<h2>The Early Days of Hollywood FX</h2>

Filmmakers have come a long way since the early days of using rear projection scenes. We now laugh at those, but Hollywood FX had to begin somewhere. Today, directors can use cutting-edge technology to help them tell their stories. Some believe that special effects are overused to the detriment of story and characterization. The most profound effects of new techniques have been seen in historical epics, science fiction, and animation. Matte painted backgrounds and miniature models served the film industry well for a long time, allowing futuristic films like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis to be made. A combination of miniatures and stop motion animation made King Kong, which debuted in 1933, a landmark in Hollywood special effects. Ray Harryhausen was the effects wizard responsible for making the fantastic look real in films such as Jason and the Argonauts and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.

<h2>The Old Travelling Matte Trick</h2>

The splitting of the Red Sea scene in The Ten Commandments was achieved using a technique known as traveling matte. No miracle was beyond the abilities of special effects experts. In Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, effects supervisor Douglas Trumball invented new techniques for the final voyage. The hallucinogenic images set a high standard for others to follow. George Lucas stepped up to the plate and stunned audiences with Star Wars in 1977. His group developed a new computer-controlled camera that enhanced repeated camera motion and widescreen shots. Lucas then founded Industrial Light and Magic, which has been at the forefront of Hollywood special effects ever since. We are now accustomed to films being shot with a blue screen and the background being added later. Computer Graphics Imaging (CGI) now rules the roost.

In 2021, any object or person can be manipulated by a computer and blended into live action. This technique was used extensively in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park and James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Pixar’s effects team has used it in full-length animations such as Toy Story. The days of painstakingly hand painting each frame of animation are almost over. The New Zealand-based Weta Workshop has established a reputation as one of the best special effects companies, particularly since the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Effects will continue to advance now that the genie of technology has escaped. The epic film’s return has been made possible thanks to Hollywood FX. It would have been prohibitively expensive to construct a mockup of the Coliseum in Gladiator. Russell Crowe battles the lions in a computer-generated virtual world.