digitally made backgrounds are projected onto those screens, allowing any actor or crew member standing in the cylinder to see the environment in which a scene takes place.
Previously, if a director wanted to have a digital background, they would have to generate the background after the scene was filmed on a green screen and add it into the scene once the film had finished production. The Volume allows actors to actually see and interact with the environment of a scene, leading to better performances from the cast and a better scene overall.
Advances in motion capture technology have also been used to create higher-quality digital characters. “Wētā Workshop,” a visual effects company in New Zealand, has made strides in their ability to read the facial expressions of motion capture performers, so that their emotions can be better translated to a digital character. James Cameron, for the extensive amount of underwater scenes in “Avatar: The Way of Water,” developed underwater motion capture technology so those scenes could look more authentic.
Although digital effects have been on the rise as of late, practical effects are beginning to make a return to the big screen in a major way. Many studios have begun using a hybrid system for their effects, making whatever they can practically and making what they cannot digitally.
High-profile blockbusters like Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts” and DC Studios’ “Superman” both use extensive practical set work to ground their stories, while still using digital effects for larger-than-life scenes. The most recent film installment of the Alien franchise, “Alien: Romulus,” mixes a real set and monster with digital shots to make the sci-fi horror story all the more intense.
Currently, it seems audiences are more open to this mixed style of special effects. It allows for over-the-top scenes and environments provided by digital effects, while also not sacrificing the authenticity that practical effects offer. One can only hope that studios continue to make movies like this and recognize the value of both techniques to create films that leave us amazed and help movies feel as magical as they used to.
