Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Special Effect shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Special Effect offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Special Effect at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Special Effect? Wrong! If the Special Effect is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Special Effect then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Special Effect? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Special Effect and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Special Effect wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Special Effect then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Special Effect site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Special Effect, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Special Effect, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.



The illusions used in the film, television, and entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects (a.k.a. SFX or SPFX). In modern films, special effects are usually used to alter previously-filmed elements by adding, removing or enhancing objects within the scene. The use of special effects is more common in big-budget films, but affordable animation and compositing software enables even amateur filmmakers to create professional-looking effects.

Special effects are traditionally divided into the categories of optical effects and mechanical effects. In recent years, a greater distinction between special effects and visual effects has been recognized, with "visual effects" referring to post-production and optical effects, and "special effects" referring to on-set mechanical effects.

Optical effects (also called visual or photographic effects), are techniques in which images or film frames are created and manipulated for film and video. Optical effects are produced photographically, either "in-camera" using multiple exposure, Matte (filmmaking), or the Schüfftan process, or in post-production processes using an optical printer or video editing software. An optical effect might be used to place actors or sets against a different background, or make an animal appear to talk.

Mechanical effects (also called practical or physical effects), are usually accomplished during the live-action shooting. This includes the use of mechanized Theatrical property, scenery and scale model, and pyrotechnics. Making a car appear to drive by itself, or blowing up a building are examples of mechanical effects. Mechanical effects are often incorporated into set design and makeup. For example, a set may be built with break-away doors or walls, or makeup can be used to make an actor look like a monster.

Since the 1990s, computer generated imagery (CGI) has come to the forefront of special effects technologies. CGI gives film-makers greater control, and allows many effects to be accomplished more safely and convincingly. As a result, many optical and mechanical effects techniques have been superseded by CGI.

Developmental history In 1867, Oscar Gustave Rejlander created the world's first "trick photograph" by combining different regions of 32 other photographs into a single image. In 1895, Alfred Clark created what is commonly accepted as the first-ever special effect on film. While filming a reenactment of the beheading of Mary I of Scotland, Clarke instructed an actor to step up to the block in Mary's costume. As the executioner brought the axe above his head, Clarke stopped the camera, had all of the actors freeze, and had the person playing Mary step off the set. He placed a Mary dummy in the actor's place, restarted filming, and allowed the executioner to bring the axe down, severing the dummy's head. “Such… techniques would remain at the heart of special effects production for the next century” (Rickitt, 10).

This was not only the first use of trickery in the cinema, it was the first type of photographic trickery that could only be done in a motion picture, i.e., the "stop trick."

In 1896, France Magician (illusion) Georges Méliès accidentally discovered the same "stop trick." According to Melies, his camera jammed while filming a street scene in Paris. When he screened the film, he found that the "stop trick" had caused a truck to turn into a hearse, pedestrians to change direction, and men turn into women. Melies, the stage manager at the Theatre Robert-Houdin, was inspired to develop a series of more than 500 short films, between 1896 and 1914, in the process developing or inventing such techniques as double exposure, time-lapse photography, Dissolve (film)s, and hand painted colour. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality with the cinematograph, the prolific Méliès is sometimes referred to as the "Cinemagician." His most famous film, A Trip to the Moon (film) (1902), a whimsical parody of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon, featured a combination of live action and animation, and also incorporated extensive miniature and matte painting work.

During the 1920s and 1930s, special effects techniques were improved and refined by the motion picture industry. Many techniques were modifications of illusions from the theater (such as Pepper's Ghost) and still photography (such as double exposure and matte compositing). Rear projection was a refinement of the use of painted backgrounds in the theater – only substituting moving pictures to create moving backgrounds.

But several techniques soon developed that, like the "stop trick," were wholly original to motion pictures. Animation, creating the illusion of motion, was accomplished with drawings (most notably by Winsor McCay in Gertie the Dinosaur) and with three-dimensional models (most notably by Willis O'Brien in The Lost World (1925 film) and King Kong (1933 film)). Many studios established in-house "special effects" departments, which were responsible for nearly all optical and mechanical aspects of motion-picture trickery.

