SFX & VFX

History of Practical Effects

Practical effects was used in films back in the time of film making when there wasn't any visual effects. Directors and artists had to physically reconstruct all the impossible content that happened in the films by hand to use during the production of the film, as well as special effects which was done after the film recording. There are multiple different types of practical effects, each one used for a different aspect in the development of a film.

This use of effects kick started off back in 1902 by the film "A Trip To The Moon" directed by George Melies, who, during the production of the film, used a series of unique sets, costumes, props, smoke and explosive effects, creating a realistic but sci-fi based film that was an influence for many other films to come after. 

It was also the first film to introduce the practical effects of synthetic makeup. It was the process of prosthetic sculpting and moulding techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects. These techniques were incredibly popular and where used extensively for old films such as "An American Werewolf In London", "Frankenstein", "Terminator" and "The Thing". As the world developed, makeup still seems to play a part in modern films, but not as frequently, and the scenes of transformation and metamorphoses in films are instead replaced with CGI.

For this research, I did a simple search on Wikipedia and it provided me with some good information on the certain effect. Wikipedia Site - Prosthetic Makeup

Later in the year in 1927, the film "Metropolis", directed by Fritz Lang, introduced the new effect theme of Miniatures, which was the creation of miniature models that were used in production of the film as larger structures. This effect was created by pioneer Eugen Schufftan, which greatly influenced the practical effects of "Star Wars" and "Madonna" and of course many other films before them.

For this particular effect, I tried to do some separate research on it to get some more information on the history, Wikipedia Site - Miniature Effect, but I just gave all the information I already knew, so it wasn't that useful.

After that, the next thing that came was Matte colouring. Matte colouring was used in films way back in 1907, but it was only when films become technicolor did they have an impact on the industry. 1939 "The Wizard Of Oz", directed by Victor Fleming was the first to display this effect of painted sceneries that seamlessly blended in the backgrounds on the set. As well as other popular films like "Planet Of The Apes" and "Raiders Of The Lost Arch".

       The Wizard Of Oz - Matte Painting, Emerald   Raiders Of The Lost Ark - Matte                    

                                                 City                                              Painting, Government Storage 

Stop motion played a huge part in many films over the years and still plays a big part in some modern films today. It is the theme of taking a small model and moving its appendages during each frame of the film so as the film plays out it looks like the model is moving in real time. It started with Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton’s 1898 "The Humpty Dumpty Circus" and then got popularised by films such as 1933 "King Kong". But it was made into an integral part of films practical effects by Ray Harryhausen, who for over three decades worked to produce some of the best sequences in films such as "The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad", "Clash Of The Titans" and the film he regards as his masterpiece "Jason And The Argonauts".

                             Jason And The Argonauts - Dead Rising Scene & Talos

                                                                    King Kong 

Animatronics started in 1961 with Walt Disney creating a 9 inch dancing robot and multiple other animatronics to feature in their world fairs to attract customers, but non were featured in films yet. Then later they introduced an animatronic bird in the 1964 "Marry Poppins" which then started the craze of the use of animatronics, with popular films such as "Jaws", "E.T" and "Jurassic Park".  

For this particular effect, I did some separate research to try and find some more information on the history this practical effect. I looked on the Wiki but I couldn't find the exact history of the effect, Wikipedia Site - Animatronics. This other site however was a lot more useful, THE HISTORY OF ANIMATRONICS.

In recent, modern films, the use of practical effects has dwindled, being replaced with visual effects and CGI and after editing, as this makes the development of the film easier and quicker. But there are still some films in recent years that rely on practical effects and are unique because of it as they add a sense of realism to them, like "The Dark Crystal" and "Star Wars", and in recently, the audience is starting to warm back to this unique effect in film and enjoy its content. 

In general, I found it quite hard to find some complete information about the history of practical effects. I did a few searches on the internet and found a couple of results and website, all of which gave some good information but not the amount I was looking for, like this one on Wikipedia, and on this other website, No CGI Please: Special Effects Before Computers.

It was only from this one website I found that I managed to get some information from to form half the foundation of the information shown above, but still had some lacked some of the key information I was looking for. So I had to resort to researching into the individual types of some of the practical effects as shown above to complete my research. 

A Brief History of Practical Effects in Cinema in 10 Movies

Difference Between Practical & Visual Effects

There is a different between practical effects in a film and a visual effects, one is used for during the film production and the other is used in post production film.

