Principles Of VFX
Week 1-
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Gore Verbinski
Pirates of the Caribbean the curse of the black pearl was about a man named jack sparrow and will turner rescuing a women named Elizabeth who jack Sparrow loved, what had a massive effect in this film was the story telling and the CGI because majority of the characters are inhuman.
Lord of the rings (2001)
Peter Jackson
Lord of the rings was about a group of heroes who try to destroy the one ring what was created by and evil dark lord, lord of the rings were known for Gollum special effect what was made by Serkis in a motion capture studio and composed by CGI.
The Abyss (1989)
James Cameron
The abyss is about a us search and recovery that works with an oil platform crew to recover American submarine that sinks in the Caribbean, The abyss special effects was famous for Cutting-Edge CG water tentacle.
Tron legacy (2010)
Joseph Kosinski
Tron legacy was about a young boy of a virtual world designer seeks out his dad and ends up into a digital world that his father designed. Tron legacy used black lit animation
A space odyssey (2001)
Stanley kubrick
space odyssey is about a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000. for special effects they used projection techniques.
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Week 2-
VFX
Prince, S. (2010) Through the Looking Glass: Philosophical Toys and Digital Visual Effects. Available at: https://filmoterapia.pl/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Through-the-Looking-Glass-Philosophical-Toys-and-Digital-Visual-Effects.pdf (Accessed: November 17, 2023)
abstract:
The article examines how digital visual effects in film merge with science, broadening filmmaker’s creative abilities while enlacing cinematic fact through elements such as indexicality, on and perception. it erases doubts regarding visual effects in the film studies through drawing parallels between the historical union of art and science at the dawn of cinema and the present influence of digital imaging on aesthetics in filmmaking.in essence, the essay dives into the related worlds of filmmaking art, science, and digital image.
The second part of an abstract describes the evolutionary stage for using digital visually effected in films starting from ancient optical devices like a phenakistoscope to highlighting the historical influence as well as showing the involvement of science and arts to create astonishing film world similar with reality.
Perceptual Realism:
Reading the first paragraph of the text again, it explores the connection with art and science in digital visual effects, arguing for the presence of a realist aesthetic in digital cinema. It announces scholars like Warren Buckland and Tom Gunning who have supported this idea and heightens the need to move beyond traditional separation in film theory. The text also discusses “perceptual realism,” which involves using digital means to replicate cues that define a three-dimensional world, including object size, texture, lighting, motion, and physics. It emphasizes how using digital resources enables filmmakers to produce scenarios that follow visible physical rules, boosting viewers’ perceptions of reality. In this idea of realism, the referential quality of the depiction is less important.
when reading the next section, the key stuff I took out were “dinosaurs in cinema” acknowledging that dinosaurs in text are not real beings that can be photographed as living species instead they are computer generated, another thing is the “perceptual realism” Despite being unreal in a referential sense, the article mentions that the dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park” are perceptually realistic. They bridge the gap between live action and digital animation with their believable interactions with live actors. One of the main objectives of special effects creators is to make visual effects seem realistic within the narrative’s framework.
Invisible effect – is something that tricks untrained eyes into believing what is in the scene actually exists.
Spectacular effects – is the complete opposite its where you want the audience to see the visual effects
Prince, S. (2012) Digital visual effects in cinema: the seduction of reality. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uwestlon/detail.action?docID=861454 (Accessed: November 17, 2023)
Stephen Prince studies digital visual effects in cinema, shedding light on filmmaking changes. He uses famous films like Avatar, Jurassic Park, and Lord of the Rings to illustrate this. These game-changing movies altered how we see film. By looking at early contributors like Aguste and Louis Lumiere, the book emphasizes the historical background of visual effects.
