Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones

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

Part 19

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

Pearl Harbor (2001)

This film was most noted for the recreation of the infamous 1941 attack, with scenes digitally created, including hundreds of World War II era airplanes, ships and vehicles, along with the fire and smoke from dozens of explosions.

Shrek (2001)

A fully computer-animated, colorful fantasy film (from DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images), and the first Oscar winner in the newly created category of Best Animated Feature, by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. The realistic-ness of the characters was actually scaled back to have a more "cartoony" look. The film also featured the most advanced CGI liquid and fire effects of the time. Followed by the biggest box-office earning animated film ever, Shrek 2 (2004).

Waking Life (2001)

This animated, R-rated ground-breaking experimental film was first digitally shot on a mini-digital video camera as a live-action film, and then edited normally, complete with double-exposures and composited effects. In the next step, 30 artists graphically 'painted' the characters via computer (with a process called "interpolated rotoscoping") to create the illusion of a cartoon in motion. The animation was then transferred to celluloid, producing a hyper-real, stylized comic-book look. Director Richard Linklater would later use this technique for the traditional narrative A Scanner Darkly (2005), and Richard Rodriguez' Sin City (2005) would use a similiar method of animation (see below).

before

after

Winged Migration (2001, Fr.)

This bird documentary was famed for its almost complete lack of optical visual effects and some of the best camera work ever done in film history, especially the completely astounding sequence in which a moving camera followed a migratory tern for thousands of miles as it soared above the Earth in the clouds, and at one point panned more than 180 degrees around it. Filmmakers used several remote controlled and conventional planes, helicopters, hot-air balloons and gliders to film the awe-inspiring flying birds. [Director Jacques Perrin was also responsible for the landmark insect documentary MicroCosmos (1996), which used special cameras and lens to photograph insects up to the scale of humans.]

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (2002) - re-release

There were numerous digital 'enhancement visual effects' made to the original 1982 version of this Steven Spielberg film, for the Millenium Edition, mostly rendering the friendly animatronic alien in the original as a computer-animated figure. This allowed ET to be seen underwater and blowing bubbles during a bathtub scene, among other minor tweaks.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Lucas' film was the first feature film (major motion picture) completely shot and exhibited in digital HD video (non-celluloid), with a 24 fps high-definition progressive scan camera. Also with an extensive use of digital matte paintings.

The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

The Matrix Reloaded introduced high-definition 'Universal Capture' (or U-cap) or image-based facial animation into the special effects lexicon -- i.e., the fight scene in Reloaded between Neo and 100 Agent Smiths used this technique. Five high-resolution digital cameras recorded the real Agent Smith's actions to produce data which was fed into a computer, where a complex algorithm calculated the actor’s appearance from every single angle the cameras had missed, and used them to generate digital or 'cloned' humans indistinguishable from real humans.

The Matrix Revolutions featured the first realistic, very close-up representation of detailed facial deformation on a synthetic human, during a face punch.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

CGI effects were used to startling effect to seamlessly turn the cursed Black Pearl pirates from normal humans to skeletons. They sneak up on the British navy by walking across the ocean floor at night in skeleton form, then crawl up the sides of the ship undetected.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

This apocalyptic disaster film about global catastrophe used 50,000 scanned photos of a 13 block area of NYC to create a 3D, photorealistic model of the city - with that model (a digital backdrop), the downtown metropolis was destroyed by a giant digital wave and then frozen.

The film also featured the longest ever CG flyover shot for the opening ice shelf scene.

Immortel (Ad Vitam) (2004)

Like Able Edwards (2004), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) and Sin City (2005), this film seamlessly blended live actors with computer generated surroundings. It was one of the first films to use an entirely "digital backlot" (i.e. all of the actors were shot in front of blue- and green-screens with all the backgrounds added in post-production).

In addition, it also featured live actors interacting with semi photo-realistic CGI "humans".

The Polar Express (2004)

This Robert Zemeckis film further developed motion capture technology found in the pioneering Peter Jackson film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). It was marked by the first innovative use of the process of 'Performance Capture' -- a motion capture system by which an actor’s live performances were digitally captured by computerized cameras, and became a human blueprint for creating virtual, all-digital characters. Unlike existing motion-capture systems, Performance Capture simultaneously recorded 3-dimensional facial and body movements from multiple actors, using a system of digital cameras that provided 360 degree views. This allowed actor Tom Hanks to play many very different characters (the boy, the father, the conductor, the hobo, and Santa Claus) in the same film. Zemeckis went even further with this technique in his film Beowulf (2007).

