Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones

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

Part 14

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 Rescuers Down Under (1990)

This Disney film was the studio's very first, theatrically-released sequel; it was their first completely digital film that included impressive flight-aerial action sequences that used rotoscoping and multi-plane cameras -- especially in the scene of Cody (voice of (Adam Ryen) setting free and riding the magnificent golden eagle Marahute. It was also the first animated feature to use computerized ink and paint (not acetate cels or paint).

RoboCop 2 (1990)

First use of real-time computer graphics or "digital puppetry" to create a character (a representation of the villain Cain (Tom Noonan)) in a feature film. (Digital puppetry is the manipulation and performance of digitally animated 2D or 3D figures and objects in a virtual environment that are rendered in real-time by computers.)

Total Recall (1990)

Use of motion capture for the skeletal CGI characters in the subway shootout scene.

Backdraft (1991)

First use of photorealistic CG fire in a motion picture.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Noted for the integration of hand-drawn cels and computer-generated animation, especially in the ballroom scene in which Belle and the Beast danced - within a completely 3-D rendered background. The animated camera moves in 3-D space. This new digital technology was tested in Disney's earlier films The Black Cauldron (1985), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), and Oliver and Company (1988).

It was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Digital morphing was used in this film, in the scene of the shape-changing alien prisoner Marta (Iman), who eventually morphed into Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), culminating in a fist-fight between the two (shown right).

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

This film won the year's Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, defeating Backdraft (1991) and Hook (1991).

Terminator 2 was the first mainstream blockbuster movie with multiple morphing effects and simulated natural human motion for a CG character. The lethal, liquid-metal, chrome T-1000 cyborg terminator (Robert Patrick), the first computer graphic-generated main character to be used in a film, 'morphed' into any person or object. The liquifying-solidifying robot's humanoid texture was layered onto a CG model to create the effect. Over 300 special effects shots made up 16 minutes of the film's running time.

The seemingly-indestructible Terminator android composed of morphing liquid metal was a killing, shape-shifting terminator with no emotional intelligence, usually exemplified as a policeman. The sleek, modern android was composed of poly-mimetic metal, meaning it could take on the shape, color, and texture of anything it touched (such as a porcelain-tiled floor), and could also mimic human behavior, such as imitating the voices of its victims; it could transform its hands into jaw-like blades, and completely absorb shotgun blasts to its midsection or head. In one remarkable scene, the T-1000 was shattered into pieces, but then the pieces reassembled themselves.

The morphing effect was first used in director Ron Howard's Willow (1988), but not to such an extent. Also, in post-production work, the truck crashing through the wall was flipped from left to right to create a better angle. In the same year, Michael Jackson's promo music video Black or White (1991), directed by John Landis, also used morphing (in its final sequence) - the first video to do so.

The Babe (1992)

Since star John Goodman was right-handed and he was portraying left-handed, legendary baseball player George Herman "Babe" Ruth, film-makers composited Goodman with a left-handed pitcher in action to get the fast-ball scene accurately shot. Also, the baseball park was filled by shooting just one section of extras and then wallpapering the stands with copies of them.

Death Becomes Her (1992)

This film was the Academy Award winner for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, defeating Alien 3 (1992) and Batman Returns (1992). It featured extensive CGI effects, from Madeline Ashton's (Meryl Streep) twisted-around head (and stretched neck) and the see-through hole in Helen Sharp's (Goldie Hawn) abdomen, to the depiction of a rainy 1978 New York City and a miniature mansion.

The film also featured photo-realistic skin - the first skin replication to link her body and head together with a digital neck.

Lawnmower Man (1992)

This breakthrough film, with 8 minutes of ground-breaking special effects, introduced Virtual Reality to films. It was one of the first films to record a human actor's movements in a sensor-covered body suit - a technique called Body Motion Capture. [The technique was later perfected in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), for the CGI character of Gollum.]

There was one imaginative and surreal CGI sequence of virtual reality sex (or cybersex), the first of its kind, in this science-fiction thriller loosely derived from Stephen King's short story; Marnie Burke (Jenny Wright) and mentally-retarded lawnmower man Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey) wore bodysuits, gloves, and head-mounted displays (HMDs), and were strapped into huge gyroscopes - all connected to the computer. After they kissed, the two intertwining lovers became swirling liquid metal, fusing with one another. The couple took the form of two metallic insects looking like a two-headed dragonfly - flying as one being. Jobe took over the dual fantasy, claiming to know what was in Marnie's mind, but she became trapped in his scary world and then traumatized ("Oh my God, let me out") - causing her brain patterns to become irregular, signifying that she had become a brain-dead vegetable.

In the film's VR climax, now all-powerful Cyber-Being Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey) entered into the computer main-frame and faced off against VR researcher Dr. Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan).

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

The first feature film to use a green screen instead of a blue screen for its visual effects, allowing for filming against a rich blue night sky. The film also featured minor morphing effects with the knocker transforming into Marley's head.

