Running Head: TRENDS IN FILMMAKING: MONSTERS AND DREAMS

Transcription

1 Running Head: TRENDS IN FILMMAKING: MONSTERS AND DREAMS Trends in Filmmaking: Monsters and Dreams. History in the Making Pedro A. González, Jr. Saint Thomas University January 27, 2014

2 TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY: THE PRESENTE OF THE FUTURE? 2 Abstract Film story starts in the 1890s with the invention of the first film cameras and the establishment of production companies and cinemas. The beginnings, born on the theater show with a static camera without movement or scenario design. The film was mute and was not until 1927, that the silence disappears with a new technology that allowed the full completion of the artwork. The cameras begin to strike, sets and plots that are more complex appear, and optical effects increase the illusion, beyond tricks and facilities, cartoons, computer animation in the mid 1990 has represented a step forward and pave the way to the actual digital cinema technology. The last half of the twentieth century marked the revolution with the development of the necessary software. We have virtual cinematography: the new frontier. Keywords: Virtual, Cinematography. Film History, Technologies, Technological Advances. 141 Words

3 TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY: THE PRESENTE OF THE FUTURE? 3 Introduction The use of computer animation in the film industry, or rather digital animation began in the 1960 s with a ten minute film by Csuri Charles and James Shaffer, who won an award at the Fourth International Experimental Film Competition, Brussels, Belgium, The computer generated over 30,000 images comprising 25 motion sequences of a Hummingbird, the title of the film (Dirk, 2014). Follow by Kitty in Russia; Metadata in 1973, an experimental 2D animated short by Peter Foldes; A Computer Animated Hand and Westworld 1973, the first use of 2D in a significant entertainment feature film. The Oscar winning short animated film Great will follow in 1975 and next year Futureworld in 1976 with the first use of 3D computer graphics (Carlson, 2003). Have to confess the admiration for Star Wars and Episode IV: A New Hope, not the first of its kind to use computer-generated imaginary, but with an animated 3D wire-frame graphic was the most notable use of it in popular cinema. Human talent developed then from there other artistic and animated successes like Superman, The Black Hole and Alien (Vreeswijk, 1999). Other great films and shorts follow in the 1980 s and 90 s, but we want to concentrate on the best ones from that era in the use of computer generated imagery or Computer Generated Images or CGI, (Masson, 1999: ). Like Looker in 1981 with the first CGI human character; the famous Tron, recently with a remake; Rock and Rule, the first animated to use computer graphics (Schellenberg, 2012:3). The question now is can we imagine clones substituting real actors? (Park, 1999:24) When the Oscars started recognizing computers Every year, there is a ceremony a couple of weeks prior to the televised Oscars that recognize the technical achievements, discoveries, and innovations in film, since the explosion of

4 TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY: THE PRESENTE OF THE FUTURE? 4 CGI in the last decade (Avis, 2012). That s when the Academy s Scientific and Technical Awards honor those whose discoveries and innovations have contributed in significant, outstanding and lasting ways to motion pictures, being worth mentioning that Sci-Tech Awards presentation has become a highlight of the Academy Awards season (Scitech, 2013). Here are a few examples of what the Scientific and Technical Awards Oscars recognize, only in 2012: The invention and integration of micro-voxels in the Mantra software; the development of a unique and efficient system for the reduction of noise and other artifacts, thereby providing high-quality images required by the filmmaking process and the design and engineering of the Phantom family of high-speed cameras for motion picture production (Melidonian, 2012). Sounds Nerdy s because it is! In 2013 the movie of director Ang Lee's Life of Pi a 3D live action computeranimated adventure drama (French, 2012), nominated for 11 Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture, obtain two Oscars at the 85 th annual Academy Awards, as Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. The irony is not lost on any of us up here in that [ Life of Pi is] a film that asks the audience to accept something as real that is not real, said visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer, of embattled effects house Rhythm and Hues Studios. That's the magic of visual effects. Claudio Miranda's win in the cinematography category, meanwhile, marks the third 3D digital production in four years to win the award (Tapley, 2013) Another director, Hironobu Sakaguchy, who started as a programmer and created the

