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10 Visual Effects That Changed Cinema Forever!

There will always be stories when you go to the movies, but it’s special effects that truly mark the passage of time in the annals of cinema. These groundbreaking visual effects opened the door to new eras of innovative filmmaking. Do you remember the first time you saw them? Relive the magic moments…

The film: ‘A Trip To The Moon’ (1902)
 

The effect: Georges Méliès puts a man on the Moon

Cinema itself was a special effect back at the turn of the 20th century, thanks mainly to innovator and technological pioneer Georges Méliès, who ushered in a new era of filmmaking with his 1902 short film. This was sci-fi before Christopher Nolan’s great-great-great-great grandaddy was but a twinkle in his great-great-great-great-great grandaddy’s eye: the 13-minute short tells the tale of a group of astronomers who travel to the Moon in a cannon-powered rocket, complete with special effects considered lavish for the time. The crowning moment – a scene imitated for over 100 years – sees the rocket land in the man in the Moon’s eye. Okay, so it’s no 'Gravity’, but bear in mind this was cinema with one eye on the stars at a time before even the first manned flight had taken place.

The film: 'King Kong’ (1933)
 

The effect: Stop-motion animation

Animation is a medium modern audiences taken for granted, but it has come on leaps and bounds since its first baby steps. Stop-motion animation – the act of posing a model, shooting one frame, moving it slightly then shooting again ad infinitum – had been used in movies before Merian C. Cooper’s creature feature, most notably 1925’s dino pic 'The Lost World’, but none used it quite so memorably as he in 1933: no mere man in a monkey suit, Cooper’s King Kong was a fearsome beast that felt every bit as alive as Peter Jackson’s CG creation over 70 years later. The technique was later refined by the likes of Ray Harryhausen, who used it to thrilling effect in adventure movies like 'Jason And The Argonauts’, but they key was always emotion: animators would only move the characters if they knew the characters would move us.

The film: 'Star Wars’ (1977)
 

The effect: Creating a galaxy far, far away

It’s hard to fathom a world before 'Star Wars’ existed – for certain younger generations it has been nothing less than ever-present. Older generations, however, will remember the sheer giddy thrill they felt in the opening seconds of George Lucas’s space opera, when the Blockade Runner zooms into view, swiftly followed by the gargantuan Star Destroyer vessel hoving into the picture, dwarfing the Rebel ship in its sights. Lucas has long been a visual effects pioneer and in founding Industrial Light & Magic in 1975, laid the groundwork for several stunning special effects benchmarks to come. 'Star Wars’ represented the perfect blend of miniatures, practical effects and digital inserts: the sense of immersion was total and all-conquering. Love him or hate him, Lucas is the grandfather of modern movie VFX.

The film: 'An American Werewolf In London’ (1981)
 

The effect: Werewolf transformation

There is no sub-genre of movie that better argues the case of practical effects versus digital effects than the werewolf movie. When was the last time you saw a werewolf movie with a truly shocking transformation scene? Chances are anything made in the last 20 years has relied on CG to turn man into wolf, painting over the pain with pixels: it’s just not the same. John Landis’ lupine adventure, however, expertly utilised practical effects to create a werewolf transformation that still makes audiences uncomfortable 34 years later. Rick Baker was the man who made the magic happen, with all manner of prosthetics and animatronics; the Academy were so creeped out by the infamous scene, they dusted off the category of Outstanding Makeup in its honour. Baker has won the award six times since.

The film: 'Tron’ (1982)
 

The effect: CGI

“Without 'Tron’, there would be no 'Toy Story’,” says John Lasseter, who knows a thing or two about animation milestones himself. Computer-generated imagery – or CGI in today’s parlance – was still in its infancy in the early 80s; it was more of an experimental technique than a proper tool in the filmmaker’s arsenal. 'Tron’ changed all that. The painstakingly-created digital world – an aesthete’s dream of jet black and neon reds and blues – was a marvel of modern technology and opened the doors for those forward-thinking filmmakers willing to take their computer experiments further. Bizarrely, the Academy refused to recognise Tron’s achievement in the field of special effects; they thought the use of computers was “cheating”. And people think the Academy is out of touch…

The film: 'Young Sherlock Holmes’ (1985)
 

