Shining the Spotlight

It makes us jump, it creates atmosphere and it's what helped create sci-fi and fantasy alike, it gives us the unreal. Special effects give films an extra edge. I remember hearing from my aunite about how she would hide whenever the cybermen were on doctor who. It looks rediculous and cheesy now, but back then to them it was scary.


From Harryhausen to Fritz Lang, many people have come up with new ways to use special effects. Some of the best films had unique effects which helped create the movie, for example, One of my favorite scenes from a film was the skeleton fight scene in Don Chaffey's film Jason and the Argonaughts, in which the heroes fight off the raised dead . adding drama/Live action alongside effects created an entirely new world, Harryhausen was unique, in which he made models and incorporated them into his films. His most famous being the early 1933 version of King Kong, the film that he was most famous for, The fight between Kong and the Tyrannisaurus which had the actress screaming on a piece of set in the front, whilst the two clay models battled it out in the back, people still rate that film to be one of the greatest to this day.




You could Argue that Modern effects are ruining films, as they focus more on the CGI than they do the actual drama of the film (one being Transformers 2,Michael Bay's so called 'blockbuster of the year' ).

Special effects can also help create shots, for instance, the famous silent black and white science fiction film Metropolios, shows how effects can help shape a film, like the tower of babel shown in the film, or Maria being Transformed


This film was so successful for this time it influenced other films such as blade runner, gotham city for batman, and even the famous C3PO in Star Wars was based on 'Rotwang's robot'.

In one of the books I am reading, a section in the 1990's Action and Disney films were at their height, disney gained the first best picture academy award an animated feature ever received and Terminator 2 Extended the possibilities of digital effects with it's impressive use of CGI. The opening to Terminator two is one of the best Opening scenes I have seen in film and it really captivated me and got me interested in the film, when it had only just started!

By this time, the American Film Industry was developing into the countries most profitable import!

Special Effects today are key to many successful films, and create a sense of realism in a fictional world. One of the greatest examples is The Matrix, one of my favorite films. What I love about films is that they bring unique things that inspire others, and can help shape it even better. I think for modern film the use of Bullet time in the Matrix and the way they used Camera (sticking to the 180 rule of cinematography as well!) has opened up a path to a whole new way of showing fight scenes, guns and other shots.


I found this video which shows the scene at the beggining of the Matrix where the character 'Trinity' Kicks a security guard. To me, this is how Special Effects SHOULD be used, with more immagination, style and originality, which this film shows. Slo Motion Kick



I think a good argument to put forward is 'Are Modern Day special effects Ruining film?' or even 'Too many Special Effects are crammed into films today, do you think using them less would gain more audience or lose them?'

I will carry on reading and exploring the timeline of effects, and Put forward my thoughts on those two arguments I have listed above