Visual effects in cinema: 20 years of a magical and wonderful journey

אפקטים ויזואליים

Hey there, movie and TV buffs! How about discovering the secrets behind the magic we see on screen? Yes, we are talking about visual effects - the amazing tricks that make the impossible possible!

Imagine a world without visual effects. No aliens, no flying superheroes, and no giant dragons. Boring, right? Lucky for us, we have digital wizards creating all these crazy things!

From the moment the dinosaurs of "Jurassic Park" Move around the screen to the space battles of "star wars", visual effects have completely changed what we can see in movies and television.

So let's go on a cool journey! We will find out how these magics are done, who are the brilliant minds behind them, and where all this madness is going in the future. Ready to open your eyes and see the world in a whole new way? Come on, let's get started!

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What are visual effects (VFX)?

Visual effects (VFX) are technological tricks that are put into films, series and games to create or improve visual elements that cannot always be photographed in reality.
This includes creating fantastic scenes, objects, characters or environments using advanced tools, such as computer graphics (CGI), Motion Capture, Green Screen, and even simulations of physics - such as lighting, fire, water and smoke.

Simply put, visual effects are how I create cinema and television Taking reality and upgrading it, or creating worlds and characters that don't really exist. They use digital techniques or practical stunts to transform each scene into something we haven't seen before. What does this actually mean? You can take a filmed scene and insert digital effects into it such as explosions or dinosaurs, all at the push of a button (almost!).

Humble Beginnings: Practical Effects

Who would have believed that the first movies were actually little magic labs? Before computers ruled the screen, creators were real magicians. With a little imagination, a lot of creativity and talent, they managed to create whole worlds on the screen.

In the past, to create a flying ship or entire cities, they would build it from small toys and photograph it at special angles, as if building their own world in a box. It sounds crazy, but that's exactly what they did! These effects are called miniatures.

But that's not all. And what about the crazy backgrounds in the old movies? Imagine an artist standing in front of a huge glass wall, painting entire worlds! These pictures would be placed in front of the camera, and the audience thought it was a completely real photo! Yes, yes, the amazing backgrounds in the old movies were not the result of digital magic, but of paint brushes and wild imaginations. This technique is called Matte Painting.

And if that's not enough, there were also those who preferred the hard way. Explosions, falls from heights, crazy chases - everything was completely real! Brave actors, sophisticated sets and special machines made every fantasy a reality on the screen.

One of the most famous films in this field was Georges Méliès' Voyage to the Moon from 1902. This film had all kinds of crazy effects that made the audience scream with delight. It was like watching a sci-fi movie today, but in the olden version.

So the next time you see a movie with crazy effects, remember that it all started with the creative ideas of people who used whatever they had at hand to create new worlds. They were like the first animators, only they did it with a real camera!

Digital breakthroughs

Let's talk for a moment about a crazy revolution that happened in the world of cinema and visual effects!

So, in the 70's and 80's a new and insanely cool thing started to enter the picture (literally) - digital visual effects! Imagine the directors and producers of that time, sitting in front of these huge computers and suddenly realizing - "Wait, you can create crazy visual effects with this!"

Then came the big boom - "Star Wars" in 1977. It was like launching a rocket into the world of cinema! They took physical effects (like models and makeup) and combined them with rudimentary computer animations. And the result? Wow! Suddenly we saw on the screen visual effects that no one dreamed could be done. It was like someone took everything we thought we knew about visual effects and threw it in the trash.

But wait, that's not all! In 1982 came a movie called "Tron" that simply raised the bar of visual effects even higher. they usedCGI (Computer Generated Imagery) in such a massive way, it was like entering a real virtual world. Think about it - digital figures! A completely computerized environment! It was like jumping into a video game, only instead of playing, we saw it on the big screen!

What's really cool about this whole visual effects story is that suddenly the directors and producers got a whole new toolbox. They could take the real world, add some digital magic to it, and boom - created cinematic experiences that simply weren't possible before. It's like giving a child completely new colors to paint with - suddenly, the sky is not the limit, but only the beginning!

