Prince, S. (2010) Through the Looking Glass: Philosophical Toys and Digital Visual Effects. Projections, 4(2), pp. 19-40.
Visual Effects combines art and science allowing artist to create the illusion of realism with environments and character creations. Prince uses films such as Zodiac and Avatar to show how this is done in the industry, as seen In Zodiac in the the Port Authority terminal scene is all made using CG from U-2 spy plane images of that area as well as information derived from city blueprints allowed the creation of this scene. Paul Debevec and associates at the University of California at Berkeley developed an algorithm where from a few widely spaced photographs as well as textures could be projected from 2d information into a 3d scene. This method is now widely used to create scenes in contemporary film. It is clear that without the help of science it would be pretty hard to replicate these environments into a 3d scene.
Zodiac (2007)
Avatar (2009)
McClean, S. (2008) Digital storytelling: the narrative power of visual effects in film. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. pp. 69-103
VFX are used in movies to help with its narrative and create that narrative using VFX. There are many ways in which VFX can help a narrative whether it’s changing the sky to clear on a rainy day to keep in line with the story as seen in the Australian film The Dish to creating a an entire fantasy world like Lord of the Rings. There are many different categories in which VFX can be used to help a story’s narrative such as Invisible and Exaggerated which are two that are at the other ends of the spectrum where as in the category Invisible VFX is used extremely subtly to help keep the narrative realistic so the viewers can emphasize with the characters such as removing a blink from a character. Whereas Exaggerated VFX is most used in disaster films such as The Day after Tomorrow where VFX is used to exaggerate the weather conditions.
The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Manovich, L. (2001) 'Digital Cinema' ,The Language of New Media. Cambridge MA: MIT press.
In this essay by Lev Manovich about “What Is Digital Cinema?”, Lev talks about how the digital cinema started from its early days to what is now in todays times. He talks about how the early days of cinemas were film to show documentation of natures movement, and that the process to make movie was a very lengthy one as most digital movies before the advancements of computers required the film crews to use models, mirrors, and matte paintings which was then combined with other images through optical printing to create the film. As technology advanced throughout the years Levs talks about the release of QuickTime software which allowed anyone who has a personal computer to play movies. With the technology advancing music also started to become incorporated with digital cinema as the creation of music videos allowed this. Lev ends his essay saying that moving image culture is being redefined once again with cinematic realism.
Ghost Busters film set (1984)
QuickTime Software (1991)
Gunning, T. (2006) 'The Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avant-Garde', in Strauven, W. (1.) The Cinema of Attractions Reloaded. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 381-388.
In this paper Tom Gunning explores how in early films, film makers made going to cinema an attraction of sort as he calls it “The Cinema of Attraction”. Tom describes how at before 1906 films were viewed as a sort of magical illusion as people in those days did not know what a film was, and they believed that what they were seeing was real. A film like Le Voyage dans la lune (1902) perfectly describes how films were perceived as a trick with techniques such as slow motion, reverse motion, substitution, and multiple exposures. However around 1906-1907 films began to change and explore a route of making a cinema into a sort of fairground attraction with people like Marinetti and Eisenstein came up with the ideas of gluing people to their seats and setting firecrackers of beneath them.
Le Voyage dans la lune (1902)
Sergei Eisenstein (date unknown)
The Code (2011) Episode: Shapes
In this episode “Shapes” the presenter Marcus Du Satoy dives into the origins of fractal geometry developments and how it has created and influenced visual effects in todays modern times. Marcus interviews PIXARS Loren Carpenter who talks about how he was struggling to create computer generated images of planes and he also wanted to create an image of a mountain behind a plane so he came up with the idea of using factual mathematics on a computer to create any image he desires by using triangles to create it. After Loren discovered that he could using factual mathematics to create computer generated images he went on to co found PIXAR, which uses his idea to create all the movies that are all around today. Fractals are now everywhere in movies to texture rocks, the rules of repetition of the triangles to create rocks and forests in a movie.
A Fractal
A Landscape made using fractals
Stephanie, Lay. (2015) Uncanny valley: why we find human-like robots and dolls so creepy. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/13/robots-human-uncanny-valley (Accessed 04 November 2020).