The idea of “unseen” and “stunning” effects presented by Prince guides us in understanding the filmmakers’ color usage. “Unseen” effects neatly fuse VFX into the storyline, guaranteeing an integrated narrative experience. On the opposite end, “stunning” effects draw in viewers with their striking visual beauty, transforming into key parts of the story itself. Whether to choose one over the other depends on the aims and methods of the production, and what they’re hoping to evoke in the audience. Adding unseen visual effects can boost the narrative method. Instead of big, dazzling shows, these subtle effects let the story shine, engaging people with a rich and emotional tale. This combination of technology and narrative displays the skill in today’s film creation. Here, computer-based visual effects are strong aids that enhance stories without covering up their true nature. The movie world keeps evolving, where the blend of subtle and eye-catching visuals will surely influence future narratives, merging the real and the fantastical in ways we’ve never thought possible. Stephen Prince provides enlightening views into this dynamic shift, where the cinema’s magic persists due to the balanced mix of tech and artistic talent.
Week 3
Principle of illusion
-assumption
-presumption
-context of reality
what is a moving image?
a moving image is a sequence of framers moving in a fast speed so that it could capture people into an illusion, however if it was in another frame rate and moving in 5 frames per second the illusion will break.
Persistence of vision
-the eye by which an afterimage is thought to persist for approximately one twenty fifth of a second on the retina.
Eadweard Muybridge
George melies- was an early French experimenter with motion pictures he was famous for his many innovations in motion picture.
- George’s most famous film is Le Vyaoge Dans La Lune
- for George’s setup and storytelling skills he acquired a cameras, built a glass-enclosed studio near Paris, wrote scripts designed ingenious sets, and used actors to film stories. with magician’s intuition he discovered and exploited the basic camera for example using stop motion, color painting negatives, slow motion, fade out, dissolve, superimposition, and for finals double exposure, what all links back with making the illusion.
- What do you think are the main changes between Kong 1933 and Kong 2005?
In 1933 version of kong used stop motion animation and miniture,whilst in 2005 it features the cutting edge CGI, motion capture, and more realistic creature design, in other words its more detailed the 2005, 2005 Kong is more expressive, allowing for a greater range of emotion and movement. The gender roles, one thing i realised when watching some clips on the 1933 Ann is more damsel in distressed, however in 2005 Ann is portrayed as an resourceful and independent character from the way it seemed from my point of view.
Dadaists:Their aim was to destroy traditional values in art and to create a new art to replace the old.
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. Available at: https://shadyfilm2700gsu.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/cinema-of-attractions-gunning.pdf
The Cinema of Attraction:
The cinema of attraction delves into the early days of cinema of the enthusiasm it produced among early modernists like as they mentioned in the text Futurists, Dadaists, surrealists. These artists were initially captivated by cinema’s radical potential. So, the spark dimmed as movies started mimicking traditional art forms, particularly theater and literature. The whole message is about exploring the untapped potential of cinema before falling prey to routine storytelling. Also, it is key to acknowledge the range of influences that molded early cinema. This paves the way for a deeper understanding of film history and shape. This piece talks about two important early movie makers, Méliès and Lumière.
These two made waves during the pioneering days of cinema with their unique movie-making styles. Lumière, a key player in the movie world, liked to keep things true to life. He loved to film common scenes, people, and everyday events.
He was all about telling straightforward stories in his films, and he set the stage for how we make movies today. Méliès, on the other hand, was the creative genius. He did not care about reality; he just wanted to blow your mind with his stunts and cool camera tricks. He is the reason we have things like special effects, fantasy, and surrealism in movies. His work was like stepping into a dream. So, Lumière was all about telling real stories, while Méliès was all about creating wild and imaginative experiences with film. Both guys were important in the early days of cinema, and the stuff they did still influences filmmakers today. They represent two diverse ways to make movies: one is more down-to-earth, and the other is all about letting your imagination run wild.
