Films Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Films - Essay Example The premise that there is no relation between the viewer and the film, almost telling the audience directly that "it is only a movie" is "a symptom of an imagined loss of concrete, physical bond of belief between the viewer and the film";1 hence reinforcing the statement that all films are illusions. It is this connection between the film and the viewer is one that sets the illusion. Films are a wide array of pictures that move, creating motion that gives way to the creation of real movements. Since their creation, viewers have been accustomed to watch films regularly as part of entertainment. The narrative, special effects, sound, and cinematography all contribute in creating one interesting and engaging motion picture. However, technically speaking, films are just illusions. This illusion-character of films is important in a technical pursuit of using elements such as sound, cinematography, special effects, narrative, mise-en-scene, and the like in order to put across a film of good taste. Special effects are illusions used in order to stimulate imagined series of events in films. These are used in order to make film frames or images appear photographically. Illusions in special effects are seen in the use of mechanized props, scenery, or atmospheric effects producing physical rain, snow, clouds, or fog. Mechanical facts can be used to make a car drive by itself, or a building blowing up. Mechanical effects as a form of special effects are formed in a set that suggests a certain atmosphere or sight, such as break-away doors or walls. It is apparent that films use visual magic in order to create illusions and some trick effects in order to affect the audience to startle. The persistence of vision through special effects is proved to produce smooth, flowing action when projected, just as what is mentioned earlier. In-camera effects are common features of special effects, such as making a miniature appear bigger as in the case of robots in Japanese television programs, o r the use of back projection or matte paintings. Three-dimensional models are also used in order to establish in-house special effects such as in the movie King Kong and Terminator II which used three-dimensional effects. With the use of special effects, there is no need to capture a scene with the use of real-life objects and events that endanger the lives and limbs of people. Rather, through the visual illusions depicted in films through the use of technical effects, objects are made to appear larger or smaller; buildings are made to appear uprooted from the ground, and ships are made to appear sinking. However, in King Kong's production, the usage of sets was not maximized due primarily to the unfamiliarity of sets in the 1920's and 1930's. Thus, in King Kong, the camera/gun trope was used, with the cameraman takings shots of animals in the jungle of the African veldt.2 The special effects during the production process enhanced the photographed animals and sceneries. This enhancement is again, to create further illusion among the audiences. In Forbidden Planet (1956), the special effects are seen to stimulate the imagination of the audience in order for them to