Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones

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

Part 12

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

Cocoon (1985)

This Ron Howard-directed film won the Best Achievement in Visual Effects Academy Award, defeating Return to Oz (1985) and Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), for Industrial Light and Magic's (ILM) depiction of the friendly, energy-light emitting alien lifeforms and their alien spaceship - its climactic arrival came during a fog-shrouded electrical storm to pick up an ascending boatload of retirement home residents who were promised eternal life on the faraway planet.

Dire Straits - Money for Nothing (1985)

The first computer-generated music video!

We Are Born of Stars (1985)

This was the first Anaglyph single projector 3D film created for IMAX/IMAX Dome projection. Using computer graphics, the film traced the development of life from the formation of atomic nuclei in stars to the molecular structure of water and DNA, zooming the audience through the five-billion-year evolution of our solar system.

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

A Steven Spielberg-produced film (with effects by Pixar when it was still part of LucasFilm and Industrial Light and Magic) with the first fully 3-D digital (or CGI), or computer generated, photorealistic animated character in a full-length feature film. It was known as "the stained-glass man" - a knight composed of shards of stained-glass that came to life. With his sword raised, he marched through a church at night, and engaged in swordplay (in a 30 second on-screen sequence that took 6 months to accomplish) to murder the Vicar. [Some argue, however, that the first CGI 'character' was the polyhedron character "Bit" in Tron (1982).] This film was the first to composite computer-generated animation with a live-action background. It was also the first computer-animated character to be scanned and painted directly onto film using a laser.

The film also featured a stop-motion animated scene in which young John Watson (Alan Cox) was assaulted by a variety of cakes in a cake shop that came to life in front of him. In another scene, a chicken came to life on a dinner plate and attacked its astonished diner.

Somehow, along with Return to Oz (1985), it lost the Best Visual Effects Oscar to Cocoon (1985).

Aliens (1986)

James Cameron's sequel to Ridley Scott's original film Alien (1979) was notable for the way it combined numerous in-camera special-effects elements and techniques into the same shot. Live action, models (full-sized and scale miniatures of the alien Queen), matte paintings, composites, front and rear projection, and various other elements were brought together through a beam-splitter.

This was a superb big-budget action film, a seven-time Oscar nominee, and two-time winner (Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Effects Editing).

Flight of the Navigator (1986)

The first feature film to use reflection mapping -- for the shiny, flying CGI alien spaceship flying over and reflecting airports, fields, buildings, and oceans.

[This technique was also used in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and also for the reflective Naboo spacecraft in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999).]

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

The first major use of computer animation in an animated film -- in the scene of the gears of London's famed bell tower Big Ben.

Howard the Duck (1986)

This was the first film to use digital wire removal, a technique pioneered by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). Wires were used to simulate either flying actors or miniatures. Howard the Duck was portrayed by stunt men in a duck suit.

[The technique was also used in Back to the Future Part II (1989), and Hook (1991).]

Labyrinth (1986)

The memorable CGI opening sequence featured a glass ball and an owl - the first realistic CGI animal. The film also featured M.C. Escher-style production design, including the final "stairway sequence".

Luxo Jr. (1986)

This two minute short from Pixar about Luxo and his son - a pair of digital desk lamps - was directed by John Lasseter (of Toy Story fame) and William Reeves. It was the company's first official production after breaking off from LucasFilms. It was notable as the first fully computer-generated, computer-animated (or CGI) film, and the first to use shadows in CGI. It was also the first computer animation short to be nominated for an Academy Award. The desk lamp later became the corporate or trademark symbol for Pixar.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

This was the first groundbreaking use of of 3D scanning by Cyberware on a film. This type of 3D scanning was first used on the heads of actors in this film when ILM digitized them for a short time-warp travel scene. The CG heads of Shatner and Nimoy were too complex for conventional modeling techniques at the time - instead they were scanned by the first Cyberware 3D Scanner.

[Cyberware pioneered the market for three-dimensional detailed scans of people and objects. The laser- and video-based technology can scan complex objects in only seconds to produce a detailed three-dimensional data-set of the facial features and a detailed texture map of the surface color.]

