Special Effects

Studios are banking on 3-D Special Effects in a variety of formats:
animation ("Meet the Robinsons"), motion-capture (the Robert Zemeckis-
helmed "Beowulf"), live-action ("Journey 3-D") and even revivals (1993 toon
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" is now an annual event in 3-D, while
George Lucas hopes to re-release his "Star Wars" pics in the format).
But the poster boy for the revival is James Cameron, whose "Avatar"
will be released by Fox in 2009. The live-action film -- his first fiction
work since the 1997 "Titanic" -- will be released only in 3-D.
Proponents hope Cameron and his film will be a rallying point for the new format.

"As far as technology goes, it's history in movie making;
people are likening James Cameron's film AVATAR
to the creation of color TV."

"Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people."

Avatar will be the first film to utilize the new digital
3-D film technology that Cameron has been developing
for years. He's a big proponent of the 3-D format and
sees it as the next step in the evolution of cinema.

Perhaps more interesting is the fact that the filmmaker
will be utilizing performance capture with the film,
a la Beowulf, blending live-action photography and
new virtual photorealistic production techniques. He
explained in December of 2006: "This has been a
dream project of mine for more than a decade,
but when I first wrote it, the technology was not
advanced enough. So I stuck the script in the
drawer until the technology caught up. … The
film requires me to create an entirely new alien
culture and language, and for that I want 'photo-real'
CGI characters. Sophisticated enough 'performance-capture'
animation technology is only coming on stream now.
I've spent the last 14 months doing performance-capture work
-- the actor performs the character and then we animate it."

Avatar is currently scheduled
for a December 18, 2009 release.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/avatarnews.php?id=36720

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_14/b4028005.htm

Read articles by clicking on the links above

Nova's Special Effects

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/specialfx/sfxhome.html

Terminator 2

SkyNet Fiberdyne Systems
865 Series Model 101 CYBernetic
ORGanism, a hybrid of specially
grown synthetic living tissue covering
the microprocessor controlled
hyperalloy armored endoskeleton.

Eragon (2006)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Student Special Effects
Demonstration Using Green Screen

TRON (1982)

Hollow Man (2000)

Titanic (1997)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/specialfx2/

Virtual Backlot

Stargate Films has been gradually increasing its ability to create photoreal locations — and place actors within them. Stargate's virtual backlots are not to be confused with photoreal matte paintings. Actors interact with these virtual environments — they get on and off a Moscow subway, for example. And, with the exception of CG fabrications such as the Montecito, the sights you see — from the Eiffel Tower to the London Tower — are all real. The virtual backlot library houses about 1,000 hours' worth of London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other locales.

Watch The Video:

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/searchlist/6503.html

These are no ordinary stock footage shoots. The technique depends on the creation of a 360-degree immersive environment. The Stargate Films cinematographer goes to locations with several cameras including a Sony HD F-950 recording to HDCAM SR tape and, for tight spots, the Panasonic 24P HPX-2000. Each camera is outfitted with a nodal camera head that enables pan or tilt with no perceptual shift. In other words, a tilt from the top to bottom of the Eiffel Tower or a full 360-degree pan from the top of the London Tower fills out this virtual universe.
Alien: Resurrection (1997)