The section discussing the evolution of narrative from 1906 to the present day, utilizing a range of filmmaking techniques and objectives, the text then examines the exhibitionistic aspects of early film and the differences between narrative storytelling and cinematic exhibitions. It points out that prior to 1906, trick films were a well-known non-actuality genre that prioritized visual effects over ongoing storylines. Plotted trick films, such as “Le Voyage dans la lune” (1902), served as platforms for showing cinema’s captivating potential. Performers exhibitors organized the first cinema exhibitions; they added sound effects, altered films, and provided immersive experiences. The movie theatre itself was formerly thought of as a technological marvel that drew people in more for the machinery than the films. Close-ups were used differently in early cinema than they were in later narrative applications, with different goals.
Ray HarryHausen: is a filmmaker recognised for both his ground-breaking work in the field of cinema and his innovative use of stop motion animation and effects. His contributions to the history of visual effects are primarily in the stop-motion animation style, which he used to bring legendary creatures and fantastical beings to life on the big screen. A few notable examples of his work include Jason Argonauts and the creatures from “Clash of the Titans,” which are remembered for their iconic skeleton battles. In addition to providing viewers with entertainment, his work served as an inspiration for many generations of filmmakers and special effects artists, making a lasting impression on the field and raising the bar for the use of visual effects in narrative.
Jason Argonauts:
Ray Harryhausen’s word “Dynamation” was created to characterise his distinct stop-motion animation method, which he employed widely in his films. It was basically a development of classic stop-motion, modified to fit Harryhausen’s unique requirements and aesthetic goals. The word “Dynamation” highlighted the cinematic and dynamic aspect of his animation, as he sought to give his characters and creatures a more fluid appearance that blended in with the live-action video. In order to generate a more seamless and immersive interaction between his animated creations and the human performers, Harryhausen combined stop-motion animation with other visual effects techniques, such as split-screen and rear projection, in his Dynamation process. Because of this creativity, he was able to produce some of the most recognisable and famous scenes in movie history, making “Dynamation” a noteworthy and influential film.
Week 4:
Manovich, L. (1995) What is Digital Cinema ?. Available at: http://manovich.net/content/04-projects/009-what-is-digital-cinema/07_article_1995.pdf (Accessed 17 November 2023)
What is Digital Cinema?
` Lev Manovich discusses the growing significance of computer-generated special effects in Hollywood films and the adjustments to digital filmmaking.
page 7, 3. summary: in established filmmaking, live action footage was left as it was, but in digital era, it serves as raw material for further manipulation, compositing, animation, and morphing. Digital filmmakers use what is termed as an ‘elastic reality.’ This idea means they mix amazing distortion and changing tools, with edge discovery, advanced 2D animation, CC, matte creation, and compositing instruments. This lets them create scenes that look real but could not happen in nature. A good example is ‘Forrest Gump’ where they made the feather flying scene using sophisticated digital techniques.
Annotation: The feather scene in “Forrest Gump” shows how these digital techniques work. They filmed the feather with a blue background, animated it, and combined it with other scenes to create a fresh kind of realness.
“Elastic reality” describes the adaptability of digital movie making. It allows for digitally changed scenes that seem real. This zeroes in on how computers have changed the game. The introduction of computers has linked things like editing and special effects into one task. It is not just a useful change, but it also changes how filmmakers think. It mixes up different parts of production and brings new imagination opportunities. Filmmaking is now more bendable and linked.
Filmmaking has been reshaped by computers. They’ve combined special effects and editing, two different tasks, into one method. This is not just handy; it also shows a shift in filmmakers’ thinking. By making it tough to tell different production elements apart and boosting the flexibility and togetherness of filmmaking, it spurs on creativity.