: Rotwang with his invention, which in the original script was called FuturaAlso, the challenge of simulating spectacle in motion encouraged the development of the use of miniatures. Naval battles could be depicted with models in studio tanks, and airplanes could be flown (and crashed) without risk of life and limb. Most impressively, miniatures and matte paintings could be used to depict worlds that never existed. Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (film) was an early special effects spectacular, with innovative use of miniatures, matte paintings, the Schüfftan process, and complex compositing.

An important innovation in special-effects photography was the development of the optical printer. Essentially, an optical printer is a projector aiming into a camera lens, and it was developed to make copies of films for distribution. Until Linwood G. Dunn, A.S.C. refined the design and use of the optical printer, effects shots were accomplished as in-camera effects. Dunn demonstrating that it could be used to combine images in novel ways and create new illusions. One early showcase for Dunn was Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, where such locations as Xanadu (Citizen Kane) (and some of Gregg Toland's famous 'deep focus' shots) were essentially created by Dunn's optical printer.

The development of color photography required greater refinement of effects techniques. Also, color enabled the development of such travelling matte techniques as bluescreen and the sodium vapor process. Many films became landmarks in special-effects accomplishments: Forbidden Planet used matte paintings, animation, and miniature work to create spectacular alien environments. In The Ten Commandments (1956 film), Paramount's John P. Fulton, A.S.C., multiplied the crowds of extras in the Exodus scenes with careful compositing, depicted the massive constructions of Rameses with models, and split the Red Sea in a still-impressive combination of travelling mattes and water tanks. Ray Harryhausen extended the art of stop-motion animation with his special techniques of compositing to create spectacular fantasy adventures such as Jason and the Argonauts (whose climax, a sword battle with seven animated skeletons, is considered a landmark in special effects).

If one film could be said to have established the high-water mark for special effects, it would be 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey (film), directed by Stanley Kubrick, who assembled his own effects team (Douglas Trumbull, Tom Howard, Con Pedersen and Wally Veevers) rather than use an in-house effects unit. In this film, the spaceship miniatures were highly detailed and carefully photographed for a realistic depth of field. The shots of spaceships were combined through hand-drawn rotoscopes and careful motion-control work, ensuring that the elements were precisely combined in the camera-- a surprising throwback to the silent era, but with spectacular results. Backgrounds of the African vistas in the "Dawn of Man" sequence were combined with soundstage photography via the then-new front projection technique. Scenes set in zero-gravity environments were staged with hidden wires, mirror shots, and large-scale rotating sets. The finale, a voyage through hallucinogenic scenery, was created by Douglas Trumbull using a new technique termed slit-scan. Even today, the effects scenes remain impressive, realistic, and awe-inspiring.

The 1970s provided two profound changes in the special effects trade. The first was economic: during the industry's recession in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many studios closed down their in-house effects houses. Many technicians became freelancers or founded their own effects companies, sometimes specializing on particular techniques (opticals, animation, etc.).

The second was precipitated by the blockbuster success of two science fiction and fantasy films in 1977. George Lucas's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope ushered in an era of fantasy films with expensive and impressive special-effects. Effects supervisor John Dykstra and crew developed many improvements in existing effects technology. They developed a computer-controlled camera rig called the "Dykstraflex" that allowed precise repeatability of camera motion, greatly facilitating travelling-matte compositing. Degradation of film images during compositing was minimized by other innovations: the Dykstraflex used VistaVision cameras that photographed widescreen images horizontally along stock, using far more of the film per frame, and thinner-emulsion filmstocks were used in the compositing process. The effects crew assembled by Lucas and Dykstra was dubbed Industrial Light and Magic, and since 1977 has spearheaded most effects innovations.

That same year, Steven Spielberg's film Close Encounters of the Third Kind boasted a finale with impressive special effects by 2001 veteran Douglas Trumbull. In addition to developing his own motion-control system, Trumbull also developed techniques for creating intentional "lens flare" (the shapes created by light reflecting in camera lenses) to provide the film's undefinable shapes of flying saucers.

The success of these films, and others since, has prompted massive studio investment in effects-heavy fantasy films. This has fuelled the establishment of many independent effects houses, a tremendous degree of refinement of existing techniques, and the development of new techniques such as CGI. It has also encouraged within the industry a greater distinction between special effects and visual effects; the latter is used to characterize post-production and optical work, while special effects refers more often to on-set and mechanical effects.

Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) A recent and profound innovation in special effects has been the development of computer generated imagery, or CGI, which has changed nearly every aspect of motion picture special effects. Digital compositing avoids the inherent graininess of optical compositing. Digital imagery has enabled technicians to create detailed models, matte "paintings," and even fully-realized characters with the malleability of computer software.

The most spectacular use of CGI has been the creation of photographically-realistic images of fantasy creations. Images could be created in a computer using the techniques of animated cartoons or model animation. (In 1993, stop-motion animators working on the realistic dinosaurs of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (film) were retrained in the use of computer input devices.) By 1995, films such as Toy Story underscored that the distinction between live-action films and animated films was no longer clear. Other landmark examples include a moving stained-glass window in Young Sherlock Holmes, a tentacle of water in The Abyss, a 'liquid metal' villain in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and hordes of armies of fantastic creatures in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Planning and use Although most special effects work is completed during post-production, it must be carefully planned and choreographed in pre-production and film production. A Visual effects supervisor is usually involved with the production from an early stage to work closely with the Director and all related personnel to achieve the desired effects.

Live special effects Live special effects are effects that are used in front of a live audience. Mostly during sporting events, concerts and corporate shows. Types of effects that are commonly used include a laser lighting display, co2 effects, pyrotechnics, flames and confetti.

Visual special effects techniques in rough order of invention

Special effects companies

References



The illusions used in the film, television, and entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects (a.k.a. SFX or SPFX). In modern films, special effects are usually used to alter previously-filmed elements by adding, removing or enhancing objects within the scene. The use of special effects is more common in big-budget films, but affordable animation and compositing software enables even amateur filmmakers to create professional-looking effects.

Special effects are traditionally divided into the categories of optical effects and mechanical effects. In recent years, a greater distinction between special effects and visual effects has been recognized, with "visual effects" referring to post-production and optical effects, and "special effects" referring to on-set mechanical effects.

Optical effects (also called visual or photographic effects), are techniques in which images or film frames are created and manipulated for film and video. Optical effects are produced photographically, either "in-camera" using multiple exposure, Matte (filmmaking), or the Schüfftan process, or in post-production processes using an optical printer or video editing software. An optical effect might be used to place actors or sets against a different background, or make an animal appear to talk.

Mechanical effects (also called practical or physical effects), are usually accomplished during the live-action shooting. This includes the use of mechanized Theatrical property, scenery and scale model, and pyrotechnics. Making a car appear to drive by itself, or blowing up a building are examples of mechanical effects. Mechanical effects are often incorporated into set design and makeup. For example, a set may be built with break-away doors or walls, or makeup can be used to make an actor look like a monster.

Since the 1990s, computer generated imagery (CGI) has come to the forefront of special effects technologies. CGI gives film-makers greater control, and allows many effects to be accomplished more safely and convincingly. As a result, many optical and mechanical effects techniques have been superseded by CGI.

Developmental history In 1867, Oscar Gustave Rejlander created the world's first "trick photograph" by combining different regions of 32 other photographs into a single image. In 1895, Alfred Clark created what is commonly accepted as the first-ever special effect on film. While filming a reenactment of the beheading of Mary I of Scotland, Clarke instructed an actor to step up to the block in Mary's costume. As the executioner brought the axe above his head, Clarke stopped the camera, had all of the actors freeze, and had the person playing Mary step off the set. He placed a Mary dummy in the actor's place, restarted filming, and allowed the executioner to bring the axe down, severing the dummy's head. “Such… techniques would remain at the heart of special effects production for the next century” (Rickitt, 10).

This was not only the first use of trickery in the cinema, it was the first type of photographic trickery that could only be done in a motion picture, i.e., the "stop trick."

