Special Effects Today
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Today's special effects industry is booming - with technological advances improving vastly by the week, the release of every new movie continues to impress all with the quality of special effects. One of the largest contributors to special effects is the gaming industry. Both video games and films now use digital enhancement and other computer related effects. While video games have been improving their animated quality to be more realistic, Hollywood is increasingly relying on the "fake" to create an even more convincing reality. This has resulted in a convergence of technology and a more similar end product. |
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Many of the top selling games
in the industry are now based on successful movies, and
sometimes these are even more popular. This is because
games are more interactive, and can be continuously improved
upon as bugs are fixed, and story and accessory improvements
are made.
Video games were based on
digital technology, and have therefore taken full benefit of
computer advancements; this is clearly depicted through
their graphics. Many recent games are so convincing
that their characters can sometimes be mistaken for real
actors!
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Special effects in the movie
industry are also improving because of movie directors who
are taking
advantage of the additional assets they have been provided.
Movie budgets have increased with the support for creating the next thrill-packed film.
Also, other forms of technology such as increased safety,
knowledge in transportation as well as a decrease in price,
allow directors to find optimum locations around the globe
(e.g. The Lord of the Rings in a remote location in New
Zealand). As the cost of individual special effects go
down, more money is available for research and development
thus creating even more opportunity for the next step in
special effects. |
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A new realm of special effects that
is currently being developed are 3-D movies. Already,
there have been a few less successful movies
released in 3-D; however, these films require particular
glasses, and therefore are not extremely popular with the main stream
public as of yet. The Adventures of Sharkboy and
Lavagirl was released this year and popular amongst
grade school children. This is an industry that has
much potential for popularity and growth.
This past October, Steven
Spielberg announced an upcoming technology that would allow
for movies to be viewed in 3-D on special screens, rather
than with glasses to create this same effect. We
should expect more in this area
of technology and research in the future.
It is clear that even today's
industry of special effects is constantly changing and
improving; each new release will only be the next step
in the creation of movies that continues to be more
convincing of reality.
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Fall 2005 - IDS 110
