MOVIES OF THE ‘80s : SPECIAL EFFECTS : COMING OF AGE

Through the ‘70s, special-effects artists basically continued to refine the matte and stop-motion animation techniques Willis O’Brien had used for “The Lost World” in 1925. Although stop motion is still employed in many films, important new techniques came into widespread use during the ‘80s: computer-controlled models, radio-operated models and computer graphics.

A computer can be programmed to move the puppet’s limbs ( go motion ), or human operators may use remote controls to direct motors and hydraulic pressure systems inside larger puppets--while the camera is running. The Hoggle character in “Labyrinth” required four remote control operators, plus an actor in a suit; radio-controlled models were also used extensively in “E.T.”

Although computer-generated images had provided minor effects, for several years Disney’s “Tron”--with its Light Cycles and Solar Sailer--was the first film to use this technology extensively. Since then, computers have been used to produce the swirling atmosphere of Jupiter in “2010,” the Genesis Effect in “Star Trek II” and the flying owl in “Labyrinth.”

Film makers have only begun to explore these possibilities. Computer imagery can create effects that would be difficult or impossible by conventional means. But the technique is limited by the cost, which remains very high, and by the seeming unreality of the images, especially when juxtaposed with live-action footage.

Imaginative effects have provided the high points of many ‘80s films. But more sophisticated effects don’t necessarily mean better movies. Special effects are a means, not an end in themselves, and visual fireworks alone cannot win an audience. The Cowardly Lion in “The Wizard of Oz” is just a man in a lion suit, but we willingly suspend disbelief and accept him as a lion, because of good writing and acting. Without them, the best special effects are reduced to empty razzle-dazzle, and the effects artist becomes a Merlin with no King Arthur to serve.