So the next time you're watching a movie with crazy effects, take a moment to think about these guys from the 70s and 80s who started the whole thing. They may not have known it at the time, but they opened the door to a whole new world of cinema. And who knows? Maybe in a few years we will look back at today's movies and say "Wow, how did they do that with that primitive technology?". Because that's how it is in the cinema - there's always another surprise around the corner!

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The CGI revolution

Who would have believed that the 90s would completely change the world of cinema? That's exactly what happened when CGI came into play!

So what exactly is CGI? It's a cool abbreviation for Computer Generated Imagery, or in simple Hebrew - computer visual effects. And once this technology came to the movies, it was like a huge explosion of creativity!

Imagine you are a director and suddenly you are given a magic brush that can paint anything you imagine on the screen. Crazy, isn't it? This is exactly what happened in 90's Hollywood!

Let's take two huge movies that simply changed everything we thought about cinema: "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" from 1991 and "Jurassic Park" from 1993. These weren't just any movies, these were like a journey into a new world of visual effects!

Remember the T-1000 fromTerminator 2"? That scary robot that's made of liquid metal and can change shape? Wow! When we saw it on screen, it was like our minds exploded! Suddenly, the visual effects looked so real it was hard to believe it wasn't really happening in front of our eyes!

Then, a year later, came "Jurassic Park". Okay, let's think about it for a moment - dinosaurs! But not just any dinosaurs, but ones that look so real that we almost felt they were coming off the screen! How did they do it? They took physical effects (like robots and models) and combined them with CGI. The result was simply amazing!

But wait, it's not just a matter of "wow, it looks really real". These visual effects opened a huge door to creativity. Suddenly, directors could tell stories that previously existed only in their imaginations. It's like we gave them a magic brush that can paint anything!

From this moment, it can be said that the "golden age" of visual effects in cinema began. CGI became the new star of the world of effects, and from then until today, every time we go to the movies, we can expect new and spectacular surprises.

So the next time you see a movie with crazy visual effects, think back to those days in the 90s, when it was just getting started. Who knows what surprises await us in the future of the world of cinema?

VFX creation process

Have you ever wondered how to turn a dream into a cinematic reality? This is exactly what happens in the process of creating visual effects! From the moment an idea is born to the moment we sit in the movie theater with our mouths open, there are fascinating stages worth getting to know. Let's dive into this magical world and find out how to create the wonder we see on the screen!

VFX creation process - early planning: Pre-Production

Just before the magic happens on the big screen, there is a secret and fascinating step that most people don't know about. This is called Pre-Production, or in simple Hebrew - the preliminary planning. And it's exactly as it sounds - the place where all the crazy ideas start to take shape!

Imagine a room full of creative people - directors, producers and visual effects artists - sitting together and starting to weave their wildest dreams. They draw, scribble and imagine how all these amazing effects will look in the end on the screen. It's like playing "What do you see in the cloud?", only instead of clouds, they see dinosaurs, spaceships and everything you can imagine!

They create something called a storyboard - which is basically like a giant comic book of the movie. Each little drawing in this storyboard shows exactly where the special effects will be. It helps everyone understand what exactly needs to be done - what visual effects are going to be, what tools will be used, and how all this magic will happen.

It is important to remember that this step is like building the foundations of an amazing house. If you don't do it well, the whole house may fall! The same goes for the effects - if they are not planned correctly, they may feel strange in the film, as if they don't really belong there. And that is exactly what everyone wants to avoid.

So the next time you see a movie with crazy visual effects, think about these guys who sat in the room, drawing, dreaming and planning every little detail. They are actually the real magicians behind all the magic we see on the screen!

VFX creation process - Production: Production

Who would have believed that during the production phase, the great magic of movies begins to happen right in front of our eyes? This is the moment when all the crazy ideas of the VFX team become reality on the screen!

Imagine being able to wear a special suit that turns you into any character you want - that's exactly what happens with Motion Capture! The actors wear these suits, and suddenly their every little movement becomes an amazing CGI character on the screen. It's like they're playing dress-up, only this costume can transform them into anything - from a giant dinosaur to a flying superhero!