Film Title and Description of Visual-Special Effects	Example
*Pearl Harbor (2001)* This film was most noted for the recreation of the infamous 1941 attack, with scenes digitally created, including hundreds of World War II era airplanes, ships and vehicles, along with the fire and smoke from dozens of explosions.
*Shrek (2001)* A fully computer-animated, colorful fantasy film (from DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images), and the first Oscar winner in the newly created category of Best Animated Feature, by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. The realistic-ness of the characters was actually scaled back to have a more "cartoony" look. The film also featured the most advanced CGI liquid and fire effects of the time. Followed by the biggest box-office earning animated film ever, Shrek 2 (2004).
*Waking Life (2001)* This animated, R-rated ground-breaking experimental film was first digitally shot on a mini-digital video camera as a live-action film, and then edited normally, complete with double-exposures and composited effects. In the next step, 30 artists graphically 'painted' the characters via computer (with a process called "interpolated rotoscoping") to create the illusion of a cartoon in motion. The animation was then transferred to celluloid, producing a hyper-real, stylized comic-book look. Director Richard Linklater would later use this technique for the traditional narrative A Scanner Darkly (2005), and Richard Rodriguez' Sin City (2005) would use a similiar method of animation (see below).	before after
*Winged Migration (2001, Fr.)* This bird documentary was famed for its almost complete lack of optical visual effects and some of the best camera work ever done in film history, especially the completely astounding sequence in which a moving camera followed a migratory tern for thousands of miles as it soared above the Earth in the clouds, and at one point panned more than 180 degrees around it. Filmmakers used several remote controlled and conventional planes, helicopters, hot-air balloons and gliders to film the awe-inspiring flying birds. [Director Jacques Perrin was also responsible for the landmark insect documentary MicroCosmos (1996), which used special cameras and lens to photograph insects up to the scale of humans.]
*E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (2002) - re-release* There were numerous digital 'enhancement visual effects' made to the original 1982 version of this Steven Spielberg film, for the Millenium Edition, mostly rendering the friendly animatronic alien in the original as a computer-animated figure. This allowed ET to be seen underwater and blowing bubbles during a bathtub scene, among other minor tweaks.
*Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)* Lucas' film was the first feature film (major motion picture) completely shot and exhibited in digital HD video (non-celluloid), with a 24 fps high-definition progressive scan camera. Also with an extensive use of digital matte paintings.
The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) The Matrix Reloaded introduced high-definition 'Universal Capture' (or U-cap) or image-based facial animation into the special effects lexicon -- i.e., the fight scene in Reloaded between Neo and 100 Agent Smiths used this technique. Five high-resolution digital cameras recorded the real Agent Smith's actions to produce data which was fed into a computer, where a complex algorithm calculated the actor’s appearance from every single angle the cameras had missed, and used them to generate digital or 'cloned' humans indistinguishable from real humans. The Matrix Revolutions featured the first realistic, very close-up representation of detailed facial deformation on a synthetic human, during a face punch.
*Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)* CGI effects were used to startling effect to seamlessly turn the cursed Black Pearl pirates from normal humans to skeletons. They sneak up on the British navy by walking across the ocean floor at night in skeleton form, then crawl up the sides of the ship undetected.
*The Day After Tomorrow (2004)* This apocalyptic disaster film about global catastrophe used 50,000 scanned photos of a 13 block area of NYC to create a 3D, photorealistic model of the city - with that model (a digital backdrop), the downtown metropolis was destroyed by a giant digital wave and then frozen. The film also featured the longest ever CG flyover shot for the opening ice shelf scene.
*Immortel (Ad Vitam) (2004)* Like Able Edwards (2004), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) and Sin City (2005), this film seamlessly blended live actors with computer generated surroundings. It was one of the first films to use an entirely "digital backlot" (i.e. all of the actors were shot in front of blue- and green-screens with all the backgrounds added in post-production). In addition, it also featured live actors interacting with semi photo-realistic CGI "humans".
*The Polar Express (2004)* This Robert Zemeckis film further developed motion capture technology found in the pioneering Peter Jackson film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). It was marked by the first innovative use of the process of 'Performance Capture' -- a motion capture system by which an actor’s live performances were digitally captured by computerized cameras, and became a human blueprint for creating virtual, all-digital characters. Unlike existing motion-capture systems, Performance Capture simultaneously recorded 3-dimensional facial and body movements from multiple actors, using a system of digital cameras that provided 360 degree views. This allowed actor Tom Hanks to play many very different characters (the boy, the father, the conductor, the hobo, and Santa Claus) in the same film. Zemeckis went even further with this technique in his film Beowulf (2007).