What are visual effects?
Visual effects (or VFX) is a complex of special technologies that help to create new scenes and combine the footage. With their use, you can turn a set of ordinary frames into an incredible world and add colorfulness to boring scenes. Applying effects refers to the post-production stage and can take much longer than location shooting. There are two types of visual effects:
- Optical effects. A combination of shots obtains the desired effect. For example, a chromakey is a combination of several images into one composition. A scene is shot against the background of the rear screen (green or blue). Then it is combined with the background or any other image.
- Computer graphics. Scenery and characters are generated by computer graphics with the addition of 3D-animation.
Important information
Unlike special effects, visual effects are applied after the scene is shot. Therefore, supervisor VFX should be present during the filming at the site. This specialist knows where computer graphics will be superimposed in the frame and monitors the interaction of the characters with the rear screen.
It is preferable to order the editing of visual effects prior to actual filming – this will enable a VFX supervisor to adjust the frames in time according to the future impacts. However, it is possible to apply such effects even after the shooting is complete, (if the places to insert effects are correctly arranged).