Film Title and Description of Visual-Special Effects	Example
*Cocoon (1985)* This Ron Howard-directed film won the Best Achievement in Visual Effects Academy Award, defeating Return to Oz (1985) and Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), for Industrial Light and Magic's (ILM) depiction of the friendly, energy-light emitting alien lifeforms and their alien spaceship - its climactic arrival came during a fog-shrouded electrical storm to pick up an ascending boatload of retirement home residents who were promised eternal life on the faraway planet.
*Dire Straits - Money for Nothing (1985)* The first computer-generated music video!
*We Are Born of Stars (1985)* This was the first Anaglyph single projector 3D film created for IMAX/IMAX Dome projection. Using computer graphics, the film traced the development of life from the formation of atomic nuclei in stars to the molecular structure of water and DNA, zooming the audience through the five-billion-year evolution of our solar system.
*Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)* A Steven Spielberg-produced film (with effects by Pixar when it was still part of LucasFilm and Industrial Light and Magic) with the first fully 3-D digital (or CGI), or computer generated, photorealistic animated character in a full-length feature film. It was known as "the stained-glass man" - a knight composed of shards of stained-glass that came to life. With his sword raised, he marched through a church at night, and engaged in swordplay (in a 30 second on-screen sequence that took 6 months to accomplish) to murder the Vicar. [Some argue, however, that the first CGI 'character' was the polyhedron character "Bit" in Tron (1982).] This film was the first to composite computer-generated animation with a live-action background. It was also the first computer-animated character to be scanned and painted directly onto film using a laser. The film also featured a stop-motion animated scene in which young John Watson (Alan Cox) was assaulted by a variety of cakes in a cake shop that came to life in front of him. In another scene, a chicken came to life on a dinner plate and attacked its astonished diner. Somehow, along with Return to Oz (1985), it lost the Best Visual Effects Oscar to Cocoon (1985).
*Aliens (1986)* James Cameron's sequel to Ridley Scott's original film Alien (1979) was notable for the way it combined numerous in-camera special-effects elements and techniques into the same shot. Live action, models (full-sized and scale miniatures of the alien Queen), matte paintings, composites, front and rear projection, and various other elements were brought together through a beam-splitter. This was a superb big-budget action film, a seven-time Oscar nominee, and two-time winner (Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Effects Editing).
*Flight of the Navigator (1986)* The first feature film to use reflection mapping -- for the shiny, flying CGI alien spaceship flying over and reflecting airports, fields, buildings, and oceans. [This technique was also used in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and also for the reflective Naboo spacecraft in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999).]
*The Great Mouse Detective (1986)* The first major use of computer animation in an animated film -- in the scene of the gears of London's famed bell tower Big Ben.
*Howard the Duck (1986)* This was the first film to use digital wire removal, a technique pioneered by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). Wires were used to simulate either flying actors or miniatures. Howard the Duck was portrayed by stunt men in a duck suit. [The technique was also used in Back to the Future Part II (1989), and Hook (1991).]
*Labyrinth (1986)* The memorable CGI opening sequence featured a glass ball and an owl - the first realistic CGI animal. The film also featured M.C. Escher-style production design, including the final "stairway sequence".
*Luxo Jr. (1986)* This two minute short from Pixar about Luxo and his son - a pair of digital desk lamps - was directed by John Lasseter (of Toy Story fame) and William Reeves. It was the company's first official production after breaking off from LucasFilms. It was notable as the first fully computer-generated, computer-animated (or CGI) film, and the first to use shadows in CGI. It was also the first computer animation short to be nominated for an Academy Award. The desk lamp later became the corporate or trademark symbol for Pixar.
*Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)* This was the first groundbreaking use of of 3D scanning by Cyberware on a film. This type of 3D scanning was first used on the heads of actors in this film when ILM digitized them for a short time-warp travel scene. The CG heads of Shatner and Nimoy were too complex for conventional modeling techniques at the time - instead they were scanned by the first Cyberware 3D Scanner. [Cyberware pioneered the market for three-dimensional detailed scans of people and objects. The laser- and video-based technology can scan complex objects in only seconds to produce a detailed three-dimensional data-set of the facial features and a detailed texture map of the surface color.]