Photographic realism is an effective framework for communicating meaning. In other words, the purpose is to convey an idea--not, for example, to depict a landscape. Misuse of photographic images may arise from a photographer's deliberate attempt to imbue an image with the meaning he or she desires. Thus, we might question photography's objective nature, although this should not be confused with realism. The latter refers to the imitative or representational quality of the subject, the former refers to scientific validity or truth. The issue of objectivity suggests useful concepts for art education. First, this paper considers photographic realism--technique is not a primary concern. Second, procedures that can alter realism are made evident. By understanding and using these methods, a student can more successfully comprehend and alter the photographic message.

This thesis centers on the study of the design principles used in creating hand-drawn effects and how they can be applied to computer-generated 3D effects. By studying the rich history of hand-drawn effects animation, artists working on computer-generated films can enhance the emotional impact and visual appeal of their effects without devoting years to creating hand-drawn effects. From reference clips of animated effects and writings by artists, a list of aesthetic guidelines for the production of stylized effects is generated. A series of case study animations is created to demonstrate how these guidelines can be used to create effects in various styles and of various elements.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

For centuries films have given filmmakers the ability to affect their audiences visually and emotionally. Special effects and digital effects make a fictional scene appear more realistic. In the film An American Werewolf in London, make-up artist Rick Baker revolutionized the use of practical effects when transforming David Naughton’s character into a werewolf. In 1997 when An American Werewolf in Paris was released, director Anthony Waller utilized digital effects, instead of practical effects, when transforming various characters into werewolves. These transformation scenes were not met with as much praise as its predecessor. If we were to have a better understanding of how individuals perceive practical effects and digital effects it would allow us to determine which one better conveys an emotional reaction. This thesis will demonstrate which type of special effect, practical effects or digital effects, is more effective at relaying an emotional response in a viewer.

This thesis explores techniques for synthesizing crowds from imagery. Synthetic photorealistic crowds are desirable for cinematic gaming, special effects and architectural visualization. While motion captured-based techniques for the animation and control of crowds have been well-studied in computer graphics, the resulting control rig sequences require a laborious model-based graphics pipeline to render photorealistic videos of crowds. Over the past ten years, data-driven techniques for rendering imagery of complex phenomena have become a popular alternative to model-based graphics. This popularity is due in large part to difficulties in constructing the sufficiently-detailed models that are required to achieve photorealism. A dynamic crowd of humans is an extremely challenging example of such phenomena. Example-based synthesis methods such as video textures are an appealing alternative, but current techniques are unable to handle new challenges posed by crowds. This thesis describes how to synthesize video-based crowds by explicitly segmenting pedestrians from input videos of natural crowds and optimally placing them into an output video while satisfying environmental constraints imposed by the scene. There are three key challenges. First, the crowd layout of segmented videos must satisfy constraints imposed by environmental and crowd obstacles. This thesis addresses four types of environmental constraints: (a) ground planes in the scene which are valid for crowd traversal, such as sidewalks, (b) spatial regions of these planes where crowds may enter and exit the scene, (c) static obstacles, such as mailboxes and walls of a building, and (d) dynamic obstacles such as individuals and groups of individuals. Second, pedestrians and groups of pedestrians should be segmented from the input video with no artifacts and minimal interaction time. This is challenging in real world scenes due to significant appearance changes while traveling through the scene. Third, segmented pedestrian videos may not have enough frames or the right shape to compose a path from an artist-defined entrance to exit. Plausible temporal transitions between segmented pedestrians are therefore needed but they are difficult to identify and synthesize due to complex self occlusions. We present a novel algorithm for composing video billboards, represented by crowd tubes, to form a crowd while avoiding collisions between static and dynamic obstacles. Crowd tubes are represented in the scene using a temporal sequence of circles planted in the calibrated ground plane. The approach consists of representing crowd tube samples and constraint violations with a conflict graph. The maximal independent set yields a dense crowd composition. We present a prototype system for the capture, analysis, synthesis and control of video-based crowds. Several results demonstrate the system's ability to generate videos of crowds which exhibit a variety of natural behaviors.