In 1896, France Magician (illusion) Georges Méliès accidentally discovered the same "stop trick." According to Melies, his camera jammed while filming a street scene in Paris. When he screened the film, he found that the "stop trick" had caused a truck to turn into a hearse, pedestrians to change direction, and men turn into women. Melies, the stage manager at the Theatre Robert-Houdin, was inspired to develop a series of more than 500 short films, between 1896 and 1914, in the process developing or inventing such techniques as double exposure, time-lapse photography, Dissolve (film)s, and hand painted colour. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality with the cinematograph, the prolific Méliès is sometimes referred to as the "Cinemagician." His most famous film, A Trip to the Moon (film) (1902), a whimsical parody of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon, featured a combination of live action and animation, and also incorporated extensive miniature and matte painting work.

During the 1920s and 1930s, special effects techniques were improved and refined by the motion picture industry. Many techniques were modifications of illusions from the theater (such as Pepper's Ghost) and still photography (such as double exposure and matte compositing). Rear projection was a refinement of the use of painted backgrounds in the theater – only substituting moving pictures to create moving backgrounds.

But several techniques soon developed that, like the "stop trick," were wholly original to motion pictures. Animation, creating the illusion of motion, was accomplished with drawings (most notably by Winsor McCay in Gertie the Dinosaur) and with three-dimensional models (most notably by Willis O'Brien in The Lost World (1925 film) and King Kong (1933 film)). Many studios established in-house "special effects" departments, which were responsible for nearly all optical and mechanical aspects of motion-picture trickery.

: Rotwang with his invention, which in the original script was called FuturaAlso, the challenge of simulating spectacle in motion encouraged the development of the use of miniatures. Naval battles could be depicted with models in studio tanks, and airplanes could be flown (and crashed) without risk of life and limb. Most impressively, miniatures and matte paintings could be used to depict worlds that never existed. Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (film) was an early special effects spectacular, with innovative use of miniatures, matte paintings, the Schüfftan process, and complex compositing.

An important innovation in special-effects photography was the development of the optical printer. Essentially, an optical printer is a projector aiming into a camera lens, and it was developed to make copies of films for distribution. Until Linwood G. Dunn, A.S.C. refined the design and use of the optical printer, effects shots were accomplished as in-camera effects. Dunn demonstrating that it could be used to combine images in novel ways and create new illusions. One early showcase for Dunn was Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, where such locations as Xanadu (Citizen Kane) (and some of Gregg Toland's famous 'deep focus' shots) were essentially created by Dunn's optical printer.

The development of color photography required greater refinement of effects techniques. Also, color enabled the development of such travelling matte techniques as bluescreen and the sodium vapor process. Many films became landmarks in special-effects accomplishments: Forbidden Planet used matte paintings, animation, and miniature work to create spectacular alien environments. In The Ten Commandments (1956 film), Paramount's John P. Fulton, A.S.C., multiplied the crowds of extras in the Exodus scenes with careful compositing, depicted the massive constructions of Rameses with models, and split the Red Sea in a still-impressive combination of travelling mattes and water tanks. Ray Harryhausen extended the art of stop-motion animation with his special techniques of compositing to create spectacular fantasy adventures such as Jason and the Argonauts (whose climax, a sword battle with seven animated skeletons, is considered a landmark in special effects).

If one film could be said to have established the high-water mark for special effects, it would be 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey (film), directed by Stanley Kubrick, who assembled his own effects team (Douglas Trumbull, Tom Howard, Con Pedersen and Wally Veevers) rather than use an in-house effects unit. In this film, the spaceship miniatures were highly detailed and carefully photographed for a realistic depth of field. The shots of spaceships were combined through hand-drawn rotoscopes and careful motion-control work, ensuring that the elements were precisely combined in the camera-- a surprising throwback to the silent era, but with spectacular results. Backgrounds of the African vistas in the "Dawn of Man" sequence were combined with soundstage photography via the then-new front projection technique. Scenes set in zero-gravity environments were staged with hidden wires, mirror shots, and large-scale rotating sets. The finale, a voyage through hallucinogenic scenery, was created by Douglas Trumbull using a new technique termed slit-scan. Even today, the effects scenes remain impressive, realistic, and awe-inspiring.

The 1970s provided two profound changes in the special effects trade. The first was economic: during the industry's recession in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many studios closed down their in-house effects houses. Many technicians became freelancers or founded their own effects companies, sometimes specializing on particular techniques (opticals, animation, etc.).

