Making movie magic
Special effects are essential to today’s film industry, as studios compete to dazzle audiences with increasingly imaginative stories that can only be pulled off with a bit of digital trickery. These dazzling displays are reliant on teams of talented people who not only know their way around a computer, but are constantly looking for new ways of enthralling us, day in, day out. And how do they achieve the seemingly impossible? By studying maths and science, for starters.
Why work in the special effects business?
Once upon a time, special effects consisted of Blue Peter-style papier-máché models, and simple, stop-motion photography. Nowadays we have CGI (Computer Generated Images) and a whole array of other clever techniques that combine to make extraordinary events happen right before your eyes. The recent breakthroughs in special effects technology means that there is literally no limit to what the film studios can now achieve: from alien invasions to bullet-proof super heroes, cartoon animations to explosive car chases, anything can be achieved with the help of the technicians working behind the scenes. Producing a film’s CGI not only gives you the chance to use your skills to entertain millions of people across the world, but also provides you the opportunity to be part of an exciting team, doing what you’ve always wanted to do: letting your imagination run wild.
What can I do?
Because of the ever more demanding effects required to bring stories to the cinema screen, there are literally hundreds of different specialist jobs out there (if you don’t believe us, try sitting through the credits at the end of the latest Harry Potter film – it might take you a while!) Before a film starts being made, the production team looks at the script and works out which scenes require a dash of digital magic, and which ones can be done using more conventional methods. If it’s a horror film, for instance, you might find that bringing the undead to life merely requires a few prosthetic limbs, some realistic make-up, and a lot of dyed corn syrup to substitute for the blood! Destroying the planet with an alien laser beam, on the other hand, requires a lot more effort, and this is where the computers come in. CGI artists and animators rely on physics and maths to superimpose seemingly ‘natural’ effects - like giant tidal waves and falling buildings - onto empty studio stages, where the Hollywood stars have to pretend they’re running for their lives. But it’s not just the images that require special effects – sound can be just as important. Take Jurassic Park, for instance - director Steven Spielberg asked the effects industry to create some monsters that would scare audiences silly. The only problem was no one knew what a T-Rex should sound like, but in the end, the film’s sound engineers found inspiration in the unlikeliest of places, when the growl of a cuddly koala bear in a San Francisco zoo became the basis for the iconic yodel of history’s fiercest predator.
Animation is just as reliant on an understanding of science and maths. While being able to sketch a cartoon mouse might have landed you a job at Disney 10 years ago, now you’ll need to get to grips with some pretty amazing software to get ahead. Films now use clever techniques like ‘motion capture’ - where living, breathing people are videoed wearing clothes fitted with thousands of tiny electronic sensors, before an intelligent computer programme turns their movements into a simple animated outline. A rendering artist then adds some realistic shadows and colours, and hey presto, your very own animated super-being! Sound like something you could do? Then what are you waiting for?
