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Special effects (SPFX) are used in the film, television, and entertainment industry to create effects that cannot be achieved by normal means, such as depicting travel to other star systems. They are also used when creating the effect by normal means is prohibitively expensive, such as an enormous explosion. They are also used to enhance previously filmed elements, by adding, removing or enhancing objects within the scene.Many different visual special effects techniques exist, ranging from traditional theatre effects, through classic film techniques invented in the early 20th century, to modern computer graphics techniques ( CGI).
Often several different techniques are used together in a single scene or shot to achieve the desired effect.
Special effects are often "invisible." That is to say that the audience is unaware that what they are seeing is a special effect. This is often the case in historical movies, where the architecture and other surroundings of previous eras is created using special effects.
Visual special effects techniques (in rough order of invention):
- practical effects
- in-camera effects
- miniature effects
- Schüfftan process
- matte paintings
- Hitchcock zoom
- optical effectOptical effects are those film effects that are created entirely through an optical process using film, light, shadow, lenses and/or chemical processes. Examples are film titles, fades, dissolves, wipes, blow ups, skip frames, bluescreen, compositing, dous
- travelling matte
- bluescreenThis article is about bluescreen compositing, a special effects technique. For the Windows error message, see Blue screen of death. Bluescreen is the film technique of shooting foreground action against an even-lighted blue background, which is then repla
- prosthetic makeupProsthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects. Prosthetic makeup was revolutionized by Dick Smith in such films as The Godfather, where they first used squibs to simulate gun shot wounds. It wa effects
- motion control photographyMotion control photography is a special effects technique used in film that creates the illusion of size from small models by moving a small camera by the model at very slow speeds. It was first widely used in Star Wars which led to that movie's groundbre
- Audio-AnimatronicAudio-Animatronics or just animatronics is a form of robotics created by Disney's Imagineers for several shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and make noise, generally speec models
- digital compositingDigital compositing is the process of assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print, motion pictures or screen display. The basic operation used is known as 'alpha blending', where an opacity value, alpha is used to control the pro
- wire removalWire removal is a type of special effects techniques used to remove wires (used for stunts, for instance) in films. It can be partly automated through various forms of keying, or each frame can be edited manually. Special effects.
- morphingMorphing is a special effect used in motion pictures and animations. It involves creating a seamless transition from one still image to another, which is achieved by morphing programs which analyze the still images and create the appropriate new animation
- computer-generated imagery
Notable special effects artists:
Notable special effects companies:
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