5 TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY: THE PRESENTE OF THE FUTURE? 5 feature film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within in 2001 (Tribute, 2014), mentioned that: we ve created characters that no longer feel blatantly computer generated. If we press on, we can achieve the reality level of a live-action film it s something people have never seen before (Taylor, 2000: 56). Visual effects versus reality Nothing bad about the old way, but visual effects could make a difference in how we appreciate the movies. Revolution in computer graphics started with films like: Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Independence Day, Tron, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Toy Story, Titanic, Star Wars Prequels, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Avatar (Slick, n.d.). The film Looker (1981) was the first with shaded 3D computer graphics, but Tron (1982) was the real first CGI and despite of the box office failure, that some considered slowed the adoption of digital effects now most films include computer graphics (Robertson, 2002). We cannot forget that director James Cameron used Computer Generated Images in his live action film The Abyss (1989) and ten years later, every scene in George Lucas The Phantom Menace included CGI (Rickitt, 2007:240). The time for the dawn of digital technology in filmmaking was the second half of the 20th century. The Star Wars movie was the first of its kind to use computer-generated special effects and Disney's Tron in 1982 to use high-resolution imagery (Finch, 2013:49), but the one that holds the record for the first completely computer-generated character in a full-length feature was the Stained Glass Knight scene in Young Sherlock Holmes in 1985 (How-to Geek, 2014). Later, the character of Gollum, in the Lord of the Rings films was created with a

6 TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY: THE PRESENTE OF THE FUTURE? 6 combination of motion capture, CG techniques and animation (Education, 2013). Novelty in the need for achievement and the creative process in the media, which always have the condition to profit in the film industry, television, video games and other big business has led to the rapid development of software. Today creation is on the street, in the hands of anyone with a computer powerful enough to edit images to design virtual reality sequences (Kvernmoen, 2013). Conclusions Finally the application of computer graphics to art, now in full 3D in everyone with a computer and the necessary software fingertips move from made us move the static floor in our lives to the heights of space imagination. Now for unlimited creation, not only in production studios and offices, but also in the hands of anyone with the talent and the intent to create. What remains is to determine whether the path will teach us the lesson that Hollywood monsters and New York art should not dominate. Art remains the product of talent and appreciation of society to the true quality. Not the cult of greed and depravity of a group Words

7 TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY: THE PRESENTE OF THE FUTURE? 7 References Avis, C.E. Science and Technology at the Oscar Recognizing the Nerds [Web blog]. InterCorner. Chris E. Avis Writing about Microsoft and. Retrieved from technet.com/b/chrisavis/archive/2012/02/22/science-and-technology-at-the-oscarsrecognizing-the-nerds.aspx Carlson, W. E. (2003). CGI Historical Lifetime. [Web blog] Retrieved from edu/carlson/history/timeline.html Dirk, T. (2014). Greatest Visual and Special Effects (F/X).Milestones in Film. AMC Film site. Retrieved from Education (2013). Visual Effects: Activity 3. Oscar.org. Retrieved from /education-outreach/teachersguide/visualeffects/activity3.html Finch, C. (2013). The CG Story: Computer-Generated Animation and Special Effects. New York, NY: The Monacelli Press. French, P. (2012, Dec. 22). Life of Pi review. The Guardian. Saturday. Retrieved from How-to Geek (2014). Which Film First Featured A Completely Computer-Generated Character? How-to Geek Online Tech magazine. Retrieved from /which-film-was-the-first-to-feature-a-completely-computer-generated-character/ Kvernmoen, S. (2013, April 14). A Computer Generated Story. Cinésyn. Retrieved from Masson, T. (1999). CG 101: A Computer Graphics Industry Reference. Digital Fauxtography. London, UK: New Riders Press. Melidonian, T. (2012). 8 Scientifics and Technical Achievements to be honored with Academy

8 TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY: THE PRESENTE OF THE FUTURE? 8 Awards. Oscars.org. Home, Press, Press Releases. Retrieved from /press /pressreleases/2012/ html Park, J. (1999). Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. A Case Study. Dissertation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT. Retrieved from /Jane Park.pdf Rickitt, R. & Harryhausen, R. (2007, Apr. 3) Special Effects: The History and Technique. New York, NY: Billboard Books. Robertson, B. (2002, July). Part 7: Movie Retrospective. Computer Graphics World. 25(7). Retrieved from /Part-7-Movie-Retrospective.aspx Scientific and Technical Awards, The (2013). Scientific and Technical Awards. Committee at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved from org/awards/scitech/index.html Schellenberg, C. (2012, Fall). Towards Computer Generated People. Essay. Retrieved from Slick, J. (n.d.). 10 Films That Revolutionized Computer Graphics. Star Wars to Avatar. About. com. Retrieved from tionized-computer-graphics-part-1.htm Tapley, K. (2013). 3D CGI spectacle 'Life of Pi' wins Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. Hitfix Awards. Retrieved from Taylor, C. (2000, July 31). Cinema: A Painstaking Fantasy. Time Magazine. Monday. Retrieved from

9 TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY: THE PRESENTE OF THE FUTURE? 9 Tribute (2014). Hironobu Sakaguchy Biography. Tribute Magazine. Retrieved from tribute.ca/people/hironobu-sakaguchi/5134/ Vreeswijk, S. (1999). A History of CGI in Movies. Stikky Media. [Web blog]. Retrieved from