Tim Dirks' Visual and Special Effects Milestones
Created by johnnyg.
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From even its earliest days, films have used visual magic ("smoke and mirrors") to produce illusions and trick effects that have startled audiences. In fact, the phenomenon of persistence of vision (it was first described to some degree in 1824 by British physician Peter Mark Roget) is the reason why the human eye sees individual frames of a movie as smooth, flowing action when projected.
The earliest effects were produced within the camera (in-camera effects), such as simple jump-cuts or superimpositions, or were created by using miniatures, back projection, or matte paintings. Optical effects came slightly later, using film, light, shadow, lenses and/or chemical processes to produce the film effects. Film titles, fades, dissolves, wipes, blow ups, skip frames, bluescreen, compositing, double exposures, and zooms/pans are examples of various optical effects.
Cel animation, scale modeling, claymation, digital compositing, animatronics, use of prosthetic makeup, morphing, and modern computer-generated or computer graphics imagery (CGI) are just some of the more modern techniques that are widely used for creating incredible special or visual effects.
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17 new
Le voyage dans la lune
1902 — a.k.a. A Trip to the Moon, in 14 top lists Check -
29 new
À la conquête du pôle
1912 — a.k.a. The Conquest of the Pole, in 0 top lists Check -
49 new
Metropolis
1927, in 36 top lists Check -
61 new
Deluge
1933, in 0 top lists Check -
62 new
The Invisible Man
1933, in 8 top lists Check -
65 new
Things to Come
1936, in 8 top lists Check -
79 new
Destination Moon
1950, in 1 top list Check -
80 new
The Day the Earth Stood Still
1951, in 12 top lists Check -
81 new
When Worlds Collide
1951, in 1 top list Check -
86 new
The War of the Worlds
1953, in 6 top lists Check -
87 new
Creature from the Black Lagoon
1954, in 1 top list Check -
89 new
Gojira
1954 — a.k.a. Godzilla, in 12 top lists Check -
91 new
Conquest of Space
1955 — a.k.a. Mars Project, in 0 top lists Check -
92 new
This Island Earth
1955, in 1 top list Check -
101 new
Fantastic Voyage
1966 — a.k.a. Microscopia, in 2 top lists Check -
102 new
2001: A Space Odyssey
1968, in 45 top lists Check -
105 new
The Andromeda Strain
1971, in 3 top lists Check -
106 new
A Clockwork Orange
1971, in 37 top lists Check -
112 new
Soylent Green
1973, in 3 top lists Check -
113 new
Westworld
1973, in 5 top lists Check -
117 new
Futureworld
1976, in 0 top lists Check -
118 new
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977, in 23 top lists Check -
121 new
Superman
1978, in 11 top lists Check -
122 new
Alien
1979, in 30 top lists Check -
125 new
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1979, in 2 top lists Check -
129 new
Looker
1981, in 0 top lists Check -
131 new
Blade Runner
1982, in 36 top lists Check -
133 new
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982, in 30 top lists Check -
137 new
Tron
1982, in 5 top lists Check -
140 new
Superman III
1983, in 1 top list Check -
143 new
The Last Starfighter
1984, in 0 top lists Check -
144 new
SF Shinseiki Lensman
1984 — a.k.a. Lensman: Secret of the Lens, in 0 top lists Check -
145 new
2010: The Year We Make Contact
1984 — a.k.a. 2010, in 0 top lists Check -
147 new
Cocoon
1985, in 2 top lists Check -
150 new
Aliens
1986, in 24 top lists Check -
151 new
Flight of the Navigator
1986, in 0 top lists Check -
156 new
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
1986, in 1 top list Check -
158 new
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
1987, in 0 top lists Check -
159 new
RoboCop
1987, in 15 top lists Check -
160 new
Akira
1988, in 22 top lists Check -
164 new
The Abyss
1989, in 3 top lists Check -
165 new
Back to the Future Part II
1989, in 6 top lists Check -
170 new
RoboCop 2
1990, in 1 top list Check -
171 new
Total Recall
1990, in 8 top lists Check -
174 new
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
1991, in 2 top lists Check -
175 new
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991, in 27 top lists Check
Last updated on May 23, 2013; source