Practical effects is when there is no computer generation or editing in that one scene of the film. All the props, character designs and environment scenarios (explosions & weather etc.) are made physically in the pre production of a film, which are then used in real time during the production of the film without the use of any after editing. Compared to visual effects, which is all done in the post production of a film, where the film content is put through a digital computer which artist then edit separately and implement all of the props and effects that would have happened with practical effects.

Three Practical Effects In Films

Makeup Effects - The Thing (1982) D. John Carpenter 

In the old horror sci-fi film "The Thing" there was a lot of use of different practical effects in the movie and its production. One that was most used during the making of the film was makeup and costumes designs for all the different creatures that appear in the film and the weird and grotesque effects that happen in it like: the oozing goo, blood splatters and facial and general transformations.  

The main ingredients that the effects consisted of were (I'm quoting here) mayo, strawberry jam, foam latex and KY jelly to create the monsters sickening appearance. Models of these creatures were created and controlled in either a form of puppetry, or as an animatronic. 

Like the one scene in the film where the doctor is using a defibrillator to save another unconscious character. The unconscious actors body was actually a completely reconstructed model of the actor and part where the characters stomach opens like a mouth and rips off the doctors hands was from hydraulics built into the table underneath from which lays a storage compartment containing other actors which use a pump to spray and splatter goo in and out of the models body which explodes in the next scene. Also in the next scene where the models head rips off the body using a technique of melted chemicals and bubble gum to act as the models weird lacy innards. The doctors arms during that scene were replaced fake model arms on an amputee double actor of the doctor who was also wearing an extremely realistic makeup mask of the previous actor, which apparently shocked viewers when they were told of this filming  technique.

I looked at a couple of sites to try and get some information off the use of the practical effects in this film. The first I found, this one, [It Came From the ’80s] ‘The Thing’: A Pinnacle of Practical Effects, which gave me a good idea of the practical effects in this film, but, personally, it all confused me with all the information, so I looked on for something a little simpler that I could comprehend. I had a look at a wikipedia page but it didn't give me any exact information about the practical effects behind the production, Wikipedia Page - The Thing (1982). It was this website I found, the Artifice - Practical Effects Of The Thing, of which I found useful and simple and strait forward that I start taking notes from, as well of course from the first website I found which held a lot of the information that was on this page, just better categorised for me to understand better. 

Miniatures Effects - Blade Runner (1982) D. Ridley Scott

The use of miniatures effects in "Blade Runner" were of tiny landscapes which were made with rows of etched brass silhouette cut-outs in a forced perspective layout, which was painted roughly with paints and even instant coffee granules to give the buildings the look and effect of aged and dilapidated. Tons of long fibre optic strands were placed in an intricate and elaborate network  under the city set and into it, into the city models and protruding to act as the miniature lights that are spread across the city. 

For the vehicles in the production, which were referred to as "Spinners" in the film, multiple different variations of different sizes of the model cars were made for all the different camera angle shots in the film recording. The smaller, less detailed cars were for longer distance camera shots, compared to the larger, more detailed ones, which were for closer shots.

Another prop that was made for post production was a model blimp that would flout above the film set during the filming. This was made with a large wooden frame and covered in a latex that gives the blimp the plastic look and feel to it. They then put plastic screens around the blimp, as shown below, for the videos and film that will project onto screens with projectors set a few centimetres away from the blimp when recording the film.

Finding the information for this films practical effects usage and development was actually a lot easier than the previous research tasks. This first search on the internet seemed to have enough  information for me to research into. THE MINIATURE MODELS OF BLADE RUNNER.

Stop Motion - Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) D. Wes Anderson 

The development of making the stop motion animation in this film first started with the procedure of making the puppets and the set. 

For making the characters, models, the first part of the procedure was sketching out multiple different character designs for this films cast, some of which were taken reference from real life characters from the studio and on set. Inspiration was taken from the glasses of one of the staff on the set.