And if you thought that was cool, wait until you hear about the green screen! It's like playing with a giant drawing board, only instead of drawing, you can replace the background with anything you imagine. Want to be on the moon? No problem! Inside a volcano? Have fun! This allows the creators to take the players anywhere in the world (or beyond) without leaving the studio.

And when all these pieces come together - wow! It's like putting together a giant puzzle, only each piece is part of a magical world. The actors, the digital backgrounds, the special effects - everything mixes together to create the crazy scenes we see in the final film.

So the next time you watch a movie with amazing effects, think about all the magic that happens behind the scenes. It's like building a whole world inside the giant magic box called cinema!

So the next time you watch a movie with amazing effects, think about all the magic that happens behind the scenes. It's like building a whole world inside the giant magic box called cinema!

VFX creation process - Post-Production: Post-Production

You know that moment when you tidy up the room, and suddenly everything looks perfect? This is exactly how the post-production stage in the world of cinema feels! This is the time when all the small parts come together to create the big and spectacular picture that we see at the end on the screen.

Imagine you have a huge pile of puzzles, and each one is a small part of the movie - there are the shots of the actors, the digital backgrounds, and all the crazy visual effects. Now it's time to put all these pieces together!

For this, the artists use advanced VFX software with cool names like NukeHoudini and-After Effects. These are like digital magic machines that help put all the pieces together seamlessly. They call it "compositing", which is basically like sticking all the pieces of the puzzle in the right place.

But it doesn't end here! After all the parts are in place, comes the most fun part - adding the last magic that makes everything real. It's like taking a black and white painting and adding colors, lights and shadows to it. The artists add special lighting, play with the colors, and even add digital physics - which means they make things move and behave like in the real world.

At the end of this process, all the visual effects blend so well with the rest of the movie, you don't feel like they're not real at all! This is the moment when the director's dream becomes a spectacular reality on the big screen.

So the next time you see a movie with amazing effects, think about all the hard work and creativity that went into it. It's like magic, only instead of a magic wand, we have computers and talented artists!

Popular tools and software

Let's dive into the magical world of visual effects in cinema! As in a true magician's toolbox, there are lots of cool software that create the magic on the screen. But there are four programs that are like the most powerful wands in this world - they are simply a must for anyone who wants to create crazy effects. Let's get to know them and find out how they turn imagination into cinematic reality!

After Effects

You know that feeling when you get a new toy and just can't stop playing with it? This is exactly how the visual effects people feel when they work with Adobe After Effects!

Imagine a software that is like a magical paint box, only that instead of ordinary brushes, you have tools that can turn any imagination into reality on the screen. That's exactly what After Effects does! It is the tool of choice for anyone who wants to create cool animations and amazing visual effects, whether it's for a huge movie in the cinema or a small commercial on TV.

With After Effects, the VFX guys can do anything they can imagine - from text that dances on the screen to fire and smoke that look so real you'll want to turn off the screen! And the coolest? They can take an ordinary video and turn it into something that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.

But why is everyone so excited about After Effects? First of all, it is really user friendly. It's like playing a computer game - even a beginner can create amazing things. Besides, it has a lot of cool plugins that you can add, like notebook stickers, only much more sophisticated. And most importantly - it works great with all other Adobe software, so it's like all your toys suddenly come together to create something huge and amazing!

In short, if you want to turn your wildest ideas into reality on the screen, After Effects is your best friend. She is like a digital magic wand that can turn any dream into a spectacular visual effect!

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Unreal Engine

Remember when you were little and you imagined whole worlds in your head? Now imagine that there is a magic machine that can turn all these imaginings into reality right before your eyes. That's exactly what that isUnreal Engine does!

Unreal Enge, who at first was just the coolest kid in the computer game class, decided one day that he wanted to be a movie star as well. And he is not just an actor - he has become one of the most powerful tools in creating visual effects in real time in the world of cinema and television!

What does "real time" mean? Think of it this way - instead of drawing a picture, erasing, drawing again, and waiting a long time until you see the final result, Unreal allows you to see the perfect drawing as soon as you draw it. It's like magic!

