From Special Effects to Visual Effects: A Magical Journey VFX, or visual effects, is a concept we are all familiar with in this day and age: it is the process of integrating generated or created imagery into 'real' or live-action footage, and is commonly used in the sphere of filmmaking to portray environments that would be dangerous, impractical, expensive or even impossible to capture on camera. The widespread use of computers now allows for the creation of such environments digitally with a great degree of creative flexibility to produce such films as Om Shanti Om, Ra.One or Bajirao Mastani.. or, in a global context, Transformers, Avatar or Harry Potter. Turning back in time, we find that visual effects predate the use of computer generated imagery (or CGI) or even computers by decades. In fact, the first people to use these effects in presentations and performances were - you guessed it - magicians. It's no wonder, then, that one of the most prolific VFX studios in the world today - ILM - has the word 'magic' in its name!
Pinpointing an exact time for when visual effects - or special effects, as they were known back in the day - began to be used is difficult. However, a study of film history provides some clues on how it became so popular. Optical illusions like the Pepper's ghost were used to amaze the audiences at magic shows in the nineteenth century. Eventually, as films began to be made, techniques like multiple exposure (which was first used by Oscar Rejlander in 1857) came into play. The next breakthrough came with the discovery of the stop motion or substitution cut technique in 1895 by Alfred Clark, which was further perfected by the French filmmaker Georges Méliès. Also known as the Cinemagician for his ingenuous use of special effects in films - including multiple exposure, stop motion, time lapse and hand-painted mattes in addition to actual sets Méliès is considered a pioneer of special effects.