Today, more than forty years later, the special effects for a film are still in an evolutionary stage, and the Star Wars one was the first films to use the 3 dimensional Computer Generated Images technique in a feature film. Today, visual and special effects are even more popular than they were a few years back, and when Luxo, which was the first computer generated film to be nominated for an Oscar, was created, with the subject of the film being a desk lamp, which would talk and walk, it was indeed a landmark for the film world in the development of technique. The 'Toy Story' was produced in 1995, and this film used both computer generated images as well as hand drwan ones throughout the movie. In 'Lord of the Rings', the character of Gollum was a computer generated one, and when this image was used in conjunction with real humans, the audience would be fooled into thinking that the computer generated image, which was capable of great adventure, was in fact a real person. The technique used was this: a real human character would be filmed in all the scenes, then the image of the created character would be inserted into the movie, and modeled after the human being. These actions would be painted into the scenes, and the human actor would subsequently be completely erased.

In Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow of the year 2004 were produced, the technique used was that of using completely computer generated images, with an exception of live human characters. In other words, the characters were filmed in front of a green screen, with no props or sets or backgrounds, and all their actions were placed into the scenes through computer generated images. It must be stated that the usage of special effects and of computer animation in movies has indeed successfully taken the film industry to a highly unexpected and unprecedented level never seen before. All this is making the movies of today not only more entertaining, but is also serving to expand the capabilities of the film makers of today.

It must be noted that as soon as the first motion pictures were invented, the need and the quest to produce movies in realistic colors began in earnest, and a large number of different methods were attempted to make a full color movie, and one of the first successful attempts was made in the year 1934, when the three strip full Technicolor was introduced. 'Becky Sharp' was made in 1935; with the collaboration of Pioneer Pictures with Technicolor Corporation, and this was a three color film. The main purpose of making the film was to demonstrate to film makers the fact that it was possible to make a full Technicolor film. Before this point of time, however, hand painting of individual frames was the technique widely used, and this meant that not only would the frames have to be painted, but the film stock would have to be tinted as well, and then the black and white emulsion would also have to be tones so as to use them in the film. Although the results were striking, they were not in the least realistic, and when in 1906, Kinemacolor was invented, which was a two color process that could be used for films; it was a very useful invention which would mean that now movies could be made in color.

The history of the Technicolor Corporation is probably one of the most fascinating in the history of cinema, from when it was founded in 1915, to the modern times. The need for the corporation arose when film makers wanted a 'flicker free' movie system. One of the first techniques used by the Corporation was the two color technique, similar to the Kinemacolor mentioned earlier. In the year 1922, Kalmus and...

This was a major invention, and this would later on add to the appeal of the images in a film because of their realistic and accurate colors.
Today, the world of cinema as compared to yesterday has quite completely changed, and the technological advances that have been made in the field have made it even possible to film a movie without any human characters in it, and just computer generated images doing impossible things. Whereas initially images had to be hand drawn or taken at quick and rapid exposures, today it is possible to capture the action of an entire film using shots form one camera. Today, editing has become an important feature of any film, and this was evident in the past as well. It must be stated that but for the inventors of technology in the past, the films today would not have made such technological advances, as demonstrated in the present. Today, however, cheaply remaking, dubbing, and recreating the classics of the past have become a pastime, and at times, even classic television shows are adapted for the purpose of making them into movies. The video games industry plays a very important role in today's cinema as well, and film and movie making today is as profitable a business as any. More technological advances are in the offing, and the movie industry still has a long way to go in adapting them into their movie making skills.

Works Cited

Art in Cinema. Accessed 2 October, 2005; available at http://tiki.mk.psu.edu/~art002/index.php/Art_in_Cinema#Important_Inventions_in_Film

Early Color Motion Pictures, a film technology history. Accessed 3 October, 2005; available at http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/oldcolor.htm

Dirks, Tim. Film History before 1920. Accessed 2 October, 2005; available at http://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro.html

Film History. Accessed 2 October, 2005; available at http://www.radnetcafe.com/filmhistory.html

Psych Central, Film, Sound Era and the Golden Age of Hollywood. Accessed 2 October, 2005; available at http://www.psychcentral.com/psypsych/Film#The_Sound_Era_.26_The_Golden_Age_of_Hollywood

Technicolor. Accessed 3 October, 2005; available at http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor1.htm. Accessed 3 October, 2005

Technicolor, System 2: Subtractive Two-Color Cemented Print 1922-1927. Accessed 3

October, 2005; available at http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor2.htm

Timeline of Influential Milestones and Important turning points in film history, 2000's. Accessed 3 October, 2005; available at http://www.filmsite.org/milestones2000s.html

Dirks, Tim. Film History before 1920. Accessed 2 October, 2005; available at http://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro.html

Film History. Accessed 2 October, 2005; available at http://www.radnetcafe.com/filmhistory.html

Psych Central, Film, Sound Era and the Golden Age of Hollywood. Accessed 2 October, 2005; available at http://www.psychcentral.com/psypsych/Film#The_Sound_Era_.26_The_Golden_Age_of_Hollywood

Art in Cinema. Accessed 2 October, 2005; available at http://tiki.mk.psu.edu/~art002/index.php/Art_in_Cinema#Important_Inventions_in_Film

Early Color Motion Pictures, a film technology history. Accessed 3 October, 2005; available at http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/oldcolor.htm

Technicolor. Accessed 3 October, 2005; available at http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor1.htm. Accessed 3 October, 2005

Technicolor, System 2: Subtractive Two-Color Cemented Print 1922-1927. Accessed 3 October, 2005; available at http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor2.htm

Timeline of Influential Milestones and Important turning points in film history, 2000's. Accessed 3 October, 2005; available at http://www.filmsite.org/milestones2000s.html