With Unreal, you can create entire worlds in 3D, with lighting that looks so real you'll want to put on sunglasses. the shadows? So accurate you'd think someone was actually standing there.

But the coolest part? Unreal saves a lot of time and money in productions. Take for example the series "The Mandalorian" - instead of shooting in front of boring green walls and imagining how everything will look, they use Unreal to project their entire amazing world right on set! It's as if the players are really in space - only without the need to actually fly there.

This means that the entire team - from the actors to the director - sees the amazing world they are creating at the exact moment they shoot. No need to wait weeks to see how everything will look in the end. It's like playing a computer game, only you create a real movie!

Thanks to this magic of Unreal, you can create crazy worlds, full of amazing visual effects, in a short time and without emptying your wallet. It's like stepping into a time machine that takes us straight into the future of filmmaking!

Houdini

Imagine having a magical toy box that can create anything you can imagine - dancing fire, curling smoke, flowing water, and even buildings that collapse like a giant house of cards. This is exactly the feeling you get when usingHoudini!

Houdini is like the most sophisticated magician in the world of visual effects. When you need to create something that is really, really complicated and impressive, this is the tool that everyone runs to. It's like you have a digital magic wand that can turn any imagination into reality on the screen!

What's really cool about Houdini is how it works. Think of it like a Lego game, but instead of cubes, you have "nodes" (or in professional language: Nodes). Each such junction is like a little piece of magic, and you can connect them in any way you want. This means that you can control every smallest detail in your effects, as if you were an artist drawing every hair in a painting.

But the craziest part? Houdini knows how to simulate the real world so accurately, that sometimes it's hard to believe it's not really happening. Want to see how smoke disperses in the wind? Or how water spills from a glass? Houdini will do it so perfectly, you'll want to touch the screen to see if it's real!

And when you want to be really strict and control every little detail in your visual effects, Houdini is like a best friend who understands exactly what you want. It's like being a painter with a brush that can paint anything you imagine, exactly as you saw it in your head.

So the next time you see a crazy effect in a movie – like a volcano erupting or a giant wave washing over a city – there's a good chance that behind the scenes, Houdini was hard at work bringing that magic to the screen!

Nuke

You know that moment in the movie when you can't figure out how they did it? How did they manage to make the dinosaur look so real next to the players? This is exactly where Nuke comes in!

Nuke She is like the chief magician of the visual effects world. She takes all the pieces that make up the film - the actual footage, the crazy digital effects, and everything in between - and puts them together so seamlessly, you won't believe what you're seeing! It's as if someone took the real world and mixed it with the imaginary world, and you can't see where one begins and the other ends.

Think of Nuke as a giant paint palette, but instead of regular brushes, you have magical tools that can change anything - from the light falling on the characters to the colors of the sky. The VFX people can play with every little detail, as if they were painters adding every leaf on a tree in a huge painting.

And the coolest? Nuke Knows how to take all these things - light, color, movement - and mix them together in such a perfect way, that you will feel as if you are right inside the scene. It's like taking your wildest dreams and turning them into something you can see and experience on the big screen.

In short, if you see a movie with visual effects that make your mouth drop open in admiration - there's a good chance that Nuke was there behind the scenes, working hard to make the impossible possible. This is the software that every big production needs to bring this magic to the screen!

The most influential visual effects in cinema

Now that we've talked about the cool technologies, let's dive into the magical world of cinema for a moment! There are some movies that just changed everything we thought about visual effects. They didn't just amaze us - they literally opened a door to a new world of possibilities. Let's see how some special movies turned the wildest dreams into reality on the big screen!

Avatar: the 3D revolution in visual effects

Do you remember the first time you saw "Avatar” in 2009? It was like someone took everything we thought we knew about movies and threw it out the window! James Cameron, this crazy director, was not satisfied with just another movie - he decided to reinvent the entire world of visual effects!

Imagine being able to wear a special suit that turns you into a cartoon character, but one that looks really real. This is exactly what Cameron did with the technology called Motion Capture. He took the actors, dressed them in funny suits with little dots on them, and suddenly - boom! – They became these amazing blue characters in the magical world of Pandora.

