| Greatest Visual and Special Effects and Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) Part 5 |
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Cel animation, scale modeling, claymation, digital compositing, animatronics, use of prosthetic makeup, morphing, and modern computer-generated or computer graphics imagery (CGI) are just some of the more modern techniques that are widely used for creating incredible special or visual effects. (See this site's film terms glossary for definitions and examples, the History of Film by Decade, and an extensive timeline of other Milestones and Turning Points in Film History.) |
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Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) - Part 5 (chronological) Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 |
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Film Title and Description of Visual-Special
Effects |
Example |
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| Pink Floyd the Wall (1982) Gerard Scarfe's animation was made for both the multimedia concert and the Alan Parker film - it was one of the first truly adult animated work in terms of maturity - sexually and politically. (The film also featured one of the earliest commercial uses of time-lapse photography, and featured disturbing imagery of schoolchildren turning into conforming, faceless zombies on an assembly line and stepping into a meat-grinder.) |
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Another special effect was the scene of the brain-munching earwigs, in which Khan (Ricardo Montalban) put parasitic, insanity-causing Ceti eels into the ears of Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Terrell (Paul Winfield). Its release barely beat Tron (1982) to take the unofficial honor of being the first film to use computer-generated images (CGI) to any extent. (Note: this scene would be re-used for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).) |
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Tron (1982) Its most innovative sequence extensively employed 3-D
CGI in the famed 'light cycle' sequence, using the artwork and vision
of legendary artists Syd Mead and Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, and visual effects
done with a combined effort by Triple I, MAGI/Synthavision, Robert Abel
& Associates, and Digital Effects. It was refused an Academy Awards nomination because the voters felt the film "cheated" by using computer animation; in reality, the process was an extremely arduous one for animators. The film also featured a soundtrack by Wendy (nee Walter) Carlos that melded synthesized music with the London Philharmonic's orchestral music. |
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| Koyaanisqatsi (1983) An experimental, art-house film, a feature-length documentary with innovative use of time-lapse, slow-motion (and hyper-speed), and double-exposed (and super-imposed) photography. |
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Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), and re-releases
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1983 with Shaw (l.) ![]() 2004 with Christensen (l.) |
| Superman III (1983) The entire animated "Video Game" sequence in this film, a 'Space Invaders' style missile defense system vs. Superman battle, was created, one frame at a time, by video game company Atari, Inc. in cooperation with Warner Brothers. It took 3 1/2 months and cost $125,000 dollars to create. They had planned to base a video game on the sequence, but it never happened. They also created the graphics for the "Starfighter" arcade game for The Last Starfighter (1984), but an intended arcade game was never released. |
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Zelig (1983) [These same effects would be replicated 10 years later in Forrest Gump (1994).] |
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The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984) This was the first CGI animation with motion blur effects, in an all CGI-animated short, from Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Project (later Pixar). |
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The Last Starfighter (1984) Digital-graphic pioneers John Whitney, Jr., and Gary Demos, who contributed to the CG work in the film (and for Tron (1982)), received the Scientific and Technical Academy Award in 1984 “for the practical simulation of motion-picture photography by means of computer-generated images." |
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Lensman (1984, Jp.) (aka SF Shinseiki Lensman) This was the first anime film to use CGI - along with its traditional animation. |
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2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) The impressive end sequence used CGI to create thousands of monoliths. |
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| The Black Cauldron (1985) Disney's PG-rated film was the first animated feature film to contain a 3-D element, and the first Disney animated feature to use computer technology. The film induced Disney animator Tim Burton to turn to live action films, but he would later return with the use of innovative stop-motion animation for The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). |
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Cocoon (1985)
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Dire Straits - Money for Nothing (1985) The first computer-generated music video! |
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| We Are Born of Stars (1985) This was the first Anaglyph single projector 3D film created for IMAX/IMAX Dome projection. Using computer graphics, the film traced the development of life from the formation of atomic nuclei in stars to the molecular structure of water and DNA, zooming the audience through the five-billion-year evolution of our solar system. |
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Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) This film was also the first to composite computer-generated animation with a live-action background. Somehow, along with Return to Oz (1985), it lost the Best Visual Effects Oscar to Cocoon (1985). |
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