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How
Special Effects affects Society
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What is Special Effects?
Special Effects is both an art and
a science. The "science" part involves the complete
understanding of how the audio-visual sensory parts of our body and brain
perceive the world around us, while the "art" part involves the
strategic use of this information to fool the sensory system.  Principle of Motion Picture : The Principle of Motion Picture is totally based on the phenomenon of Persistence of Vision. Without it, motion picture as we know it simply would'nt exist. Our eyes can retain a picture for a fraction of a second after seeing one. Before this time frame expires, if a another similar picture is shown in its place, the eyes see it as a continuation of the first picture, and don't perceive the gap between the two. If a series of still pictures depicting progressively incrementing action is flashed before the eyes in rapid succession, the eyes see it as a scene depicting smooth, flowing action. All visual media (Movies, TV, Electronic Displays, Laser Light Shows, etc) exploit this phenomenon. Thanks to Persistence of Vision, our entertainment industry could make a transition from perpectual live shows like dance and dramas, to recordable entertainment like movies. Persistence of Vision : Look at a bright light for a few seconds and then abruptly close your eyes. The image of the light seems to stay in your eyes a little longer even though your eyes are closed. This phenomenon is termed as Persistence of Vision because the vision seems to persist for a brief moment of time. When the retina of the eyes are
excited by light, they send impulses to the brain which are then
interpreted as an image by the visual cortex in the brain. The cells in
the retina continue to send impulses even after the incident light is
removed. This continues for a few fractions of a second till the retinal
cells return back to normal. Until that time, the brain continues to
receive impulses from the retina, and hence seems to perceive an image of
the source of light, giving rise to the phenomenon called Persistence of
Vision. What is Motion : Motion of an object is the continuous displacement of the object in space with reference to another object. In the absence of a reference object, motion ceases to be apparent. What this means is that motion is always measured in relation to another object, which is used as a reference point. When we drive, the road & the surroundings move past us. Thus we get the sensation of motion. So the road & surroundings are our reference points. When we fly, the earth beneath us is our reference point. But as you can see, the closer the reference point, the more acute the sense of motion. That's why astronauts in orbit seldom sense speed (though they are moving at thousands of miles an hour ) because earth, their only reference point is quite far away. OK, but what
has this got to do with Special Effects ?! A Sfx technique called
Compositing totally relies on the way our mind perceives motion. Compositing
is one of the most useful tools in a Sfx technician's bag of tricks. Keep
these two in mind; the object, and its reference point(s); both of these are
necessary to perceive motion in a scene.
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