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Week 5:
Alvy Ray, S. (1998) George Lucas Discovers Computer Graphics by Alvy Ray Smith Available at: http://alvyray.com/Papers/CG/GeorgeLucas_Remembrances_Annals1998.pdf (Accessed 17 November 2023)
George Lucas Discovers Computer Graphics by Alvy Ray Smith:
The text goes into the impact of a group of ‘accidental visionaries’ in the branch of computer graphics, and this term ‘accidental visionaries’ is used to highlight that they may not have fully recognized the profound impact of their contributions, Furthermore Alexander Schure supports and invests in the field contributed to the development and early experimentation in computer graphics technology. Alexander did, however, have an impact on the film business because of the way that visual effects technology has advanced, allowing filmmakers to produce visually spectacular and creative effects in their work, including classic blockbusters like “Star Wars.”
George Lucas is a renowned filmmaker behind ‘Star Wars’, what iOS well known for his groundbreaking use of special effects and computer-generated imagery in the film industry.
Steve jobs the co founder of apple made an impact on the development of a computer graphics through the creation of products like the mac and later the iPhone and iPad, from research these devices helped bring computer graphics to a broader audience and changed the way people interact with technology. The Macintosh featured a graphical user interface (GUI) with a mouse, icons, and windows, making it more user-friendly. This innovation laid the foundation for modern computer graphics interfaces, influencing the design of graphical user interfaces in operating systems like Windows and Linux.
These individuals played a role in the development of computer graphics and their support and creativity paved the way for the widespread adoption of this technology in various industries, including personal computers and filmmaking. Although they may not have fully grasped the extent of their influence at that time their contributions and investments were truly visionary earning them the title of ” visionaries.”
A longstanding objective at Lucasfilm in California was to create a computer-generated film by 1981. Guided by George Lucas, Ed Catmull and the author recognized that their position within the company was vital to achieving this goal and successfully integrating computer graphics into filmmaking. They passionately believed that Lucas shared their vision for an era in film production – one that would not drive technological advancements but also revolutionize how movies were created and experienced. Without instructions on specific tasks this marked the beginning of an extraordinary journey towards groundbreaking achievements, in computer-generated animation.
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week 6: The Uncanny Valley
Masahiro, M. (2012) The Uncanny Valley Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254060168_The_Uncanny_Valley_From_the_Field
(Accessed 17 November 2023)
The Uncanny Valley
sense of Affinity-
The author begins with the concept of the ‘uncanny valley’ in section ‘Designing robots to look like humans’, and then goes on to discuss making robots more human-like, with a focus on appearance. This section includes the use of artificial skin and flesh to enhance human appearance. As the author progresses, the creation technology has blurred the distinction between prosthetic and real limbs. In recent years, advances in fabrication technology have made it impossible to tell a prosthetic hand apart from a real hand. ‘Some models even simulate wrinkles, veins, and fingernails, as well as fingerprints. While the prosthetic hand looks like a real hand, its color is pinker, as if it just came out of the bath’. This leads to an eerie feeling when his artificial nature is realized.
Overall, the text talks about the difficulty of forming a robot that are both useful and like people, highlighting the challenge of publishing an appearance that is human like and the possibility of discomfort, or besides that even ‘uncanny’ feeling, when associating with artificial beings that closely resemble people.
Effect of movement-
The impact of motion examines how movement affects how people see robots in relation to the uncanny valley. It then emphasizes how movement affects how humans are shown in the graph and how this is influenced by instances such industrial robots that mimic human hand movements. The test then explores the most recent developments in prosthetic hand technology, including the previously mentioned myoelectric hands, which are activated by picking up minute currents in the arm muscles.
Nevertheless, the literature notes that even in healthy individuals, the actions of such prosthetic hands may cause discomfort.
lower down the paragraph starts to discuss movement related effects observed at the 1970 world exposition in Osaka. refined robots were created, including one with 29 pairs of artificial muscles for a human like smile, along the line the designer then disclosed that the speed of facial deformations, even to make a smile slower, could shift the facial expression from happy to sinister.
