Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones

Milestones in Film History:
Greatest Visual and Special Effects and Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI)

Part 10

Introduction: From even its earliest days, films have used visual magic ("smoke and mirrors") to produce illusions and trick effects that have startled audiences. In fact, the phenomenon of persistence of vision is the reason why the human eye sees individual frames of a movie as smooth, flowing action when projected.

Cel animation, scale modeling, claymation, digital compositing, animatronics, use of prosthetic makeup, morphing, and modern computer-generated or computer graphics imagery (CGI) are just some of the more modern techniques that are widely used for creating incredible special or visual effects.

(See this site's film terms glossary for definitions and examples, the History of Film by Decade, and an extensive timeline of other Milestones and Turning Points in Film History.)

Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star

are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films.

Film Title and Description of Visual-Special Effects

Example

The Black Hole (1979)

CGI film titles were used for the opening titles in this Disney film, and for some trailers.

The Muppet Movie (1979)

Jim Henson's muppets featured some of the trickiest and most advanced puppetry to date, such as Kermit riding a bicycle without any visible means of control, and Kermit playing a banjo in a swamp while singing The Rainbow Connection, etc. (In the latter scene, Jim Henson spent an entire day in a 50-gallon steel drum submerged in a pond).

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

This film included Industrial Light & Magic's amazing depiction of the massive, clouded V'Ger, Mr. Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) "space walk," and the astonishing "meld" scene, in which Commander Willard Decker (Stephen Lang) and the android Ilia (Persis Khambatta) melded in a glowing spectacle, culminating in an explosion of light, from which the USS Enterprise majestically emerged.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

This classic horror film contained a visceral transformation scene (that won an Academy Award for Best Makeup for Rick Baker) of backpacking American college student/tourist in the Yorkshires David Kessler (David Naughton) turning into a werewolf/lycanthrope - his body, face, and limbs crunched and his skin bubbled as it grew hair and elongated.

Some of the same special effects techniques were also used in The Howling (1981).

Dragonslayer (1981)

This sword-'n'-sorcery film, a co-production of Walt Disney and Paramount, introduced the innovative technique of Go-Motion, a process created by Industrial Light & Magic (and Lucas animator Phil Tippett). The use of Go-Motion brought this film an Academy Award nomination for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, which it lost to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

It was a variation on the earlier technique of "stop-motion" animation (popularized by Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen), by having the animated model (the Dragon) make several moves within a frame, thereby giving it a more fluid, blurry, and natural movement. By contrast, the traditional stop-motion technique was more jerky, static and wooden in appearance, as in Harryhausen's Clash of the Titans (1981) released in the same year.

Looker (1981)

The visual effects in Michael Crichton's high-tech science-fiction thriller featured the first CGI human character, model Cindy (Susan Dey) - her digitization was visualized by a computer-generated simulation; the film was also noted for the first use of shaded 3-D CGI.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Part of the reason why this film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects was due to its awesome climax with amazing visual effects, revealing the power of the Ark of the Covenant as it was opened by the face-melting Nazis.

A few more of the film's most remarkable special effects shots included:

the giant boulder rolling after Indy Jones (Harrison Ford) in the gripping opening

the amazing final image of the government warehouse where the Ark was stored -- a lengthy matte shot, and a tribute to a similar final scene in Citizen Kane (1941)

Blade Runner (1982)

One of the most awe-inspiring visuals in film history, paying homage to Lang's Metropolis (1927), the powerful vision of the Los Angeles cityscape, circa 2015, at night, with giant, fire-belching towers, floating advertisements, giant television screens, and police "spinners" (flying cars) - all based on the art design of legendary artist Syd Mead, who would collaborate with Jean 'Moebius' Giraud on TRON (1982) (see below).

It was nominated for Best Achievement in Visual Effects (as was the ghost-story Poltergeist (1982)), but both lost to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

The Dark Crystal (1982)

Dark Crystal was Jim Henson's darkest, most foreboding film, and the first film to completely use realistic puppets without a single real human or animal character. The film was composed entirely of puppets, matte paintings, and some miniature sets. The character and world designs were made by famed fantasy artist Brian Froud.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

This Steven Spielberg film, an Oscar winner for Best Visual Effects (defeating Poltergeist (1982) and Blade Runner (1982)), was famous for the flying bicycle scene in which the alien and Eliott were illuminated in silhouette against a giant-size full moon; also visual effects were employed for E.T.'s spaceship, and the believable alien itself, although altered or digitally-enhanced in the 2002 remake for the 20th anniversary edition. (See below)

Pink Floyd the Wall (1982)

Gerard Scarfe's animation was made for both the multimedia concert and the Alan Parker film - it was one of the first truly adult animated work in terms of maturity - sexually and politically. (The film also featured one of the earliest commercial uses of time-lapse photography, and featured disturbing imagery of schoolchildren turning into conforming, faceless zombies on an assembly line and stepping into a meat-grinder.)

