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In its original form, the movies have always been about illusions.
Throughout movie history, some movies have pushed the envelope - and some of them deserve singular recognition.
It’s crude and primitive by modern standards, but hey, that’s how history works.
Someone’s gotta be the first.
Metropolis (1927)
Almost all visual effects-heavy movies owe a debt to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
Though Lang’s film predates the existence of computers themselves, Metropolis undoubtedly foresaw the things to come.
Thanks to the movie’s revolutionary visual effects, audiences sure did.
Enter: Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi blockbuster Independence Day.
The Abyss (1989)
James Cameronis a passionate diver in addition to being a master filmmaker.
That was the big thing I remember.
And we ended up doing 13 shots in six months and it was pretty close to on budget.
“All the design works been done for you.
Among the achievements by VFX house Rhythm & Hues: creating tiger fur.
(In other words: shaky cameras.)
The problem: No one in human history has physically been inside a black hole.
(Like, haveyoubeen through a black hole?)
It has no surface features, no highlights, no low lights, just black.
“There was nothing that felt like a cakewalk,” Goulekas said.
“That was daunting stuff back then.
I was excited at the challenge, but I was like, ‘Oh, sh**.'”
On ILM’s website, the studio describes how it achieved the effect of Davy Jones.
ILM also describes Davy Jones’ octopus beard.
Transformers (2007)
There’s more than meets the eye with Transformers.
It looks perfect up close and we were a foot away from this shiny chrome face.
I thought, alright, this is very cool.”
“We had a great director with great energy,” Balog said.
“It felt very collaborative.
And, the work itself was great.
A monster bursting through a building?
Yeah, Im up for that.
Giant robots fighting giant monsters in giant cities and oceans.
For an artist, whats not to like?”
But the “exploding” French cafe takes the cake.
(Star Wars says hello.)
to create a dark, dystopian Los Angeles.
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Star Wars and visual effects go hand-in-hand.
“That really makes a closeup come alive,” Cameron said.
(ILM worked alongside Stan Winston Studio.)
That hardly ever happens.
Jurassic Park (1993)
It almost doesn’t get any bigger than Jurassic Park.
(Move over, King Kong.)
