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Special Effects—Titanic and Beyond
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Program Overview
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NOVA reveals the secrets behind the
on-screen images that have captured moviegoers' imaginations for years.
The art of special effects relies on understanding perception—how the eye and brain perceive the world—and using that knowledge to make something look real when it isn't.
Special effects used in early movie
making, including "King Kong," "Ben Hur" and "Gone with the Wind," are highlighted.
The role that color, light, form, motion and depth play in perception—and how those can be manipulated to fool viewers—is explored.
Some of the techniques used to film "Titanic"—including model making,
computer animation and green screen technology—are described.
Pyrotechnics experts—who blow up
a building for "The X-Files" movie—use models, lighting and slow motion to achieve a realistic scene.
The future challenge for computer
special effects artists—how to make a computer-generated human being look completely real—is also explored.
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