Cette thèse propose une réflexion autour de la relation entre le dessin animé et le cinéma en prises de vues réelles, en faisant reposer le propos sur l’étude d’une forme cinématographique hybride, présentant un entremêlement ou encore une rencontre entre personnages graphiques et acteurs réels. Cette recherche interroge, du cinéma des premiers temps aux expériences plus contemporaines, l’évolution d’une forme reposant sur une frontière technique constamment mouvante au gré d’innovations technologiques et de perspectives théoriques historiquement variables. En s’intéressant tout autant aux films qu’à leur réception et leur contexte de production, l’objectif est de de mettre à jour et de comprendre les raisons pour lesquelles l’animation se trouve perçue à l’heure actuelle, à la fois comme une forme radicalement différente de la prise de vues réelles, rattachée à une institution qui lui est propre, et à la fois comme une forme potentiellement assimilable au cinéma photographique, en particulier dans le cadre de certains films à effets spéciaux. L’enjeu est de creuser les racinesde cette relation singulière, de cette scission-assimilation comme nous choisissons de la nommer, qui s’explique selon des modalités à la fois historiques, théoriques et esthétiques, et que la forme hybride permet de mettre particulièrement en évidence. Notre objectif est d’analyser, à travers l’évolution de cette forme et l’usage qu’en dévoilent les films, l’émergence d’une séparation plus esthétique, discursive et institutionnelle que véritablement ontologique entre ce que divers mouvements historiques et entreprises théoriques ont pu contribuer à définir, tout au long de l’histoire du cinéma, comme deux régimes de représentation aussi séparés que potentiellement assimilables / This thesis proposes a study about the relation between animated cartoons and live-action cinema. We base it on the study of a hybrid cinematic form, presenting a mix or an encounter between graphic characters and real actors. This research tries to question, from early cinema to more contemporaneous experiments, the evolution of a form resting upon a technical frontier always moving at the whim of technological innovations and theoretical perspectives historically variables. While interesting ourselves as much in the films than in their reception and their production context, the objective is to reveal and understand the reasons why animation is seen, nowadays, equally as a form radically different from live-action, linked to an institution of its own, and equally as a form potentially assimilable to photographic cinema, particularly in the case of films based on special effects. We aim to dig in order to find the roots of this singular relation, of this scission-assimilation aswe chose to name it, that we can explain through historical, theoretical and aesthetical modalities, particularly lighten by the hybrid form. Our goal is to analyze, through the evolution of this form and its use revealed by the films, the emergence of a separation more aesthetical, discursive or institutional than really ontological between what several historical movements and theoretical enterprises have contributed to define, throughout the history of cinema, as two systems of representation as well separated than potentially assimilable

In this thesis the argument of a new visual language as a narrative device will be discussed and looked at, by analyzing four different TV-series in the science-fiction genre: Terra Nova 2011, Defiance 2013-, Doctor Who 1963 – 1989 and Doctor Who 2005-. It will be possible to see the use of digital visual effects as a narrator in the image. To do this one main question has been asked and to be able to answer that question a framework model has been created, consisting of seven different questions: How are DVFx used as a visual language in the TV-series? What key elements drive the TV-series forward? What influence did DVFx have on the TV-series? How is DVFx used in the series as a narrator? What does DVFx represent in the image? Could the series have been created without DVFx? Techno-enhancement, visual language or hybrid?

This thesis investigates the development of an animatronic robot with the objective of showing how modern animatronic models created as special effects have roots in models created during the scientific and mechanical revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries. It is noted that animatronic models that are available today have not been described in any great detail and most are covered by industrial secrecy. This project utilises technologies developed during the latter part of the 20th century and into the beginning of the 21st century to create the design of the animatronic robot. The objective of the project is to bring effective designs for animatronic robots into the public domain. The project will investigate a large variety of different mechanisms and apply them to various functioning parts of the model, with the design and method of each of these functions discussed. From this, one main part of the project, the jaw, will receive the focus of construction. Once the construction is complete this will be evaluated against what improvements and changes could be made for future iterations, with a revised design produced based on what has been learned.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Music Johannesburg 2016 / Recently, scholarly work in the field of film sound design has emphasised the crucial significance of sound in film. Writers such as Mark Underwood (2008), Larry Sider (2003) and Danijela Kulezic-Wilson (2008) have expressed the view that film sound design ought to be approached from a musical perspective substantiating this position through analytical discussions on the relatively musical use of sound design in scenes from films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) and Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000). Building upon the work of these and other scholars, this thesis investigates the varying ways in which music and foley sound design relate and interact within a film seeking to categorise with some specificity the various ways in which foley sound design can ascend beyond its ordinary remit and in so doing function in lieu of film music as well as in cooperation with it. I consider examples from, amongst others, The Godfather, parts one (1972) and two (1974) by Francis Ford Coppola and The Matrix (1999) by Ana and Lana Wachowski. In each chapter of part one of the thesis (which I call Take 1), I explore a particular aspect of the way in which foley makes known its capacity to function quasi-musically. Chapter one looks at Walter Murch’s concept of the metaphoric use of sound and how, through this technique, foley sound can be applied so as to fulfil roles more accustomed to film music in its stead. Chapter two details some of the ways in which film music and foley interact within a film. A crucial element of this discussion is the on going debate between scholars such as Michel Chion who disavow the existence of a soundtrack and others such as Rick Altman who contradict Chion on this matter. Chapter three looks at how otherworldly diegetic contexts help to encourage creativity in designing and applying foley sounds so as to further enhance its pre-discussed ability to act in film music’s stead while chapter four focuses on the voice as the soloist within the melee of sounds that constitute the film soundtrack. Part two (or Take 2) of the thesis consists of compositions written in response to some of the theories and concepts explored in the first part of the thesis including a ‘dramatic string quartet’ in which I attempt to realise in a musical composition some of the ideas discussed in all four of the chapters. I conclude the thesis by reflecting on the main insights uncovered throughout the thesis in addition to reflecting on the process of composing the pieces in relation to the relative success of the performances thereof. / GR2017

<p>One of the main problem areas within computer graphics is simulating natural phenomena’s, working with fluid solvers, and particle systems. In the special effects industry, there is a demand for mimicking appearance of common special effect such as fire, smoke, and water. Autodesk Maya and FumeFx are used for exploring those methods in creating smoke and fire simulations and implementing those into a</p><p>large dynamic system, while researching the possibility to efficiently control and modify an entire dynamic system on a per object level. Final production renders results are from both Maya and FumeFx.</p>