Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones

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

Part 7

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

When Worlds Collide (1951)

The winner of the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Special Effects. This sci-fi disaster film was producer George Pal's follow-up film to Destination Moon (1950) - with a mediocre story that had spectacular special effects, including a great fireball — a sun-sized body called Bellus — hurtling toward earth, and a rocket-propelled spaceship built on a ramp.

Bwana Devil (1952)

An exploitative jungle adventure film - noted as the first 3-D feature-length, commercially-released color (and sound) film ever made. The film featured man-eating Tsavo lions leaping toward the camera and flying spears thrown out of the screen. The gimmicky 3-D effect required that the viewer wear special polarization glasses, unlike anaglyphic 3-D that required red/blue glasses to be worn. 3-D technology was employed to try to combat the encroaching competition of television on the film industry.

This is Cinerama (1952)

Paramount's wrap-around, big-screen Cinerama debuted in 1952, a break-through technique that required three cameras, three projectors, interlocking, semi-curved (at 146 degrees) screens, and four-track stereo sound. The first film using the three-strip cinerama process was This is Cinerama (1952), a travelogue of the world's vacation spots, with a thrilling roller-coaster ride. Although there were a few successful box-office Cinerama hits in the 1950s, the process was ultimately abandoned because its novelty wore off and the equipment and construction of special theatres was too cost-prohibitive and cumbersome.

The Robe (1953)

When Cinerama and stereoscopic 3-D died almost as soon as they were initiated, 20th Century Fox's CinemaScope became cheaper and more convenient because it used a simple anamorphic lens to create a widescreen effect. The aspect ratio (width to height) of CinemaScope was 2.35:1. The special lenses for the new process were based on a French system developed by optical designer Henri Chretian. The first film released commercially in CinemaScope was 20th Century Fox's and director Henry Koster's Biblical sword-and-sandal epic The Robe (1953). It debuted in New York at the Roxy Theater in September of 1953.

Other milestones in widescreen formats included: Paramount's VistaVision (used in Hitchcock's well-known thrillers To Catch a Thief (1955), his own re-make The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), and North by Northwest (1959), and in DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956)); SuperScope (RKO's answer to Fox's CinemaScope), and WarnerScope (Warners' answer to Fox's CinemaScope); MGM's Camera 65 (later called Super Panavision-70 and Ultra Panavision-70); Panavision; TechniScope; and Todd-AO 70 mm (producer Mike Todd's pioneering, independently-owned system); Super Technirama 70 mm. was a Todd-AO-compatible 70mm format

The War of the Worlds (1953)

This film was the winner of the Best Achievement in Special Effects Academy Award, by producer George Pal, for its vivid depiction of the invasion of the Earth by Martians. This was the first visual effects-laden "popcorn" film, featuring vibrant color special effects, and the destruction of various cities and landmarks, including the famous Los Angeles Courthouse Building.

[This film would inspire such films as Independence Day (1996) and Steven Spielberg's remake War of the Worlds (2005).]

The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

This classic Universal horror film effectively used a foam-latex costume suit to represent the amphibious creature called the Gill-Man - one of the most famous movie monsters ever created.

Dial M for Murder (1954)

The attempted strangulation scene was filmed alternatively with a 3-D effect, when wealthy Margot Wendice (Grace Kelly) reached into the audience from the screen searching for a weapon (a pair of scissors) to defend herself and kill hired assassin Captain Lesgate (Anthony Dawson) by stabbing him in the back.

Gojira (1954, Jp.) (aka Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956))

Although the special effects weren't exactly revolutionary, they were influential, nonetheless, in this story about a giant monster awakened, irradiated and mutated by atomic H-Bomb tests in the ocean; the effects were created by animatronic models, miniatures of the city of Tokyo, and by a man in a 6 and 1/2 foot lizard suit (framed with wires and bamboo sticks covered in latex).

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

The fanciful Richard Fleischer-directed Disney film based upon the Jules Verne book of the same name, with James Mason as Captain Nemo, won the Academy Award for Special Effects; it was notable for its depiction of the Nautilus and the giant squid fight. One of the other nominated films in the category was Them! (1954), a typical mid-50s B-monster film with giant ants invading Los Angeles.

Conquest of Space (1955)

This was FX artist George Pal's and director Byron Haskin's semi-documentary, visionary sci-fi story about a dangerous spaceship journey to the planet of Mars, following Pal's success with Destination Moon (1950), When Worlds Collide (1951), and The War of the Worlds (1953). The opening voice-over narration of this Paramount Technicolored film proclaimed: "This is a story of tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow...', and the film's tagline stated: "See How It Will Happen...In Your Lifetime". The film's science was based directly on rocket scientist Wernher von Braun's writings and designs in Collier's Magazine. Although a box-office flop with some hokey special effects, some of the more impressive ones including a modified V-2 rocket transporting astronauts into space, a circular spinning space station ("The Wheel"), interstellar vehicles, astronauts with full-pressured suits doing space walks, and the Martian landscape.

[Stanley Kubrick was strongly influenced by this film, and based much of the design and plot elements of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) on this film. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) used props from this film as well.]

This Island Earth (1955)

This cerebral 1950's science-fiction film by director Joseph M. Newman required various special effects, including a flying saucer and its landing on the doomed planet Metaluna - both created with models and special camera techniques; it also necessitated alien makeup for the big-headed Metalunans, and futuristic set designs.

