Computer Effects--From Humble Beginnings

Computer-generated imagery has been used in special effects for over a decade and half: The following lists includes some of the more memorable results, although the snazziest effects were often wasted on unimpressive and/or unsuccessful films.

1. Star Wars (1977). The plans for the Death Star that were read from R2D2’s memory banks in the rebel briefing room represented one of the first uses of digital computer graphics in a major feature. The shots of Luke Skywalker flying his X-wing fighter down the trench to attack the unshielded thermal exhaust port were done using a 40-foot scale model covered with plastic walls and towers. Larry Cuba, an artist noted for his abstract films, constructed a computer model of the trench, using lines of light to represent the various shapes.

2. TRON (1982). About 20 minutes of the film, including the fast-paced Light Cycle race and the gossamer-winged Solar Sailer, were computer generated. Extensive press coverage failed to offset the muddled storyline: “Tron” flopped at the box office and lost what would have been a much-deserved Oscar for visual effects to “Poltergeist.”

3. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). The Genesis Effect transformed a barren, moonlike planet into a fertile Eden in a matter of seconds. A showcase for the technique of texture mapping (the computer takes a sample of, say, the wrinkled surface of a mountain range and covers a surface with it), The Genesis Effect became a mainstay of special effects shows for the remainder of the decade.

4. 2010 (1984). If the story to the long-awaited sequel to “2001” had been as good as the computer-generated, swirling atmosphere of the planet Jupiter, the film would have been a big hit. But it wasn’t--and it wasn’t.

5. The Last Starfighter (1984). Another videogame champion has to save the world with his skills, this time from an invasion of nasty aliens. The elaborate starship battles were entirely computer-generated, but cutting between the live-action footage and the sterile, angular and artificial-looking world of the computer graphics was visually jarring.

6. Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). The murderous knight who leapt out of a stained glass window to attack an addled old vicar represented the state of the art when film was released; the remainder of the film’s effects were done using conventional techniques.

7. The Flight of the Navigator (1986). The silvery alien space ship, created by the Omnibus Studio in Canada, was slick, shiny and featureless--as was the rest of the story.

8. Labrynth (1986). The late Jim Henson wanted an owl to fly through the credits, but a live bird proved too difficult to train and the Muppet version didn’t fly satisfactorily. The handsome computer-generated owl was given tone mattes on each individual feather, to heighten the illusion of realism.

9. The Abyss (1989). The seawater pseudopod (irreverently dubbed “the water weenie” by animators) that tried to communicate with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was a direct ancestor of the T-1000 in “Terminator 2.”

10. Total Recall (1990). Metrolight won an Academy Award for the computer-generated skeletons that appeared on the screen of the subway security system. The glowing bones looked so convincing, many people didn’t realize they weren’t real.

In addition, Disney, Don Bluth, Hyperion and other animation studios have been using computer-generated images to supplement the drawn animation in their films. The use of computers enables directors to simulate elaborate camera movements and to move inanimate objects that would be difficult for artists to render in perspective.

One of the most effective examples was the sequence inside Big Ben in Disney’s “The Great Mouse Detective” (1986). When Basil of Baker Street pursued the evil Ratigan through a complex environment of interlocking gears, the characters were drawn by hand, while the mechanisms were done by computer.