But this wasn't just another cool trick. "Avatar" changed the whole way we think about 3D movies. Suddenly, it wasn't just another funny glasses you put on your nose - it was like you were actually stepping into the movie! Every little movement, every facial expression, everything looked so real you'd swear you were right there, on this imaginary planet.

Cameron took this technology and used it not only to create crazy effects, but to tell a story in a way no one had done before. It was like he took all of our wildest dreams and made them a reality on the big screen.

After "Avatar", all the cards in Hollywood were reshuffled. Suddenly, every director wanted to use this technology, every film wanted to be the next "Avatar". It was like a small revolution in the world of cinema, which made us rethink what can be done with a camera, a computer, and lots and lots of imagination.

So the next time you see a movie with crazy visual effects, remember - it all started with a bunch of tall blue people on an imaginary planet. Who would have believed, huh?

Star Wars: A Visual Effects Revolution in Cinema

Imagine living in a world where no one has seen a spaceship in a movie. Then, boom! coming"star wars” in 1977 and just blew everyone's mind! It wasn't just another movie - it was like a time machine that took us all into the future of visual effects!

George Lucas, this mad genius, decided he wasn't satisfied with what he already had. He wanted to reinvent the wheel, only instead of a wheel, he invented spaceships and entire planets! How did he do it? He took small toys (called miniatures), mixed them with the magic of computers, and whoops - suddenly we have the Millennium Falcon flying in space!

But that's not all! Remember those green screens that everyone uses today? "Star Wars" was among the first to use them in such an extensive way. It was like Lucas said, "Hey, let's paint the whole studio green and replace it with awesome planets!" And it worked like crazy!

And what about the lasers and explosions? Wow! Suddenly we saw things on the screen that we thought could only be seen in our wildest dreams. Lucas took the camera and said to her: "Hey, let's do things that no one has done before!" And that's how action scenes were born that made everyone sit with their mouths open in front of the screen.

"Star Wars" not only introduced us to new visual effects - it really shook the entire film industry! It was like someone took all the rules of how to make movies, threw them in the trash, and said, "Let's start over!" And that's what happened - every film that came after had to try harder, be more impressive, more amazing.

You can say that "Star Wars" did to the cinema what the smart phone did to phones - changed the whole game! From then until today, when we see a movie with crazy effects, we can say thank you to this crazy group that decided to take us on a journey in a galaxy far, far away...

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The Matrix: combining CGI and visual effects

"The Matrix" landed on the screens in 1999 like a bomb of creativity, and blew up everything we thought we knew about cinema! The Chowsky sisters, Lana and Lily, didn't just make a movie - they reinvented the cinematic language!

They took the magic of computers (CGI) and mixed it with real stunts, like taking chocolate and ice cream and making something that tastes better than both of them together! And the result? Wow, just wow!

Remember that scene where Neo ducks backwards and dodges bullets? It was called “Bullet Time”, and it was as if someone had taken time itself and stretched it like chewing gum! Suddenly we saw something we thought could only be seen in dreams - everything moved slowly, and the camera moved around the action as if it were a ballet dancer. It was so crazy that people walked out of the theater and tried to try it themselves (spoiler: it didn't work so well in real life).

But wait, it doesn't end with Bullet Time! "The Matrix" took the fight scenes and turned them into something that looked like it came out of a comic book that jumped to life. They mixed visual effects with real kung fu so seamlessly that we didn't know where reality ended and imagination began. It was like watching a dance, only instead of music, there were punches and kicks!

"The Matrix" didn't just show us cool effects - it made us rethink what can even be done in a movie. It was as if the sisters and Chowsky said: "Hey, let's show you what the world could look like if we play with reality a little." And they did it so brilliantly that to this day we are trying to figure out if we live in the Matrix or not!

So the next time you see a movie with crazy visual effects, remember - it all started with a guy in a long black coat who decided that the laws of physics were just a recommendation. Thank you, The Matrix, for showing us that the only limit is our imagination!

The future of visual effects

What do you say, ready for a journey into the future? Because the world of visual effects is going to surprise us big time! Imagine technologies that turn imagination into reality, and whole worlds that are created from scratch. Let's find out together what tomorrow's cinema and television will look like - it's going to be a crazy journey!

