Visual Effects Development in Early Days

Visual Effects Development in Early DaysBefore the comer of Cinema, there were some forms of visual entertainments in Europe. The rootage atomic number 53 was Chinese Shadow Puppetry. It was introduced in Europe in late 17 century from further East. This type of light ground is the one of the popular performances in shadow theatre. The second one was Panorama. It was started by a Scottish artist Robert Baker. Panorama is a simple illuminated view which tells the story from circular paintings. Another popular visual entertainment was the Camera Obsura. The inverted image of the outside world appears on the circumvent of a dark room through the small hole. This process was later adapted for the pinhole camera and magic lantern. Magic Lantern was like a directly projector. The light source inside the room was mappingd to project images through lens into the darken room. The stories were painted on large glasses. The illusions of Magic Lantern such as beheading and beatings were m uch more improved by making dissolve and using multiple layers. An optical toy called Zoetrope plays the animated sequences to be viewed through slits in a rotating drum. Rickitt, Richard 2006Figure 1 Chinese Shadow Theatre FiguresFigure 2 Illustration of the Camera Obscura PrincipleFigure 3 Illustration from Kircher, excrescence of DeathFigure 4 a modern replica of a Victorian zoetropeKinetographBy late 1890, Edison and his assistant Dickson developed a twirl called the Kinetograph. A single viewer needs to bend down to watch the moving images through the keyhole. That is why the nickname was given as What the Butler Saw. Kinetograph support canvass rapid sequential images and displays images using the loops of 35mm film. But Kinetograph cannot project the moving images on the screen as the viewers demanded. Rickitt, Richard 2006Figure 5 1895 Version of Kinetophone in useCinematographeLumiere Brothers developed a Cinematographe that is improved on Edisons Kinetograph. Cinematog raphe was an all in one device. It can be utilise as camera, film printer and projector. The device was twinkle than Kinetograph because the film needs to be hand cranked rather than relying on electric motor. Lumiere Brothers used Cinematographe to show the short clip in the basement of Grand Caf, in Paris. They charged one franc for a twelve strips. It was last for one minute. Since then, the world first cinema market had begun. Arrival at a station (1895) make by Lumieres Brothers shook the audiences. In that film, the viewers thought that train would burst through the screen as train was approaching the station. Pinteau, Pascal 2004 Rickitt, Richard 2006Figure 6 Auguste (1862 1954) and Louis Lumiere (1864 1948)Father of Special EffectsFigure 7 Georges Melies (1861 1938)A pioneer who disc everyplaceed many special cause and influenced the visual effects world bowl today was Georges Melies. He was a magician and a youngest son of a French shoemaker. He used to work in famil y shoes business until his receive retired. He then bought a theatre to make his dreams come true. He designed the innovative stage illusions and performed in his way of comic style. Magic lantern show was one of his great attractions. George Melies realized the benefits of Lumiere Brothers Cinematographe device that brings together the theatrical projection and technology. Therefore, George attempted to buy the Cinematographe device from father of Lumiere brothers. But he was refused to own the device as Lumiere Family wanted to ensure the exclusivity of film doing. Pinteau, Pascal 2004 Rickitt, Richard 2006 George did not give up easily. He went to London and purchased a device developed by Robert William capital of Minnesota to work together with Edisons Kinetograph. George then hired two engineers to build a new version of camera.The head start Special Effect TrickGeorge discovered his first camera trick by accident. When he was recording the traffic, the camera was jammed. A fter one minute later, he continued to record the traffic. When he joined the break, he suddenly saw the bus changed into a hearse and men changed into women. Since then, he realised the importance of effect by substitution called Stop run Trick. Stop Action Trick was already used in the Execution of Mary Queen of Scots (1893) produced by Edison before his discovery. But this one became the first trick of his entrance special effects discovery. Pinteau, Pascal 2004 Rickitt, Richard 2006 Georges produced many genres. Among them his fairy tales and fantasies films were more famous e.g. Cinderella. In Cinderella film, his stop action tricks attracted the audiences by turning pumpkin into horse drag out and rags into Cinderellas dress.Figure 8 a scene from Cinderella (1889)Figure 9 stop action trick used in Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895)The Worlds First Special Effects FacilityThe Black female horse was the Edisons world first film studio constructed on the train rotating turntable so that studio can be oriented to face the sun like sunflowers. Ezra, Elizabeth 2000 In 1896, Georges Melies also made a first special effect film called The Varnishing Lady in his first special effects glass studio in order to avoid the ruin of illusions by the weather. The studio was constructed by iron structure, glass wall and wooden floor. It was designed by Georges with trapdoors, winches, pulleys, mirrors and flying rigs. The studio was a most sophisticated one at that time. Pinteau, Pascal 2004 Rickitt, Richard 2006Figure 10 Edisons The Black Maria get hold of StudioFigure 11 Georges Melies glass studioGeorges Split Screen ProcessIndian Rubber Head (1902) made by Georges Melies was used a split screen process. In order to create the illusion of an expanding head, Georges zoomed in on his head and superimposed this onto the film. Some areas of films were masked off to specify the certain part of the picture to split the screen. VisualFx Hub 2017Figure 12 a scene f rom the man with the rubber headThe First Science Fiction FilmA trip to the moon was an earliest science fiction film made by Georges. The two minutes story is about a free radical of Victorian explorers visiting to the moon. In which film, Georges created the three dimensional depth illusion by painting. This is a very innovative film that covered a cope of Georges camera tricks such as superimpositions, double exposures, dissolves, stop-motion, matte paintings and miniatures. He even introduced the colour to the screen through hand painting and tinting. VisualFx Hub 2017Figure 13 the iconic image of the Man in the MoonGeorges last daysThe masterpieces created by Georges were self-explanatory and visually stunning to be enjoyed by all audiences from all over the world without subtitling. But Georges films had been pirated and distributed illegally in United States and other countries. In 1913, Georges abandoned the filming after his wife death. In 1914, George was bankrupted and sold his all properties including his masterpieces to creditor. He spent the rest of his life just by running the toy shop at the train station in Paris. Nevertheless, his visual styles and special effects will never be forgotten. Pinteau, Pascal 2004 Rickitt, Richard 2006Other contributors in early days of Visual EffectsThere were many other innovators as rise up who had been developing the techniques for visual entertainments at the same time with Georges Melies. Robert William Paul was a scientific instrument maker from London. Robert built his own camera and projection for his production after he was refused by Edison to duplicate the Kinetograph. Although Robert was not a film maker, he produced a number of special effects featured films. E.g. The Motorist (1906) was the one of his remarkable films which is equally visual stunning as Georges Melies Masterpiece. The film was decorated with all available special effects to depict the story of a duplicate driving the car on the rings of Saturn in the space. In 1910, Robert abandoned film production and destroyed all his films. Another pioneer called Georges Albert Smith was an side of meat photographer who built his own cameras and produced many trick films. Santa Claus (1898) was a notable film made by Georges A Smith. He created the earliest opening designation sequence in Santa Clause film. He used the techniques of multiple exposures, stop action tricks and image within image in this film with the help of Georges Melies. Rickitt, Richard 2006 American Movie Classic Company 2017