Escape the design-
The primary goal is to design prosthetic hands and robots that avoid the discomfort associated with the “uncanny valley,” where human-like features can obtain unease. The suggested approach emphasizes steering away from excessive human likeness and instead focuses on achieving a balanced and reasonable degree of similarity to enhance affinity. This balance ensures that the designed entities encourage a sense of comfort and acceptance, reducing the potential for discomfort in users. I am guessing the strategy acknowledges the emotional impact of humanoid designs and underscores the importance of maintaining a moderate level of resemblance to establish a positive and empathetic connection with users. The designers navigate the fine line between familiarity and artificiality, aiming for designs that are both functional and emotionally deep to avoid the risk of the uncanny valley.
Week 7 – The (Disney) Principles of Animation
Can you name some classic Disney cartoons?
Snow white and the seven dwarfs
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Fantasia
Cinderella
Beauty And The Beast
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
The Princess And The Frog
Bolt
Protagonist is Simba
Scenery is in the Jungles known as the Hakuna Matata Oasis what gives off a Lush tropical paradise, Colourful and vibrant, and Carefree enviroment.
the characters in Lion King are Characterized by a mix realism and stylization for example the characters have highly experssive faces that convey a wide range of emotions, the eyes in particular, are used to convey a characters feelings and thoughts, along with heavy human like qualities but it seems as if it allows for relatable and emotionally engaging characters.
One thing I noticed was how the animals moved naturally while incorporating gestures that would be associated with humans. I assume this was done for narrative purposes, but they also added a lot of detail to the fluidity of motion, which gave the animals a lifelike gait.
some principles of animation i noticed in the the clip was Anticipation a bit of Squash and Stretch, Follow through and Overlapping Action, Exaggeration, Timing, and Arcs the movement of the characters.
12 Principles of animation :
Squash and Stretch:
This principle gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. It involves stretching an object or character during an action and compressing it during stillness.
Anticipation:
Anticipation is the preparation for an action. It involves a small, subtle movement in the opposite direction before the main action occurs, creating a sense of readiness.
Staging:
Staging is the presentation of an idea so that it is unmistakably clear. It involves arranging the elements in a scene to direct the audience’s attention to what is most important.
Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose:
These are two approaches to the drawing process. “Straight ahead action” involves drawing frame by frame from start to end, while “pose to pose” involves starting with drawing a few key frames and filling in the intervals later.
Follow Through and Overlapping Action:
Follow through is the termination of an action, while overlapping action is the tendency of parts of the body to move at different rates. Together, they add realism and fluidity to movement.
Slow In and Slow Out:
This principle acknowledges that objects or characters don’t start and stop abruptly. They accelerate into an action and decelerate out of it, creating a more natural and realistic movement.
Arcs:
Most actions in life follow an arced trajectory rather than a straight line. This principle emphasizes the importance of incorporating natural, curved paths in animation.
Secondary Action:
Secondary actions support and complement the main action to reinforce the main story point. They add richness to character animation by providing additional details.
Timing:
Timing determines the speed of an action, and it is crucial for conveying weight, mass, and mood. It involves adjusting the number of frames used for an action to create a desired effect.
Exaggeration:
Exaggeration involves accentuating actions to make them more dynamic, entertaining, and larger than life. It’s a way of emphasizing the essence of an idea.
Solid Drawing:
Solid drawing emphasizes the importance of understanding three-dimensional shapes and forms. Animators should be skilled in creating the illusion of volume and depth in their 2D drawings.
Appeal:
Appeal refers to the charm and attraction of a character or an animation. Characters should be designed and animated in a way that captivates the audience and makes them memorable.
