1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910460933103321

Autore

Film and Culture Series

Titolo

Plastic reality : special effects, technology, and the emergence of 1970s blockbuster aesthetics / / Julie A. Turnock

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, [New York] ; ; Chichester, England : , : Columbia University Press, , 2015

©2015

ISBN

0-231-53527-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (383 p.)

Collana

Film and Culture

Disciplina

791.43/75

Soggetti

Blockbusters (Motion pictures)

Cinematography - Special effects

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- PART I. Before 1977 -- 1. Optical Animation -- 2. Before Industrial Light and Magic -- PART II. Circa 1977 -- 3. The Expanded Blockbuster -- 4. "The Buck Stops at Opticals" -- 5. A More Plastic Reality -- 6. "More Philosophical Grey Matter" -- PART III. The 1980's and Beyond -- 7. Optical Special Effects into the 1980's -- 8. "Not-too-Realistic" and Intensified Realistic Approaches in the 1980's -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Back matter

Sommario/riassunto

Julie A. Turnock tracks the use and evolution of special effects in 1970's filmmaking, a development as revolutionary to film as the form's transition to sound in the 1920's. Beginning with the classical studio era's early approaches to special effects, she follows the industry's slow build toward the significant advances of the late 1960's and early 1970's, which set the stage for the groundbreaking achievements of 1977. Turnock analyzes the far-reaching impact of the convincing, absorbing, and seemingly unlimited fantasy environments of that year's iconic films, dedicating a major section of her book to the unparalleled innovations of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She then traces these films' technological, cultural, and aesthetic influence into the 1980's in the deployment of optical special effects as



well as the "not-too-realistic" and hyper-realistic techniques of traditional stop motion and Showscan. She concludes with a critique of special effects practices in the 2000's and their implications for the future of filmmaking and the production and experience of other visual media.