Special Effects

Long before digital technology revolutionized how we create special effects for movies, filmmakers of yesteryear had their own techniques of making impossible things look convincing onscreen.

Bill Blair is known as the alien actor for science fiction and horror TV shows and movies. Now he is receiving the Guinness World Records award for The Most Special Effect Makeup Characters Portrayed in a Career.

Meredith Johns is a makeup and special effects artist who has worked on such films as "True Grit" and "Machete." I had the opportunity to find out more about her through the following questions and answers.

The SyFy Channel's new reality competition television show, "Face Off", pits special-effects make-up artists against each other. It's a fascinating look at the process that creates things that aren't really real.

Inland Empire FX professionals working on a project meant to push the limits of what can be done without CG in a secret project set to be revealed at this years Comic Con

While it is widely used in the professional field for effects creation, it has a novice-friendly user interface and workflow that makes it an ideal solution for a movie's special effects needs.

Some believe that CGI-laden films take away from the film making process. This article takes a closer look at this belief with a particular focus on Avatar and the 2010 Academy Awards or Oscars presentation.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to apply special effects to your photos. These effects range from cutouts to painting effects.

Here's a few tips for using special effects on live vocal tracks.

Whether you've budgeted for the best Halloween special effects this year, or just want some cheap Halloween decoration ideas, here's your answer.

Halloween is well known for decorating and special effects. Associated Content has really fun articles on Halloween Special Effects. Here are my pick for the Top 10 on AC.

Whether you want a boiling cauldron, a shivering mummy or a not-so-dead dead body, here are some great articles for creating the perfect Halloween environment this year.

These are some ideas for special effects from AC writers.

This article tells about a few different ways to make different designs called special effects using paint. a great way to add a unique appearance to a room.

A discussion of how modern special effects and CGI techniques have impacted storytelling in (particularly) low budget films.

A brief historical look at special effects in film, with Star Wars in the spotlight.

There has been many articles written about Halloween special effects on AC. This content will give the reader a recap of articles about this subject

Ten do it yourself Halloween articles on special effects.

The movie "Wanted" had an interesting starting concept: suppose a secret society of assassins exists who can slow time and allow bullets to travel on curved trajectories. However, plot holes and shoddy special effects make it less than thrilling.

Today's special effects are almost always done with CGI. The result is usually something that looks just as cheesy as a 50's monster or sci-fi flick.

It is not hard to create some of the same special effects at home that you see in the movies. Great ideas like this can be used for small haunted houses or fantastic hallowe'en parties.

This tutorial will teach you how to add special effects to a colored image. This tutorial teaches you the basics of Blending Modes, and using Photoshop Filter Effects.

You're sitting in your theater seat just watching the movie when all of a sudden cannons of water are shooting at you. Then something brushes past your legs and you start to smell something a little different in the air.

Examining the few special effects that are not generated by computers in the modern film industry, with a focus on fire and smoke, and the chemistry involved in creating these effects.

by Mike Zooo-Wah Evans

How would you like to add a calculator, calendar, falling snow, or other special effects to your website - even if you don't know HTML code? It all can be done using JavaScript, even if you don't know or understand the code.

Going well beyond the dictionary definition of an entity that simply presents a terrifying visage, Hollywood's movie monsters create bloody one-on-one mayhem or inflict carnage on a massive scale.