The second was precipitated by the blockbuster success of two science fiction and fantasy films in 1977. George Lucas's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope ushered in an era of fantasy films with expensive and impressive special-effects. Effects supervisor John Dykstra and crew developed many improvements in existing effects technology. They developed a computer-controlled camera rig called the "Dykstraflex" that allowed precise repeatability of camera motion, greatly facilitating travelling-matte compositing. Degradation of film images during compositing was minimized by other innovations: the Dykstraflex used VistaVision cameras that photographed widescreen images horizontally along stock, using far more of the film per frame, and thinner-emulsion filmstocks were used in the compositing process. The effects crew assembled by Lucas and Dykstra was dubbed Industrial Light and Magic, and since 1977 has spearheaded most effects innovations.

That same year, Steven Spielberg's film Close Encounters of the Third Kind boasted a finale with impressive special effects by 2001 veteran Douglas Trumbull. In addition to developing his own motion-control system, Trumbull also developed techniques for creating intentional "lens flare" (the shapes created by light reflecting in camera lenses) to provide the film's undefinable shapes of flying saucers.

The success of these films, and others since, has prompted massive studio investment in effects-heavy fantasy films. This has fuelled the establishment of many independent effects houses, a tremendous degree of refinement of existing techniques, and the development of new techniques such as CGI. It has also encouraged within the industry a greater distinction between special effects and visual effects; the latter is used to characterize post-production and optical work, while special effects refers more often to on-set and mechanical effects.

Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) A recent and profound innovation in special effects has been the development of computer generated imagery, or CGI, which has changed nearly every aspect of motion picture special effects. Digital compositing avoids the inherent graininess of optical compositing. Digital imagery has enabled technicians to create detailed models, matte "paintings," and even fully-realized characters with the malleability of computer software.

The most spectacular use of CGI has been the creation of photographically-realistic images of fantasy creations. Images could be created in a computer using the techniques of animated cartoons or model animation. (In 1993, stop-motion animators working on the realistic dinosaurs of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (film) were retrained in the use of computer input devices.) By 1995, films such as Toy Story underscored that the distinction between live-action films and animated films was no longer clear. Other landmark examples include a moving stained-glass window in Young Sherlock Holmes, a tentacle of water in The Abyss, a 'liquid metal' villain in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and hordes of armies of fantastic creatures in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Planning and use Although most special effects work is completed during post-production, it must be carefully planned and choreographed in pre-production and film production. A Visual effects supervisor is usually involved with the production from an early stage to work closely with the Director and all related personnel to achieve the desired effects.

Live special effects Live special effects are effects that are used in front of a live audience. Mostly during sporting events, concerts and corporate shows. Types of effects that are commonly used include a laser lighting display, co2 effects, pyrotechnics, flames and confetti.

Visual special effects techniques in rough order of invention

Special effects companies

References



Special Effects UK Ltd HOME
PROPS THAT WORK . . soft props or breakaways for stunts. . gadgets, mechanisms or period pieces.

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The following colors glow under black light: Atomic Pink , Nuclear Red ,Cherry Bomb, Hi-Octane Orange, Joyride, Cupcake Pink , Bright as F#@$ Yellow ...

Special Effects Technician - Media, Print and Publishing - Job ...
Special effects technicians work to create convincing effects in a film or TV show - from a foggy night to a spectacular space battle. They work in one of three fields:

Amazon.co.uk: Special Effects: In Film and Television: Bliss, Jake ...
Amazon.co.uk: Special Effects: In Film and Television: Bliss, Jake Hamilton, Dorling Kindersley Publishing: Books ...

Special effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The illusions used in the film, television, theater, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects (a.k.a.

PyroXtreme Special Effects, Northern Ireland
Welcome to pyro Xtreme the new home to pyrotechnic and battle special effects in Northern Ireland. We are a small company of pyrotechnicians and military re-enactors with a range ...

SpecialEffect
A Game for Helen; Stargaze Project; Special Effect Gamebase; For more information about SpecialEffect, email info@specialeffect.org.uk or contact us by telephone on 01608 811909 or 0782 ...

MTFX: TV/film special effects, fireworks, confetti and firedance
Includes services, hire and sales stock and contact details.

 

Special Effect



 
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