Editing and Special Effects

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(picture courtesy Wesley Oostvogel)
Special effects or (SFX) have always been a big part of films. Right back from the original Lumiere 'Man in the Moon' film the use of images to depict things that never really happened - or to film things that could never actually be filmed - such as the climax of the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie - have always been the mandate of the SFX guys.

Strictly speaking SFX means things that occur on set during the production of a movie. These are items such as explosions, stunts, collapsing walls etc. etc. Anything which is added to the film after it has been shot and developed is a visual effect (VFX).

So, at the climax of "Jurassic Park " when the T-Rex throws the velociraptor into the skeleton and knocks it over, the collapse of the skeleton was special effects (SFX) and the addition of the T-Rex and the velociraptor was visual effects (VFX)

One of the beauties of cheaper technology (both hardware and software) is that you can now produce VFX on your own PC and have them produced to an incredibly high standard. Believe it or not, this clip was produced by a guy with video clips and a PC using After Effects. Click here for clip of Attila the Hun

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