AI and VFX

Have you ever dreamed of a magic assistant who could turn your wildest imaginations into reality on the screen? So here's cool news! Artificial intelligence (AI) is exactly that magical assistant, and it is starting to completely change the world of visual effects!

Imagine that you can whisper to the computer "Hey, make me a face that looks like a real person's" and voila! it happens Or do you want a ball to roll exactly like in reality? Totally fine! The AI knows exactly how to do that. It's like giving a computer the brain of an artist and a scientist together!

But it's still nothing! Think about it - you are shooting a scene, and suddenly you want to change the lighting. Instead of carrying huge flashlights and moving everything, simply tell the AI "Hey, make a sunset light here" and boom! You have a perfect sunset. Or do you want to add a dragon to the scene? AI will be able to do it so well, you'll think there really was a dragon there when you took the picture!

It's like giving a child a new toy - suddenly, all the crazy ideas you've always wanted to try become possible. This AI not only helps to do things faster, it opens the door to a whole world of new possibilities in visual effects.

Think about it - maybe in the future, instead of writing a script, we'll just tell the AI about the movie we want to see, and it will create it for us! It sounds crazy, right? But hey, everything we see in movies today used to sound like an impossible thing.

So the next time you watch a movie with crazy effects, remember - there might be a smart computer behind the scenes working hard to bring that magic to the screen. The future of visual effects is here, and it looks more amazing than we ever dreamed!

Unreal Engine and real-time visual effects

Okay guys, remember when we talked about Unreal Engine? So let's see how this crazy thing makes the world of movies and TV even cooler!

Think of it this way: Once upon a time, when shooting a movie, the actors had to imagine they were in space or a magical world. But now? They just see it all in front of their eyes! It's like someone took all their imaginations and turned them into reality right on set!

Remember "The Mandalorian"? All the crazy things you saw there - the spaceships, the strange planets, the aliens - it was all there, on the set, while they were filming! But wait, that's not all! Also in movies like "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" and series like "Westworld" and even "The Crown" (yes, yes, also in historical series!) Unreal Engine was used to create amazing worlds.

And it not only looks cool - it also saves a lot of time and money. Instead of spending months on editing after shooting, everything happens right on set. It's like playing a giant computer game, only you can change and shape the world in real time!

The coolest? This gives creators a lot of freedom to go crazy with their ideas. They can try new things, change things easily, and see how everything looks right at that moment. It's like being a painter with a magic brush that can create anything you imagine!

So the next time you see a movie or series with crazy visual effects, remember - all this magic could be created right there, on the set, in real time. It's like bringing the future of cinema right into the present. Crazy, huh?

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Visual effects in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)

Did you think you've already seen everything in the world of visual effects? Think again! The next thing to hit the cards is Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). It's like taking all the magic we've seen so far and taking it to a whole new level!

With AR, our real world becomes a huge stage of visual effects. Imagine you are walking down the street and suddenly you see magical butterflies flying around you, or the surrounding buildings begin to change shape right before your eyes. It's like living in a movie, but in the real world!

And VR? It's like jumping right into the world of your imagination. Suddenly you can be anywhere and do anything. Want to climb Mount Everest? Or maybe explore an ancient city that has disappeared? With VR, you don't just see it - you're right there!

And the coolest? In these worlds, you are not just a spectator - you are part of the story! You can touch, move, and change things. It's like being the hero of your own movie!

So the next time you think about the future of visual effects, remember - it's not just about what we see, but about what we experience. This future is already starting now, and who knows? Maybe soon each of us will be able to create whole worlds with just a little imagination and advanced technology. Exciting, isn't it?

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Our Enrile Engin course He is like a magic key that opens a door to a world of creation. Remember the crazy visual effects we saw? Now it's your turn to create them!

What awaits you in the course?

• Learn to build whole worlds from your imagination!
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So what do you say? Ready to turn viewers into creators? Join us for a game development course in Enril Engine And let's turn your imagination into an amazing digital reality. The world is waiting to see what you have to offer!

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