In 1939, The Wizard of Oz made history as the first Hollywood film to fully feature real time color. Now, it is not an unusual sight to see your favorite superhero traversing rotating buildings in the mirror dimension or causing explosions in all shades of the rainbow.
Special effects in movies have only increased in prevalence over the years, improving the movie viewing experience by leaving audiences with visual satisfaction. Films which feature fictional creatures such as “Jurassic Park” bring fossils to life with CGI, while edited stunts in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” add tense moments to enhance the experience.
So how did films get to this point? As the name implies, computer generated imagery (CGI) requires animations rendered from a computer in order to function. The first computers were developed around the late 1940s, but many believe that the late 1950s was the beginning of experimentation with animation.
Over the decades, special effects made their appearance in films, such as the groundbreaking “Star Wars” in the late 1970s, showcasing the unmatched potential of computer graphics in scenes. Junior Achinteya Jayaram commented on the effectiveness of using CGI to contribute to the overall viewing experience. “I do enjoy the effects of special effects in movies,” he said.
For many, CGI creates an immersive experience that would not be possible with traditional storytelling. In recent years, however, there has been a rising debate over whether or not studios are overstepping their bounds in terms of the quantity of effects used. “Nowadays, there are very few movies that don’t have an element of special effects in it,” Jayaram continued.
Modern movies, most notably in the action genre, will always use at least one form of CGI in its scenes. Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” remains a strong example of how CGI can completely change the tone of a movie when including scenes such as the final battle in a ravaged New York district.
Although technology has allowed studios to unleash their imagination in unprecedented ways, CGI has become so prevalent that some movie enthusiasts have begun to raise the question of whether or not some producers are overdoing it. A common argument suggests that some producers are beginning to value special effects over storytelling, such as the team behind the highly criticized “Monster Hunter” using CGI to distract their audience from mistakes in other areas.
Despite ongoing debates, many people have enjoyed experiencing the artistic evolution of special effects over time. “Increasing special effects help to bring the movie to life, whether that’s death defying stunts in Mission Impossible or the alien CGI in Nope” Jayaram continued.
CGI has come a long way since the creation of the first computers. As technology has improved, so have the artistic capabilities of many studios around the world. Even with its arguably overwhelming presence in the movies of today, the fact remains that CGI will enable greater creative power over the next few decades.
