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Key words: computer-generated imagery (CGI), digital hook-up, digital intermediate (DI), grain management, practical effects, previsualization, postproduction, rotoscoping, special effects, visual effects, visual effects supervisor.
My work on this essay began with a series of questions about the impact of digital technology on the creation of contemporary visual effects.Amongthose questionswashow digital imaging could be combined with analog imaging in such a way that the different "looks" of each could be made homogeneous. The answer came in the role of the Visual Effects (VFX) supervisor, the filmmaker in charge of supervising visual effects, whose job it wastomakesurethis wasaccomplished. A VFX Supervisor can work side-by-side with the director at the highest level to help design the look of the movie, or at the lower level of an effects company delivering finished shots. What follows is anattempt todescribethe rolethat theVFXsupervisor plays in the complex process of creating convincing contemporary visual effects, with emphasis on how the increasing reliance on digital technology is helping to shape this role on films of widely differingscope and scale.1
The first Academy Award for "Best Visual Effects" was given to Star Wars in 1977. Prior to this, films were recognized for their effects, but the visual aspect was either lumped in with sound effects for the combined "Special Effects" awards (1939-1962), designated through "Special Achievement" awards, or acknowledged under the slowly evolving banner of "Special Visual Effects" (1964-1971). The shifting Academy Award categories reflect the gradual and somewhat confusing change in FX terminology over the history of film production, but the effort to recognize this important aspect of the film has increased dramatically in the digital age.
Today, a cursory read of both amateur blogs and Pulitzer-winning critics' reviews will yield a number of references to how good (or how bad) the special effects are in a particular Hollywood blockbuster. When they are bad, they are often held up as a symbol of what is wrong with Hollywood movies today: emphasis on either dirt-cheap or shamefully expensive "eye candy", cynically larded into thin plots to generate trailer moments. But when the effects are good, when they are really good, they can stretch the limits of what we believe is possible. Through a combination of visual artistry and technical innovation, the best effects can...