COOL ARTS CAREERS COOL ARTS CAREERS COOL ARTS CAREERS TABLE OF CONTENTS I I I I I I I I I I I I N N N N N N A A A A A A C C C C C C N N N N N N H H H H H H C C C C C C E E E E E E TTT TTT SSS SSS T T T T T T C C C C C C E E E E E E F F F F F F F F F F F F EEE EEE L L L L L L A A A A A A C C C C C C E E E E E E P P P P P P S S S S S S I I I I I I CHAPTER ONE FILM MAGICIANS 4 CHAPTER TWO A DAY ON THE JOB 10 CHAPTER THREE BECOMING A SPECIAL EFFECTS TECHNICIAN 20 CHAPTER FOUR SPECIAL EFFECTS IN THE FUTURE 24 SOME FAMOUS SPECIAL EFFECTS TECHNICIANS 29 GLOSSARY 30 FOR MORE INFORMATION 31 INDEX 32 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 32
Y R A R B I L S L L I K S Y R U T N E C T S 1 2 CHAPTER ONE FILM MAGICIANS The film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince features a scene in which ghostly shapes attack as people cross a bridge in London The bridge twists turns and crashes into the water below A team of special effects technicians helped make the movie Gladiator starring Russell Crowe
Filmmakers did not really destroy the bridge Instead they used computer graphics to make the bridge look like it was falling apart This is one example of special effects Special effects make impossible things happen on screen They can involve big things like destroying bridges or small things like changing an actor’s eye color These effects are created by workers called special effects technicians There are many kinds of special effects Some actually happen during filming One example might be a small explosion that a technician sets off A camera operator shoots the explosion on film This kind of effect is sometimes called a special mechanical effect Explosions are a common special effect in action movies Special effects technicians plan the explosions carefully They make the object they are blowing up extra weak in some spots This helps them make sure the pieces will fly in the right directions They also make sure that actors standing near the explosion will not be hurt Special visual effects happen off camera This means they are added to the film after a scene is shot In the movie Gladiator the main character fights in a giant stadium The crowd roars when one of the fighters is hurt Most of the crowd and the stadium were added using computer graphics after the action was shot Gunshots in movies are also special effects Imagine a movie hero running through a door as bullets smash into the doorway