Film Title and Description of Visual-Special Effects	Example
*The Black Hole (1979)* CGI film titles were used for the opening titles in this Disney film, and for some trailers.
*The Muppet Movie (1979)* Jim Henson's muppets featured some of the trickiest and most advanced puppetry to date, such as Kermit riding a bicycle without any visible means of control, and Kermit playing a banjo in a swamp while singing The Rainbow Connection, etc. (In the latter scene, Jim Henson spent an entire day in a 50-gallon steel drum submerged in a pond).
*Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)* This film included Industrial Light & Magic's amazing depiction of the massive, clouded V'Ger, Mr. Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) "space walk," and the astonishing "meld" scene, in which Commander Willard Decker (Stephen Lang) and the android Ilia (Persis Khambatta) melded in a glowing spectacle, culminating in an explosion of light, from which the USS Enterprise majestically emerged.
An American Werewolf in London (1981) This classic horror film contained a visceral transformation scene (that won an Academy Award for Best Makeup for Rick Baker) of backpacking American college student/tourist in the Yorkshires David Kessler (David Naughton) turning into a werewolf/lycanthrope - his body, face, and limbs crunched and his skin bubbled as it grew hair and elongated. Some of the same special effects techniques were also used in The Howling (1981).
*Dragonslayer (1981)* This sword-'n'-sorcery film, a co-production of Walt Disney and Paramount, introduced the innovative technique of Go-Motion, a process created by Industrial Light & Magic (and Lucas animator Phil Tippett). The use of Go-Motion brought this film an Academy Award nomination for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, which it lost to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). It was a variation on the earlier technique of "stop-motion" animation (popularized by Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen), by having the animated model (the Dragon) make several moves within a frame, thereby giving it a more fluid, blurry, and natural movement. By contrast, the traditional stop-motion technique was more jerky, static and wooden in appearance, as in Harryhausen's Clash of the Titans (1981) released in the same year.
*Looker (1981)* The visual effects in Michael Crichton's high-tech science-fiction thriller featured the first CGI human character, model Cindy (Susan Dey) - her digitization was visualized by a computer-generated simulation; the film was also noted for the first use of shaded 3-D CGI.
*Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)* Part of the reason why this film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects was due to its awesome climax with amazing visual effects, revealing the power of the Ark of the Covenant as it was opened by the face-melting Nazis. A few more of the film's most remarkable special effects shots included: the giant boulder rolling after Indy Jones (Harrison Ford) in the gripping opening the amazing final image of the government warehouse where the Ark was stored -- a lengthy matte shot, and a tribute to a similar final scene in Citizen Kane (1941)
*Blade Runner (1982)* One of the most awe-inspiring visuals in film history, paying homage to Lang's Metropolis (1927), the powerful vision of the Los Angeles cityscape, circa 2015, at night, with giant, fire-belching towers, floating advertisements, giant television screens, and police "spinners" (flying cars) - all based on the art design of legendary artist Syd Mead, who would collaborate with Jean 'Moebius' Giraud on TRON (1982) (see below). It was nominated for Best Achievement in Visual Effects (as was the ghost-story Poltergeist (1982)), but both lost to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
*The Dark Crystal (1982)* Dark Crystal was Jim Henson's darkest, most foreboding film, and the first film to completely use realistic puppets without a single real human or animal character. The film was composed entirely of puppets, matte paintings, and some miniature sets. The character and world designs were made by famed fantasy artist Brian Froud.
*E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)* This Steven Spielberg film, an Oscar winner for Best Visual Effects (defeating Poltergeist (1982) and Blade Runner (1982)), was famous for the flying bicycle scene in which the alien and Eliott were illuminated in silhouette against a giant-size full moon; also visual effects were employed for E.T.'s spaceship, and the believable alien itself, although altered or digitally-enhanced in the 2002 remake for the 20th anniversary edition. (See below)
*Pink Floyd the Wall (1982)* Gerard Scarfe's animation was made for both the multimedia concert and the Alan Parker film - it was one of the first truly adult animated work in terms of maturity - sexually and politically. (The film also featured one of the earliest commercial uses of time-lapse photography, and featured disturbing imagery of schoolchildren turning into conforming, faceless zombies on an assembly line and stepping into a meat-grinder.)