Film Title and Description of Visual-Special Effects	Example
*The Rescuers Down Under (1990)* This Disney film was the studio's very first, theatrically-released sequel; it was their first completely digital film that included impressive flight-aerial action sequences that used rotoscoping and multi-plane cameras -- especially in the scene of Cody (voice of (Adam Ryen) setting free and riding the magnificent golden eagle Marahute. It was also the first animated feature to use computerized ink and paint (not acetate cels or paint).
*RoboCop 2 (1990)* First use of real-time computer graphics or "digital puppetry" to create a character (a representation of the villain Cain (Tom Noonan)) in a feature film. (Digital puppetry is the manipulation and performance of digitally animated 2D or 3D figures and objects in a virtual environment that are rendered in real-time by computers.)
*Total Recall (1990)* Use of motion capture for the skeletal CGI characters in the subway shootout scene.
*Backdraft (1991)* First use of photorealistic CG fire in a motion picture.
*Beauty and the Beast (1991)* Noted for the integration of hand-drawn cels and computer-generated animation, especially in the ballroom scene in which Belle and the Beast danced - within a completely 3-D rendered background. The animated camera moves in 3-D space. This new digital technology was tested in Disney's earlier films The Black Cauldron (1985), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), and Oliver and Company (1988). It was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) Digital morphing was used in this film, in the scene of the shape-changing alien prisoner Marta (Iman), who eventually morphed into Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), culminating in a fist-fight between the two (shown right).
*Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)* This film won the year's Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, defeating Backdraft (1991) and Hook (1991). Terminator 2 was the first mainstream blockbuster movie with multiple morphing effects and simulated natural human motion for a CG character. The lethal, liquid-metal, chrome T-1000 cyborg terminator (Robert Patrick), the first computer graphic-generated main character to be used in a film, 'morphed' into any person or object. The liquifying-solidifying robot's humanoid texture was layered onto a CG model to create the effect. Over 300 special effects shots made up 16 minutes of the film's running time. The seemingly-indestructible Terminator android composed of morphing liquid metal was a killing, shape-shifting terminator with no emotional intelligence, usually exemplified as a policeman. The sleek, modern android was composed of poly-mimetic metal, meaning it could take on the shape, color, and texture of anything it touched (such as a porcelain-tiled floor), and could also mimic human behavior, such as imitating the voices of its victims; it could transform its hands into jaw-like blades, and completely absorb shotgun blasts to its midsection or head. In one remarkable scene, the T-1000 was shattered into pieces, but then the pieces reassembled themselves. The morphing effect was first used in director Ron Howard's Willow (1988), but not to such an extent. Also, in post-production work, the truck crashing through the wall was flipped from left to right to create a better angle. In the same year, Michael Jackson's promo music video Black or White (1991), directed by John Landis, also used morphing (in its final sequence) - the first video to do so.
*The Babe (1992)* Since star John Goodman was right-handed and he was portraying left-handed, legendary baseball player George Herman "Babe" Ruth, film-makers composited Goodman with a left-handed pitcher in action to get the fast-ball scene accurately shot. Also, the baseball park was filled by shooting just one section of extras and then wallpapering the stands with copies of them.
*Death Becomes Her (1992)* This film was the Academy Award winner for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, defeating Alien 3 (1992) and Batman Returns (1992). It featured extensive CGI effects, from Madeline Ashton's (Meryl Streep) twisted-around head (and stretched neck) and the see-through hole in Helen Sharp's (Goldie Hawn) abdomen, to the depiction of a rainy 1978 New York City and a miniature mansion. The film also featured photo-realistic skin - the first skin replication to link her body and head together with a digital neck.
*Lawnmower Man (1992)* This breakthrough film, with 8 minutes of ground-breaking special effects, introduced Virtual Reality to films. It was one of the first films to record a human actor's movements in a sensor-covered body suit - a technique called Body Motion Capture. [The technique was later perfected in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), for the CGI character of Gollum.] There was one imaginative and surreal CGI sequence of virtual reality sex (or cybersex), the first of its kind, in this science-fiction thriller loosely derived from Stephen King's short story; Marnie Burke (Jenny Wright) and mentally-retarded lawnmower man Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey) wore bodysuits, gloves, and head-mounted displays (HMDs), and were strapped into huge gyroscopes - all connected to the computer. After they kissed, the two intertwining lovers became swirling liquid metal, fusing with one another. The couple took the form of two metallic insects looking like a two-headed dragonfly - flying as one being. Jobe took over the dual fantasy, claiming to know what was in Marnie's mind, but she became trapped in his scary world and then traumatized ("Oh my God, let me out") - causing her brain patterns to become irregular, signifying that she had become a brain-dead vegetable. In the film's VR climax, now all-powerful Cyber-Being Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey) entered into the computer main-frame and faced off against VR researcher Dr. Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan).
*The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)* The first feature film to use a green screen instead of a blue screen for its visual effects, allowing for filming against a rich blue night sky. The film also featured minor morphing effects with the knocker transforming into Marley's head.