Visual Effect

While talking about visual effects used in movies, I always love to remember Star Wars (1977) – Into the trench, Start Trek (1982), The Birds (1963), King Kong, Aliens (1986), Terminator 3, Jurassic Park, Independence Day & 2012 because of exceptionally convincing, heart stopping, ground breaking  special effects incorporated in these films. However, while searching the internet about top ten special effects shots, I found only Hollywood Blockbusters and not a single Bollywood or Tollywood movie in that list.

Hollywood Special effects & VFX industry has completed their 100 years. Also, Bollywood celebrates its glorious 100 year-stint. I would like to throw some light on interesting facts about the history of VFX in cinema.

The journey of Special effects started in the year 1880 (thanks to the phenomenon of persistence of vision by British physician Peter Mark Roget), where films used visual magic to produce illusions & trick effects to surprise audiences.  The earliest effects were produced within the camera (camera effects, camera tricks), such as simple jump-cuts or superimpositions, back projection, or created by using miniatures. Optical effects came slightly later, using light, shadow, lenses etc.

The vanishing lady (1896)- French film maker Georges Melies, known as the ‘Father of cinematic Special effects’ accidentally discovered the stop motion effect when his camera jammed during shooting. After fixing the jam when the action resumed, he realized that he had inadvertently discovered a neat camera trick, causing objects to change position.

The Power of Love (1922) was the first 3-D feature film to be shown to an audience. It was projected in dual-strip in the red/green anaglyph format, making it the earliest known film to do so.

History of Bollywood Special effects

We are celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema and most people still do not know that in the year 1937, India got its first special effects movie thanks to Babubhai Mestry- India’s Father of Trick photography and special effects Director. Babubhai Mestry was born on 5th Sept.1918, in Surat city, Gujarat. He found his first job as assistant art director for film Hatimtai (1933).

During the shooting of ‘Khwaab ki Duniya’ (1937),he introduced some very ingenious home grown techniques where he used dim light & black curtain as the background on which objects were given the illusion of movement with the help of black thread. The phenomenal success of his experiment, made him a well established name in the cine world.

It was a revolution when the world’s first film was released. It was amazing to see a moving sequence on a screen. It started with a few frames proceeded by a few seconds, then minutes and now we enjoy hours worth of content on the small & big screen alike.

Change is the law of nature and this applies to the film industry as well. Earlier movies were mute, monochromatic films. Later, we had the ‘talkies’ with the introduction of sound. After a few years, coloured films were released to enhance the entertainment value. But there is one more factor which has revolutionized the way we look at films and that is Special Effects /Visual Effects.

Visual effects (VFX) in today’s movies not only create breath-taking scenes, but also bring down production costs since many scenes/shots are  produced with VFX.

It was not an easy task earlier to create Special Effects shots. But there were some creative visionaries who made this successful.

The first effort was by Buster Keaton in the year 1921 for the film The Playhouse in which he created nine replicas of his own in a single frame performing nine different roles at the same time

he effort of being creative continued and the concept of travelling matte came into existence with the film Flying Down to Rio in 1933.This film involved some sky shots for which a sky sequence was projected on a screen and actors performed in front of that screen, which was again captured by another camera. People may not consider it a great technical achievement today, but at that time it was the best creative expression ever.

Also, now-a-days, a compositor’s life is easier, since they get a footage shot in front of green or blue screen called chroma, import the footage, apply a filter and the job is done. But it was not simple forLarry Butler who used the chroma key process in 1943 for The Thief of Baghdad.

The revolution still continues to give us some good films with mind blowing VFX which we enjoy. Let’s have a glance at some of the memorable VFX applied in films for the first time:

Star Wars (1977) : First 3D wireframe graphics for the trench run briefing sequence

The adventure of Andre and Wally B (1984) : First CG animation with motion blur effect and squash and stretch motion.Today, creating Visual Effects is not a one man job, but generally involves a team with people specializing in programming, engineering, Arts, etc. With the right combination of training, creativity & technical skills, you too could make a career as a VFX professional and create special effects for films, TV,media etc.

The revolution which started in 1921 still continues and will continue forever. Let’s wait and watch for the next BIG THING!

Creativity in the Animation Industry

Published on August 2, 2012, by Mala Halder in Animation.

Have you have ever combined red and green colour to get yellow? Do you see various shapes in a crumpled paper ball? Do you love making small figures, idols and shapes out of wet sand or clay? Do you dream of capturing the whole world with your camera?

If all the above interest you, you are in the right industry. Welcome to the world of animation-the world of creativity.Creativity is nothing but one’s passion to do things differently. Sometimes, it is real fun to think out of the box and create something new, something different.