After the numerous sketches were made, the team went to developing multiple 3D plasticine models of the from the designs. The main animal character models, the ones used for most of the close up shots in the film, are approximately 12 inches tall, while smaller models were made for the human characters since there won't be Manny close up shots of them in the original film. After that, they made a series of epoxy resin moulds were taken from the models in order to make a negative copy of the figures. Before the next phase, they constructed steel, ball and socket armatures to act as the skeletons for the puppets to allow the animators to move their appendages with more control and precision when animating the film. They then put the skeletons in the resin moulds to then pour latex onto it and then bake the mould to produce the plasticky models for the animal characters for the film shoot/or they pour silicone in the mould instead for the human models to give there skin the human texture and look. After the animal  models are made, they then implemented the fur onto them. They did this by taking artificial fur from multiple different sources, such as toys and also real goats hair, which was then dyed to the correct colour of the animal character. The human characters hair on the other hand, were taken from scalps from the staff members around the studio. The fur was then applied to the animal characters models with an applied latex baking that was stretch out all over the models body. Then the staff made the characters clothing from regular fabric materials. After all the puppet models and doubles were created, and all the sets and props used in the film, the animation team got to work on animating the film. 

The animation technique on this animation was done a slight bit differently, as the producer wanted to change the style of the animation and make it unique from the other stop motion films made during that time, he made the animation in 12 frames per second instead of the fluid 24 like most films. He did this to give the film a slight rough and raw look to it that would seem fit the theme and look of the animation and its plot.

For this practical effects research, I found and sourced a good websites that all told me some useful information about the way that this film was made and more in more detail, how the character models were made. I did a quick search on Wikipedia, Wikipedia Site - Fantastic Mr. Fox, like I did for the previous tasks, but didn't tell me what I was looking for. The same goes for this website I found when searching, and it also didn't help. 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' and stop motion animation.

Useful Sites

How the Puppets from Fantastic Mr. Fox Were Made [Slide Show]

Claymation transportation: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Practical Effects Studio - Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.

Studio Production Effects - Animatronics & Synthetic Make-up

For this research task, I chose to present the this special effects company, Amalgamated Dynamics, which is an American practical effects company that specialises in synthetic make up and character models, and also animatronic technology to mobilise there characters. It was founded in 1988 by Stan Winston, Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis. 

Some of the most famous films they worked on was "Death Becomes Her" (1992), where they worked on the animatronics  and prosthetic make on Meryl Streep in the scene where her neck twists back into place. And they were also responsible for the props and model designs of the alien posters in the "Alien" franchise.

This company is still active and continues to produce practical effects, animatronics and make up, for more recent films, and even films to this day. Such as the (2011) "The Thing", "Godzilla" (2014) and even "IT" (2017). 

Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc 

Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated 

Video Clip

Practical all of the information I got for this research task was on a simple Wiki page I searched on the internet. The studios website itself provided some other information on their work shop, but I found the research on the Wiki more clear and categorised. Wikipedia Site - Amalgamated Dynamics.

Special Effects - Fake Blood - Practical Task

In this task, I had to create my own practical effect by using materials and props that I have at my house hold. I was tasked with creating a fake blood effect from watching tutorials that were provided by the teacher.

Effect Procedure/How To Guide

From the selection of tutorials I had, I had to choose the tutorial that required less ingredients to make, Used Tutorial Vid, also I did not have the food colouring for the other one, Non Used Tutorial. 

First off, gather all of the ingredients and tools for the procedure of making the effect: you'll need a simple bottle of Ketchup, a small Bowl, Water (in a cup or any transferable way) and a spoon.

Next, pour the ketchup into the bowl, as much as you desire. 

Then add a small amount of water in the bowl. If you put too much water into the bowl as I have done below, regulate it by pouring some of the water into a near by sink, or back into your cup of water. 

Then take the spoon and start to mix the water together with the ketchup until fully incorporated. 

The solution was still too thick so I added more water into it, and mixed again until I had the perfect consistency that I was looking for. 

If the solution is too liquid, or still too thick, then add either more water or more ketchup to it, and mix again until you have a solution that is the right consistency. You will be looking for a solution  that is slightly more liquid than how the ketchup was originally but is still thick enough to not run off your skin or any surface like water.

Final Result

If you have food colouring, you can add it too the solution after incorporating the other ingredients, and mix it in with the solution to get the solution to turn an even darker shade of red like regular blood. I did not have any food colouring for this procedure.

This whole practical task was pretty simple for me to complete, as expected. I would have tried to create a better solution with more ingredients, like in that other tutorial, but the only thing I was missing was the food colouring, which would have improved the quality of my blood effect. I'll probably go and buy some for next time. Other than that, I think my outcome of my blood effect wasn't that bad.