In this opinion post by Stephanie Lay, she explores why we find human-like robots and dolls so creepy with the uncanny valley concept. She explains that the uncanny valley is a characteristic dip in emotional response when someone sees an entity that is almost but not quite human. The uncanny valley was first hypothesised in Japan by the roboticist Mashorio Mori in which the paper was in Japanese. The uncanny valley might occur to someone when something moves from one category to another, for example non-human and human. As time went on interest in the uncanny valley concept began to rise as it was translated into English in 2005. Stephanie talks about how the uncanny valley is more subjective to the person looking at the robot as she explains that the debate on when something is uncanny is not over as the evidence drew the conclusion that the effect remains elusive.
Ex Machina (2014)
Masahorio Mori
Ben, Dalton. (2020) How the international VFX industry is continuing to work during the coronavirus shutdown. Available at https://www.screendaily.com/features/how-the-international-vfx-industry-is-continuing-to-work-during-the-coronavirus-shutdown/5148799.article (Accessed 22 November 2020).
In this article it talks about of the VFX industry is less dependent on physical interaction before the pandemic hit so that meant that when these big VFX company’s saw what was going on in places like Italy and Spain they could easily move to remote working, Cinesite Group which has offices in the UK and Canada did just that in March. Cinesite also has their own dedicated VPN meaning its nearly 1,400 employees could work securely and using platforms like Zoom and Google Hangouts to maintain the social interactions between colleagues. Since the VFX Industry is a data-heavy business company’s like The Mill have given their employees their own equipment taken from the offices and, they have set up employees of their own hotspots. With the coronavirus pandemic inflicting many economic pains across many different industries, the VFX industry in London at least seems to be avoiding redundancies as they use the UK governments furlough scheme.
The Mill
Cinesite
The Twelve Principles of Animation
In 1981 two Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas introduced the concept of Disney's twelve basic principles of animation. These principles form the basis of all animation work and are relevant for a number of different fields. In the twelve principles, there are:
01. Squash and Stretch
This principle is known as the most important one as when applied this gives the animation the feel of illusion of gravity, weight, mass and flexibility. An example of this would be an animated bouncing ball
02. Anticipation
This principle is all about indication preparedness for the next movement as when this is applied it has the effect of making object's actions more realistic.
03. Staging
This principle is a lot like composition in artwork. This means that its all about how the character is being shown in a certain scene as the character must be posed to clearly show their intentions.
05. Follow through and Overlap
This principle is about how characters don't just stop and that parts of characters bodies stop at different times and as such follow through is needed.
07. Arcs
This principle is about how animals and humans do not move their bodies in straight lines and that if this is not reflected in the animation then it will not look natural.
09. Timing
This principle incorporates the number of space frames dedication to an action or movement. Even drawings of a frame gives you a constant speed but when you draw more towards the end or beginning of a movement it will cause the object to speed up and slow down.
11. Solid Drawing
This principle is all about the basics of drawing as to remain consistent in animation you should know how to draw in three-dimensional spaces.
04. Straight ahead and Pose to Pose
This principle is about the different ways to handle animation as there is straight ahead which is a sequence of drawings where the animator draws in turn to create the movement. Whilst there is also Pose to Pose which is planned action, key poses are mapped out, in-between frames are drawn in later.
06. Slow In and Slow Out
This principle is best described as how a car moves as it has to accelerate to go forward and then will have to reverse to go backwards. This principle would be applied to give your objects more life.
08. Secondary Action
This principle is used to support the main action going on within a scene, adding secondary actions help add more dimension to your animations.
10. Exaggeration
This principle is about how too much realism can ruin an animation, however if exaggeration is added it can make a character look more interesting.
12. Appeal
This principle is about how you characters or animation appeals to the viewer as it has to look appealing and nice. Appeal should consist of a quality of charm, pleasing design, simplicity, communication and magnetism.
Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas
The Twelve Principles of Animation
Essay Question That I have Chosen
Darley, Andrew (2000) Visual digital culture: surface play and spectacle in new. pp. 102 - 123
In this book Andrew Darlely explains in the chapter “The waning of narrative” how visual effects in Hollywood movies has influenced and affect the narrative in stories. Andrew describes how in the 1980s movies such as Terminator used visual effects to develop the characters more and develop the story making it look more photorealistic to the viewer. However, he also talks about how having too much digital visual effects affects the narrative of a movie in a negative way as the effects can look to chaotic and divert the viewers attention from the narrative onto the chaotic nature of the visual effects. Andrew describes movies such as Blade Runner (1982), Robocop (1987) and Total Recall (1990) as movies that give spectacular imagery and action equal status with narrative content and meaning. From this chapter it is clear that visual effects helps narrative if used properly as Andrew describes that if it is used too much or wrongly it can negatively impact the narrative of the movie.
