ellianabrodbeck - Hollywood Technology

Over the past 100 years, technology has become more relevant in the use of movie making. Old methods are being thrown out as computer graphics and movement have become newly favored. New tactics such as motion capture, have vastly improved the movie experience. Hollywood has favored such new methods, and the newer has also shown how difficult and complex the ever growing world of digital movie making has become. At this point, no matter what job you have, you’re going to eventually need digital effects. Whether it’s motion capture, 3D graphics, the digital visual effect, or a mixture of optical effects and digital, all of these methods will improve, and will most certainly be even more advanced in the near future to come (Kaufman).

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Andy Serkis as Caesar in Rise of The Planet of the Apes (2001), and as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings (2001).

Jurassic Park (1993) dinosaur CGI models.

Robert Patrick in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), as T-1000.

A photo showing Avengers Infinity War behind the scenes vs the real image

Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump and Jed Gillin as JFK in Forrest Gump (1994)

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You can also find out more about the making of The Polar Express by watching this video starring Tom Hanks!

Robert Zemeckis is a familiar name in Hollywood. He is known for merging animation and real life in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and creating the famous scene where Forrest Gump shakes JFK’s hand. He is recently known for his idea of creating a live action film, but without real acting. He plans to direct The Polar Express, however, he is taking real actors such as Tom Hanks, and uploading their movements into a computer to CGI their characters into place. This method is widely a jump in technology as the characters are supposed to resemble their real life counterparting actors and actresses. It's also pushing how traditional movie contracts are created and the amount of real actors needed for a film. Although Hollywood is concerned about the movie's budget of $150 million, the film is sure to introduce new methods of acting, and new technology as the technology needed isn’t done being created yet (Huffstutter).

Tom Hanks as the conductor in The Polar Express (2004)

Technology has gone far in movie making, but what about technology that hasn’t been used much yet? In Solo: A Star Wars Story, they needed to figure out how to film a digital jump between trains with real actors, but with a digital landscape. Production was skeptical of the idea James Clyne had, but James was able to successfully use virtual reality to give everyone an idea of how to film the jump realistically. Another example is Digital Domain, a company created by James Cameron and Stan Winston. They use VR to let actors and directors visualize what their set will look like when it is created entirely digitally. However, creating a movie with VR has limitations, such as with VR you can look anywhere, which would then require a movie's director to film extra areas or a digital artist to add more CGI. Overall virtual reality still has a ways to go before it’s fully used in filmmaking, but, it's certain that in the future VR will be used as the main tool, maybe even to create custom movies (Horiuchi).

A man wearing a VR headset and using VR gear.

Click here to learn about virtual reality and here to learn about movie history! (No password needed :D )

The world of movie making has grown immensely over the years, but it all had to start somewhere. The first large invention in film making was in 1894, when the first projector was invented, although it was called a Phantoscope by its inventor Charles Francis Jenkins. The next step was the very first film, being released in 1915. It was rather short, and today considered politically incorrect, but it led the way for the way we see movies today. Other successes such as Uncle Sam breaking up the monopolies in 1948 and VHS being released in 1972 were also pivotal, but one of the largest enhancements has been the opening of Netflix in 2007. Netflix allowed viewers to have access to thousands of movies and shows in one area without having to physically play them. These advancements have led to where we are today, a point that was once unimaginable in history (Romer).