Film Title and Description of Visual-Special Effects	Example
*When Worlds Collide (1951)* The winner of the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Special Effects. This sci-fi disaster film was producer George Pal's follow-up film to Destination Moon (1950) - with a mediocre story that had spectacular special effects, including a great fireball — a sun-sized body called Bellus — hurtling toward earth, and a rocket-propelled spaceship built on a ramp.
*Bwana Devil (1952)* An exploitative jungle adventure film - noted as the first 3-D feature-length, commercially-released color (and sound) film ever made. The film featured man-eating Tsavo lions leaping toward the camera and flying spears thrown out of the screen. The gimmicky 3-D effect required that the viewer wear special polarization glasses, unlike anaglyphic 3-D that required red/blue glasses to be worn. 3-D technology was employed to try to combat the encroaching competition of television on the film industry.
*This is Cinerama (1952)* Paramount's wrap-around, big-screen Cinerama debuted in 1952, a break-through technique that required three cameras, three projectors, interlocking, semi-curved (at 146 degrees) screens, and four-track stereo sound. The first film using the three-strip cinerama process was This is Cinerama (1952), a travelogue of the world's vacation spots, with a thrilling roller-coaster ride. Although there were a few successful box-office Cinerama hits in the 1950s, the process was ultimately abandoned because its novelty wore off and the equipment and construction of special theatres was too cost-prohibitive and cumbersome.
*The Robe (1953)* When Cinerama and stereoscopic 3-D died almost as soon as they were initiated, 20th Century Fox's CinemaScope became cheaper and more convenient because it used a simple anamorphic lens to create a widescreen effect. The aspect ratio (width to height) of CinemaScope was 2.35:1. The special lenses for the new process were based on a French system developed by optical designer Henri Chretian. The first film released commercially in CinemaScope was 20th Century Fox's and director Henry Koster's Biblical sword-and-sandal epic The Robe (1953). It debuted in New York at the Roxy Theater in September of 1953. Other milestones in widescreen formats included: Paramount's VistaVision (used in Hitchcock's well-known thrillers To Catch a Thief (1955), his own re-make The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), and North by Northwest (1959), and in DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956)); SuperScope (RKO's answer to Fox's CinemaScope), and WarnerScope (Warners' answer to Fox's CinemaScope); MGM's Camera 65 (later called Super Panavision-70 and Ultra Panavision-70); Panavision; TechniScope; and Todd-AO 70 mm (producer Mike Todd's pioneering, independently-owned system); Super Technirama 70 mm. was a Todd-AO-compatible 70mm format
*The War of the Worlds (1953)* This film was the winner of the Best Achievement in Special Effects Academy Award, by producer George Pal, for its vivid depiction of the invasion of the Earth by Martians. This was the first visual effects-laden "popcorn" film, featuring vibrant color special effects, and the destruction of various cities and landmarks, including the famous Los Angeles Courthouse Building. [This film would inspire such films as Independence Day (1996) and Steven Spielberg's remake War of the Worlds (2005).]
The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) This classic Universal horror film effectively used a foam-latex costume suit to represent the amphibious creature called the Gill-Man - one of the most famous movie monsters ever created.
*Dial M for Murder (1954)* The attempted strangulation scene was filmed alternatively with a 3-D effect, when wealthy Margot Wendice (Grace Kelly) reached into the audience from the screen searching for a weapon (a pair of scissors) to defend herself and kill hired assassin Captain Lesgate (Anthony Dawson) by stabbing him in the back.
Gojira (1954, Jp.) (aka Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956)) Although the special effects weren't exactly revolutionary, they were influential, nonetheless, in this story about a giant monster awakened, irradiated and mutated by atomic H-Bomb tests in the ocean; the effects were created by animatronic models, miniatures of the city of Tokyo, and by a man in a 6 and 1/2 foot lizard suit (framed with wires and bamboo sticks covered in latex).
*20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)* The fanciful Richard Fleischer-directed Disney film based upon the Jules Verne book of the same name, with James Mason as Captain Nemo, won the Academy Award for Special Effects; it was notable for its depiction of the Nautilus and the giant squid fight. One of the other nominated films in the category was Them! (1954), a typical mid-50s B-monster film with giant ants invading Los Angeles.
*Conquest of Space (1955)* This was FX artist George Pal's and director Byron Haskin's semi-documentary, visionary sci-fi story about a dangerous spaceship journey to the planet of Mars, following Pal's success with Destination Moon (1950), When Worlds Collide (1951), and The War of the Worlds (1953). The opening voice-over narration of this Paramount Technicolored film proclaimed: "This is a story of tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow...', and the film's tagline stated: "See How It Will Happen...In Your Lifetime". The film's science was based directly on rocket scientist Wernher von Braun's writings and designs in Collier's Magazine. Although a box-office flop with some hokey special effects, some of the more impressive ones including a modified V-2 rocket transporting astronauts into space, a circular spinning space station ("The Wheel"), interstellar vehicles, astronauts with full-pressured suits doing space walks, and the Martian landscape. [Stanley Kubrick was strongly influenced by this film, and based much of the design and plot elements of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) on this film. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) used props from this film as well.]
*This Island Earth (1955)* This cerebral 1950's science-fiction film by director Joseph M. Newman required various special effects, including a flying saucer and its landing on the doomed planet Metaluna - both created with models and special camera techniques; it also necessitated alien makeup for the big-headed Metalunans, and futuristic set designs.