The Animation sector is one of the fastest growing industries, says NASSCOM, which has projected the Indian Animation industry to reach $1.16 billion in revenues by 2012. According to another report by PWC, the animation, VFX and gaming industries continue to grow at a steady CAGR of 21.4% to touch INR 82.6 billion in 2015 from INR 31.3 billion currently.

Animation is a field for individuals who dream of being innovators rather than mere followers. Why not think of new concepts, new themes, and new plots? Why not dream of making 3D or a VFX movie which no one has ever thought of? All you need is passion for such creative work with a bit of training, and you are on the road to success. Creativity combined with technical know-how will not only create trained artists, but well-versed craftsman. And this will help you make a mark in whatever industry you choose to make a career in.

So what are you waiting for? Put on your creative caps and get ready for a rocking career!

he History of VFX in Indian Films dates back to the silent era. At the same time as hollywood films were experimenting and executing VFX, India had also closely followed and caught on. Dada Saheb Phalke's silent movie Kaliamardhan in the year 1919 is one such example with amazing work. Later came movies like Paadhala Bhairavi and Maya Bazaarwhich took VFX to greater heights. With the advent of Computer Graphics in hollywood in the 1970s Indian films yearned to similar work and in the 1980s India's first Computer graphics facilities came up led by Prasad Video Digital which later gave birth to Prasad EFX who imported the first film scanners and recorders to India and thus pioneered the digital image revolution in India. The recent film "Krrish" had hollywood vfx supervisor Craig Mumma and was completely executed in India by Prasad EFX.

f your jaw dropped on seeing the latest James Bond film Skyfall, the credit doesn't go just to Q, but also to visual effects (VFX) artists from India who ensured that the film's many spectacles had audiences in thrall. Yes, today, many Indian VFX and animation studios are working on Hollywood films turning pixels into phenomenon. Visual effects designer V Srinivas Mohan,Karthik Kotamraju,Anish Khurana and many more men behind the technical wizardry in Endhiran,Maattrraan,Krish,Ra-one, feels that while many VFX companies and Jeremy Lee, subject area lead and senior lecturer in film, visual effects and animation, Sheffield Hallam University, UK, speaks to Tirna Ray on how the world of visual effects is transforming. A recent report indicates that the current size of the animation and special effects industry is US$247 million with a per annum growth rate of 20%. A Master's programme in this area is on offer at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, which aims to equip students with skills to work professionally in the global animation...

Robot

You can date movie special effects all the way back to when movies had no sound.  We enjoy the fact that we can escape reality for just a couple of hours.  Some movies rely entirely on the special effects, while others use them sparsely in order for the storyline to be the focus for the viewer.  However, it seems that the budgets for movies have started to roll out of control.  What was a new world record when Terminator 2 was released is what most high-end movies have as budgets today.  The insane investments made by the movie companies usually pay off, but one might wonder where all the money goes.  I mean, the same effects can be done using off the shelf software by a teenager who wants to prove a point, so what’s all the fuzz about?

But if you thought that you had seen it all, I can tell you that you are dead wrong.  If you still remain positive that movies can’t contain too many special effects, then you should definitely see the Indian movie Robot.  It’s a mix between The Matrix and Terminator, but it doesn’t end there.  As a matter of fact, it’s just the beginning.

Robot probably has the highest number of insane special effects that I have ever seen (and probably you too).  The fact that every shot includes some form of special effects is just daunting.  I wonder if movie goers really enjoy these movies, if they are considered a comedy, or if they are dead serious about them like we were about Terminator and The Matrix?  Now have a look, and tell me what you think.  Is it the coolest movie you have ever seen?

The Most Insane visual effect

When it comes to movies laden with special effects - the ones that REALLY changed the way you view films (forget the latest round of 3D films), you'd have to look at Terminator 2 (with the mercury reforming T1000), Keanu Reeves slow-motion sequences in The Matrix, the mind bending gadgetry of Transformers, the life-like dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and obviously Star Wars - which was literally lightyears ahead of the technology at the time.

But now, alongside those epic SFX blockbusters, you can surely place the Indian movie 'Robot'.

Simply imagine a mashup of Iron Man, I, Robot & Bicentennial Man set to the score of Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) and you have one of the most hotly anticipated films in India.

The plot is simply enough "A gifted scientist constructs an equally gifted robot, who sets out into the world for the first time with some unexpected and mind-blowing consequences."

To be perfectly upfront we have a very limited knowledge of Bollywood films - but when we saw the trailer for this, we thought it looked not only insane but utterly hilarious too. So if you like what you're about to see - go hunt it down and check it out.

With that in mind, check out the video and prepare for eye-candy and sensory overload!