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Week 8 – Compositing 
BOOKS:
In order to investigate this query, I’m going to:
“The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV, and Digital Media” by Bruce Block – this book teaches the filmmaker and storyteller how to color and composition to create engaging narrative in film, tv, and digital media. its a practical guide for enhancing storytelling through visual design
Special Effects: The History and Technique by Richard Rickitt- this conveys the evolution and techniques of special effects in films covering again practical and digital aspects
Digital story telling the narrative power of visual effects
“Digital Visual Effects in Cinema: The Seduction of Reality” by Stephen Prince:
Movies in mind:
Good visual effects what compliments the storytelling – (Blade runner 2049) – because the use of practical effect and cinematography, played a crucial role in conveying the films theme and mood enriching the storytelling experience for the audience.
something what has been praised for good visual effects and a bad narrative could be suicide squad (2016), also its been criticized for its disjointed structure, along with development of the characters.
Avatar : Avatar has a great narrative alongside the immersive world building that aids the storytelling the lush of Pandora what assists the audience to feel connected to the extraordinary settings.
Compositing: is the process of fusing together visual components from several sources into a single image, usually to give the impression that the extra features are a natural part of the scene.
However, pre-digital compositing techniques date back to Georges Melies’ Trick films from the late 19th century, and some are still in use today.
When sitting in the theatre you view the stage from an approach or angle.
To maintain the illusion, the room is set up so that viewers cannot see what happens behind the scenes or the actors’ origins.
In the process of composing To improve realism, lighting and other effects are frequently incorporated, much like in an on-screen composition.
Physcial Compositing –
separate parts of the image are placed together in the photographic frame and recorded in a single exposure.
The components are aligned so that they give the appearance of a single image.
The most common physical compositing elements are partial models and glass paintings.
Partial model–
Typically used as set extensions such as ceilings or the upper stories of buildings.
The model, buil to matcch the actual set but on much smaller scale, is hung in front of the camera, alinged so that it appears to be part of the set
Models are often quite large because they must be placed far enough from the camera so that both they and the set far beyond them are in sharp focus.
Glass paintings– Large glass pane that is big enough to cover the camera frame is palced at a distance from the lens so that the pane is in focus.
The entire set painted onto the glass with gaps so that the background is visible thought these gaps.
While holding up the glass pane live action is shot though the glass and composited with the painted area.
The painted glass can be an economic foreground or background, saving a lot of time and money that would have gone into on location shots or studio constructions.
Matte Painting–
Matte painting- is a piece of artwork used to fill in part of a scene that can’t otherwise be photographed.
“A modern digital matte painting is created not by daubing paint on to a piece of glass, but by mapping artwork on to CG geometry. In a typical DMP environment, the models used might be relatively crude – perhaps just a series of flat planes or geometry layered up in virtual space. However, the devil is in the detail, and the detail is in the textures.”
Digital compositing– 
The software used removes the background to create an alpha channel and a transparent area around the subject.
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Week 9 – The Visual Effects Industry Model
In the movie “Life of Pi,” one of the scenes required them to generate a massive wave at an abandoned airport. Three months were spent photographing at the wave tank, but it seems that this was nothing compared to the Bengal tiger, which presented the production with its greatest technological obstacle.
The resulting vivid pictures of the movie were poetic and beautiful. The water, clouds, island, animals, even the tiger, almost everything in Life of Pi was CG. Only a few people ever realised that” (Grage, 2015)
wireframe
A genuine tiger was employed in a few sequences; one of those was when the tiger was swimming.
A reason why VFX companies might have suffered in what is a booming sector could be because of high production cost, the price of creating visual effects of superior quality is frequently considerable. This covers the cost of skilled labour, hardware, software, and research and development costs. It can be difficult to control these expenses while maintaining competitiveness.
Factors affecting VFX companies:
Digital Visual Effects is a young industry, the technology being barely 30 years old.
Many VFX companies were formed in the 1990s when funding was plentiful, now in this post recession era funding much more limited.
Tax allowances in Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand for VFX companies. Has drawn those companies away from Hollywood.
Globalization – much of the low cost work (such as rotoscoping) is farmed out to India and China.
VFX companies traditionally work to set costs or fees, if there is a change to a film then they have to absorb the cost.
VFX is not Unionised, it does not have employment unions like many other aspects of the film making business.