Terminator 2 (1991)
Robocop (1987)
Essay PowerPoint
Using Historical Examples, Discuss How Has Visual Effects Impacted Film Narrative
Visual effects have become very influential in movies in today’s times. Movies now either use very subtle visual effects or just use visual effects throughout the movie. However, this never used to be the case in early film making as visual effects could not be done right to make the viewer think that what they are watching is real and not fake. An example of early films using VFX properly would-be King Kong (1933) as this movie was ground-breaking for its times with its use of perspective to create the illusion of a gorilla on a high scraper, but in fact to make this they used stop motion photography that created the illusion of movement. As computers got much more powerful as the years went on movies began to use digital VFX, for example, Terminator 1 (1984) fully utilised modern computers in creating CGI and this gave a whole new experience to the viewer because as CGI became more widely used in movies some people found it develops the characters and environment better than using traditional film methods. However, others found that by having too much VFX in a film ruined it to them as it distracted them from the film’s narrative in some cases as they described it as being chaotic, below I will discuss how visual effects impacted film narrative in modern movies.
VFX in most cases I believe have positively impacted the narrative of the film. As when VFX is done right it’s something the viewer does not notice when watching a movie and when they do notice its VFX it’s for a reason that helps with the narrative of the movie. The ways that it can help a narrative can include subtle things like changing the sky to clear on a rainy day to keep in line with the story as seen in the Australian film The Dish (2000) or on the other end of the spectrum movies like Lord of the Rings (2001) utilize VFX in a spectacle way that almost certainly shapes the movies narrative the way it is. There are many different categories inside VFX that can be used to help a film's narrative such as the use of invisible VFX which is used to deliberately conceal the VFX in a movie and detection of this would result in a failure of the use of VFX. A good example for invisible VFX would be the movie The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) as in this film the use of VFX is extremely subtle as you would not notice it if watching the film in the cinema. Scenes such as when the main character Jordan Belfort played by Leonardo Di Caprio is talking to his friend at a boat that is supposed to be in a marina in Italy is shot in the USA with a green screen behind the fake boat that makes it look like they are in Italy. Another VFX technique that could be described as completely opposite to the invisible technique would be the Fantastical technique which is used to create images of astonishing qualities and show off the quality of what VFX can be. Films in the science fiction categories defiantly use the fantastical VFX properly as these films need to look in most cases futuristic and by having no VFX in these types of movies would impact the films feel and narrative in a negative way. Movies that have used the fantastical VFX correctly are films like Harry Potter and The Lord of Rings. In these films, a multitude of VFX techniques are used but the most notable one is the fantastical VFX as the use of this helps shapes the universes in which these films are set in and gets the viewer to experience what living in them would look and feel like. The use of fantastical VFX in films are excellent when done right but however, when they look off it can sometimes completely ruin the film's narrative.
With visual effects becoming so popular in movies in today’s time's people often question “when is too much visual effects”? As the author of Visual digital culture: surface play and spectacle in new, Andrew Darley describes how visual effects in Hollywood has influenced and affected the narrative in stories. Andrew describes that the film franchise Terminator as previously mentioned above uses visual effects to develop the characters more thus developing the story to make it look more photorealistic to the viewer. Andrew describes movies such as Blade Runner (1982), Robocop (1987) and Total Recall (1990) as movies that give spectacular imagery and action equal status with narrative content and meaning. The movies mentioned would look very empty without the use of visual effects and would impact the film's narrative so much so that it would not make sense for any of these movies to have such a sci-fi narrative. The question of “when is too much visual effects”? also ties into what I have previously talked about with the different techniques in creating VFX shots in movies as finding the perfect balance between sometimes subtle VFX and fantastical VFX lays the groundworks for good films narrative like seen in the film Harry Potter where Harry and his friends board a fantasy train at a real-life location (Kings Cross Station), as by using a real-life location, it can often make the movie seem more believable even though it’s a fantasy movie. However, sometimes having too much digital visual effects can affect the narrative of a movie negatively as the effects can look too chaotic and divert the viewers’ attention from the narrative onto the chaotic nature of the visual effects as will be discussed in more detail below.
