Hollywood Magic, a Minute at a Time : Advertisers Turn Increasingly to Dazzling State-of-the-Art Special Effects for TV Spots--and Pay a Dazzling Price : YOUR CAR MAY BEGIN TO SHOW SIGNS OF WEAR AND TEAR. BUT YOUR ENGINE DOESN’T HAVE TO.

When Pepsi paid actor Michael J. Fox $5 million to appear in its commercials, the company figured a nifty way to get its money’s worth: It managed to place two Michael J. Foxes in one ad.

Well, sort of. In a commercial first shown during the Super Bowl, Fox plays the part of a scientist who invents a lifelike robot of himself. He eventually has a tug-of-war with the robot over a can of Diet Pepsi. Because of the physical contact between Fox and his robot character, this commercial demanded far more technical special effects than the simple “split screen” effects used in years past.

It wasn’t easy to make one Michael J. Fox look and act like two. Indeed, the ad required the use of several key elements. One was a look-alike actor who wore a $100,000 plastic mask of Fox’s face. The other was a technique called “motion control,” in which a camera is placed on a special platform that uses a computer to help duplicate the exact movements of anyone or anything. These processes, combined with a special editing machine that can place these different actions onto a single piece of film, enabled Fox to appear to be in two places at once.

Special effects like these, once thought to be too expensive and too extravagant for a 60-second commercial, are more regularly showing up in TV commercials. In fact, an estimated four out of 10 television commercials involve some sort of special effect. And industry executives say this may just be the beginning.

Not only are these special effects every bit as sophisticated as those that appear in multimillion-dollar motion pictures, but big names like George Lucas are beginning to make high-tech commercials as well as films.

The cost of ads with special effects can range from $200,000 to well over $1 million. Executives quickly point out, however, that using special effects can also save advertisers thousands of dollars by creating settings--such as foreign countries or remote areas--where it would otherwise be too costly to film.

“Our only boundaries are the imagination of the ad agency that creates the ad and the willingness of the advertiser to pay for it,” said Greg Pappas, producer at the Simi Valley production company Dream Quest Images, which created many of the special effects for the Michael J. Fox Pepsi ad.

Special effects woo advertisers for several reasons, executives say. For one thing, ever since the 1977 film Star Wars used sophisticated special effects, there has been a cry for more. And advertising agencies were quick to pick up on this.

At the same time, a growing number of big-name film directors, such as Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy, have recently shown an interest in doing TV commercials. Naturally, big-name directors only want to do commercials with plenty of punch, and that often requires special effects. Also, several specialized film production companies--trying to boost their profits--have just recently begun to make commercials. And more than ever, advertisers are learning that special effects can be extremely effective in getting people to pay attention to their ads.

“If the idea for the ad isn’t good,” warns Alan Pottasch, senior vice president and worldwide creative director for Pepsi, “it doesn’t matter how many special effects you put into it.” Pepsi, however, is generally regarded as one of the world’s biggest users of special effects. And like many other advertisers, Pepsi gets the ideas for many of its ads directly from the big screen. “That’s why I call many of our commercials mini-movies,” Pottasch said.

Of course, things don’t always go right with the use of sometimes unpredictable special effects. In 1984, singer Michael Jackson’s hair caught on fire when a smoke bomb exploded prematurely during a $1-million commercial he was filming for Pepsi. And Coke has been ridiculed by some critics for its $675,000 commercial that ran in 3-D during the Super Bowl. The commercial failed to impress many viewers who watched while wearing special 3-D glasses.

Meanwhile, a recent spurt of commercials using special effects has opened the gates for many new Los Angeles production companies that specialize in making the impossible seem possible. Twenty years ago, there was only a handful of special effects production companies in the Los Angeles area. Today there are upward of 50.

Special effects advertising is becoming so popular--and so profitable--that several Southern California companies that formerly did special effects exclusively for films have branched into advertising as well.

A few months ago, for example, Boss Film Corp., which may be best known for its special effects for the film “Ghostbusters,” set up a separate division to handle commercials. “Filming a movie with special effects can seem like a marathon,” said Ellen Somers, executive producer at Boss, “but making a commercial with special effects is more like a short little drag race.”

Of course, some special effects companies make only the most basic special effects--like special background mats that give the illusion that a scene is taking place in Yankee Stadium, when it’s really shot in a studio. But about a dozen Los Angeles-area production companies--many of which also do special effects for major motion pictures--use everything from computerized cameras to special animation equipment that gives a more realistic appearance to its characters.

One such company is Apogee Productions, which did the special effects for a Miller Lite ad that shows 25 Rodney Dangerfields walking off a space ship. To create that effect, the Van Nuys company filmed Dangerfield 25 different times. It then created a miniature space ship, enlarged it on a background screen and then edited the many segments into one commercial. The ad cost more than $500,000 to make.

“Given enough time or money, there’s nothing that can’t be done,” said John Dykstra, the chairman of Apogee, who shares the Oscar for best visual effects for the film “Star Wars.” “The object, however, isn’t to do something in reality, but to create the illusion that it is being done.”

Recently, he said, the popularity of the film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” has resulted in a sudden increase of commercials that mix animated characters with live action. Along with an animation specialist, Apogee recently helped to produce a new ad campaign for Pampers with animated Disney characters dancing off the disposable diapers.

“We found this project more complex than Roger Rabbit,” said Dale Baer, owner of Baer Animation Co. in Studio City, which did much of the animation for the Pampers ad, as well as for “Roger Rabbit.” Indeed, while filming much of the live action in the ad, the animated characters were represented by foam cutouts so that the actors would know where to stand.

Similarly, Chevrolet recently began using Roger Rabbit-like animation in a series of commercials for its new car line, Lumina. In one 15-second spot, which touts the roominess of the car, six hippos similar to those in the film “Fantasia” dance their way into the car.

One very unusual commercial with special effects is raising plenty of eyebrows on British television, but few Americans will see it because it is for British Petroleum. The commercial shows one of the world’s most costly sports cars, a $125,000 Lamborghini, appearing to be suddenly crushed by some invisible force.

The commercial points out that engines lubricated with British Petroleum motor oil will enjoy a long life, “even if the car itself doesn’t.” But a Lamborghini wasn’t really crushed in the ad. Rather, a North Hollywood production company, Filmtrix, built several aluminum look-alike models of a Lamborghini. Instead of placing engines in the cars, it put in special hydraulic motors that caused the Lamborghini models to implode.

“People get a big kick out of seeing destruction in advertisements,” said Kevin Pike, owner of Filmtrix Inc. “The idea is to make it as real as possible, so that the guy sitting on his couch will sit up and notice.”