Special effects are where the magic happens as things magically fly that shouldn’t. explosions and natural disasters are suddenly happening that have never happened, and my favorite the 3D ones that you reach out your hand in the dark theatre to make “sure” you can’t actually touch what seems to be floating in front of your seat.

There are special effects that enhance like flying sand in a sandstorm or long takes in a car chase that add rather than overshadow the core message of a shot or film but I would like to take a look at an example where special effects can ONLY enhance and shine! VR (virtual reality) has a lot of special effects that have to be filmed and happen from the first-person perspective to make you believe you are truly right there. I have watched “Hardcore Henry” several times since I ran across it a month ago accidentally and it deserves a place in this blog somewhere…so here it is:

From the rotating foot to the fruit explosion, I was hooked from the beginning. how you hold a detonator and watch the explosion occur a few feet away after the button push, how you seem like you are grabbing onto a speeding motorcycle, how you are riding down the middle of an escalator, it’s free on TUBI and was entirely filmed with a stabilized GoPro on someones face. Literally:

The Moscow cityscape was shot on a soundstage with black walls which were created frame by frame and required manual adjusting. I love the glitch transitions and side to side movement of the camera to simulate shaking your head back and forth when answering questions and other transitions that add to the overall effect as well. The film stars Sharlto Copley, star of “District 9” and “The A-Team” and also has a great soundtrack and humor as well:

Without practice even these worst special effects on you tube are amazing to me.

COMING SOON

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Transformation takes us on a real-life journey of transitions like sunrises and the change from night to day or day to night… or revealing like a moth from cocoon to hatching with wings. Revolutions are seismically huge transitions that can invoke many emotions from starkly different shots of the battlefield and death to celebration shots of the victor and the change that has taken place. Color can transition us from one place to another like in “The Wizard of Oz.”

As far as streaming services go, they have totally disrupted the the distribution, attendance, and access to films and filmmaking.  No longer do we all rush to the movie theater for the big premiere.  Many people are watching short and long videos that were created for free using technology most users have like their own IPHONE in high quality.

CGI has come along and altered all tools are available for filmmakers.  Star Wars went from miniature sets and fishing wire hung starships to newer storylines with even more CGI and Jar Jar Binks. Gamers today might opt for a VR experience that plays out like a movie you are immersed in rather than go to a showing. AI algorithms are also aiding in scriptwriting, editing and more are being hailed as the “new” future of film right now, a MAJOR transformation for the industry, as more students and creators have access to AI. I love how in “The Frost” the snow is blended going across the shot sideways and the title “freezes over” I love the way the camera pans out to the landscape, and uses a fake shaky camera movement on the rock explosions. The panning and the reflections of the computer screen against the glasses in this video down right down to the fadinghandprint at the end hit at more traditional transitions in the futre as AI improves since there are alot of jump cuts as AI scenes generally have to be stitched together.

The entire AI movie of “The Frost can be viewed on the link below: (Be sure to bookmark my site, open a new page for this link, or use the back arrow to be sure and return for more riveting Piratess Friday content..I have also included a link to some IPHONE movies for the curious)

Welcome to the new surreal: how AI-generated video is changing film | MIT Technology Review

10 Awesome Movies You Didn’t Know Were Made on iPhone – Flickside

I have an assignment to make a short flick about transitions one idea of script and images/storyboard that I was going to mix with rock searching videos in streams I threw in powerpoint rather than paper sketch to merge with transitions in-between was…

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