Course Description
Introduction to illusions and visual tricks used in film and television to make the unreal seem real. Students will get hands-on experience with both practical on-set effects and digital effects created in post-production.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will give a presentation on a topic of the instructor's choosing.
Athena Title
Special Effects
Undergraduate Pre or Corequisite
FILM 4680/6680 or permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The goal of this course is for students to have a fundamental understanding of techniques used to create practical, optical, and digital effects for film and video. The student will also learn how to plan camera angles, sound, and editing ahead of time in order to maximize the effectiveness of these techniques. Some topics, such as stunts, pyrotechnics, and working firearms, will be discussed only for safety purposes. For the final project, each student will create a demo reel showcasing their work.
Topical Outline
Week 1: Planning and selling effects Week 2: Blood and gore Week 3: Air pumps and air squib Week 4: Rain, wind, and weather effects Week 5: Miniatures and forced perspective Week 6: Pepper's Ghost and the Texas Switch Week 7: Fundamentals of compositing Week 8: Green screens and light wraps Week 9: Motion tracking and camera tracking Week 10: Rotoscoping Week 11: Mattes, masks, and object removal Week 12: Ghosts, holograms, and screen replacement Week 13: Faking vintage film and video looks Week 14: Prop guns, muzzle flashes, bullet hits Week 15: Stunts, pyrotechnics, and working firearms Week 16: Virtual studio technology Week 17: Course and project review Final Exam: Final exam/Project due