When watching a movie some people find that they prefer a more authentic movie with no VFX as they sometimes argue that by having visual effects in a movie ruins its narrative. In some cases with movies this can be true as when a film has too much VFX as mentioned above it can divert the viewers’ attention from the movie to them focusing too much destruction for example. The movie Deep Blue Sea (1999) in many cases had used CGI poorly, as this movie was about a giant great white roaming around a science facility, they needed to use VFX. However, there was a scene in the movie where the character Russel Franklin played by Samuel L Jackson was attacked and killed by the shark in a manner that many people watching the movie didn’t like as the VFX shot for that scene was so bad people hated the movie just because of that scene. Moreover, the movie Deep Blue Sea (1999) also had to compete with other shark movies such as Jaws which has been hailed as a VFX masterpiece, and this is also another factor when using VFX in a movie as the viewers will come into watching a movie with high expectation of the quality of visual effects when they have seen a similar movie with a similar narrative. It's not just smaller budget movies that get affected by bad visual effects though as seen with the movie The Matrix Reloaded wherein a scene the main character Neo played by Keanu Reeves gets into to a fight with agent Smith in the fight that is popularly known as the Burly Brawl where agent smith starts to clone his body and sends the clones into to pile on Neo in an attempt to bury him and block his attacks but however the scene became very chaotic as Neo starts to fling all of the clones around in a tornado-like fashion but when the camera pans towards him during the fight he becomes gloopy as he finished them and flies away. As this is just one small error with the CGI this was enough for some people to focus on this during the movie and diverting their attention from the plot and narrative of the movie, but overall, the movie franchise The Matrix was ground-breaking for visual effects but as something small as that scene can divert the viewers’ attention from the film’s narrative.
I have previously mentioned Andrew Darley when talking about how VFX can help the narrative of a film, but he also believes that it can impact the film's narrative negatively as he describes in his book Visual digital culture: surface play and spectacle in new that having too much digital visual effects affects the narrative of a movie in a negative way as the effects can look too chaotic and divert the viewers’ attention from the narrative onto the chaotic nature of the visual effects. Films that use just pure visual effects are films like Pacific Rim (2018) which is about huge transformer like robots that fight each other to fight wars between humans, this film can get very overwhelming with all the different VFX fights that constantly go on during the film and it can be very hard to remember what the story of the movie was as you get carried away with all the diverting VFX fight scenes. The uncanny valley can also be talked about when mentioning how VFX impacts the films narrative as the concept of the uncanny valley is all about the level of realness a character or object can be and how the viewer perceives it. A great example of this would be the movie Chappie (2015) as the plotline of this film is that a police robot gains the ability to feel and think for itself. This, however, falls into the uncanny valley as many viewers thought of the robot as very uncanny and this ultimately made the movies reviews very poor and many viewers did not enjoy the movie because of it, thus it’s an example of how VFX impacts the narrative of the film in a way that people didn’t even give the film's narrative a chance as it was ruined with the uncanny robots throughout the movie.
Overall, the question “How Has Visual Effects Impacted Film Narrative”, has many different takes and pros and cons such as one being that it positively impacts said movie as VFX artists can use a variety of techniques to make it suit the director needs as they could use invisible VFX or fantastical VFX. However, this can also be a bad thing as they could overuse the VFX shots in a movie and could ultimately divert the viewer's attention from the movie's narrative into them focusing on all the VFX that is going on around them as mention with the example of the movie Pacific Rim (2018). People also find that mixing VFX is ultimately what makes a great movie as Andrew Darley mention that good movies with VFX give spectacular imagery and action equal status with narrative content and meaning. But when VFX is done wrong it can completely ruin the entire film as mentioned with the film Blue Sea (1999) and its questionable VFX scene that left many viewers to lose their interest in watching the movie. Bad VFX also ties into the theory of the uncanny valley as characters that don’t look believable will fit into that definition of uncanny and can make viewers think that the narrative can’t be believable as the characters are not. I believe however that with all these positives and negatives of how visual effects impacts a film's narrative that overall, VFX is a positive for movies and helps develop characters and environments to make a films narrative more believable. Movies also require VFX to make their universes more real as the movie Avatar (2009) would not be at all possible without VFX. I also do believe there are many negatives though to using VFX as one bad visual effect shot can completely ruin the narrative of the film, but I think all in all VFX impacts a film narrative positively.
Sources:
McClean, S. (2008) Digital storytelling: the narrative power of visual effects in film. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. pp. 69-103.
Darley, Andrew (2000) Visual digital culture: surface play and spectacle in new. pp. 102 – 123.