The effect: The first CGI character

Not even hardcore Holmes fans will own up to loving this 1985 flop, but 'Young Sherlock Holmes’ will always have a place in cinematic history. The film, directed by Barry Levinson with special effects provided by a young John Lasseter, was the first to contain a photo-real computer-generated character. The effect of a knight formed from the pieces of a stained-glass window is still an eye-opener today, but back in 1985 it was nothing less than a revelation: proof that CGI could and would revolutionise blockbuster filmmaking. Some years later, James Cameron, with the help of ILM, took the techniques learned on 'Young Sherlock Holmes’ to create two more terrifying CG characters: the pseudopod in 1989’s 'The Abyss’, and the liquid metal T-1000 in 1991’s 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day’. And the best was yet to come…

The film: 'Jurassic Park’ (1993) 

The effect: CG makes stop-motion extinct

The story goes that upon seeing the CG dinosaurs created by ILM’s Dennis Muren, 'Jurassic Park’’s stop-motion animator Phil Tippett remarked to director Steven Spielberg “I think I’m extinct!” Computer-generated imagery had evolved beyond Hollywood’s wildest dreams in less than a decade, and 'Jurassic Park’’s dinosaurs – particularly the rampaging T-Rex – rubber-stamped the new technology, announcing that it was here to stay. When combined with the animatronic work of Stan Winston, the ILM dinosaurs looked realer than real – even today it’s difficult to differentiate between the digital and practical effects. Like 'The Lost World’ in 1925, 'Jurassic Park’ did the impossible and brought dinosaurs back to life, to the delight of audiences worldwide.

The film: 'The Matrix’ (1999)
 

The effect: Bullet-time

The Wachowski siblings had lofty ambitions indeed – they wanted to free their movies from the shackles of traditional filmmaking and to set their camera free. 'The Matrix’ was a movie of many a great achievement – perhaps the most impressive was making Keanu Reeves a star again – but the bullet-time effect was the best of the lot: an impossibly dazzling 360 degree shot that circled its star in slow-motion as he limboed under bullets. Bullet-time was achieved by setting up a circular rig of several dozen cameras, all poised to shoot sequentially, allowing the camera to appear untethered. As technologically advanced as the technique was, the most important thing was that it looked bloody cool.

The film: 'The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers’ (2002)
 

The effect: Motion-capture

Arguably, George Lucas was the first man to commit to a fully-CGI lead character in a mainstream movie, but the fact he did so with Jar-Jar Binks kind of diminishes that achievement. Three years later, however, and Peter Jackson’s WETA took the throne with Gollum: an eye-rubbingly realistic CG addition to Tolkien’s fantasy epic. The reason Gollum worked where Jar-Jar did not was down to the pioneering use of motion-capture, or performance capture, as the pros prefer to call it. Andy Serkis suffered the indignity of wearing a suit covered in ping-pong balls while on set, but the finished product was jaw-dropping. Gollum kickstarted the performance capture craze of the 00s and Serkis became the go-to guy for breathing life into digital creatures such as King Kong and Godzilla.

The film: 'Avatar’
 

The effect: 3D comes of age

3D has, of course, been around for donkeys years, albeit in the crude form of crappy paper spectacles and blurry blue and red visuals. James Cameron doesn’t roll like that. The director actually had to wait for technology to catch up to his vision of a 3D fantasy epic: 'Avatar’ was the first movie to create a three-dimensional world it actually felt like you could step into and explore. Combining bleeding edge performance capture with state-of-the-art 3D – using brand new techniques created specifically for the film – 'Avatar’ proved itself to be more than just a gimmick and went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time. It is the sole reason you still have to pay £1.50 for glasses every time you go to the cinema, but few movies give you your money’s worth quite as much as 'Avatar’ did.

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This Warren Buffett rule can work wonders on your portfolio!

Ask Warren Buffett for the single most powerful factor behind his investing success, and he’d respond “compound interest” — without skipping a beat.

He’s been preaching this for six decades, and it’s made him a billionaire. And it’s something every investor can copy.

Beginning in 1956, Buffett spent 14 years as general partner of Buffett Partners Ltd., the hedge-fund-like entity he ran before dedicating himself fully as Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s BRK.A, -1.03% BRK.B, -0.88%   chairman and CEO. This also marked the beginning of his side career as a teacher. 

Buffett has always liked writing letters to teach investing principles. Using his typical wit and easy-to-understand style, he started his first lesson on compound interest to the inventors in his partnership by humorously calling into question the soundness of Queen Isabella’s decision to fund Christopher Columbus’s expedition to find a new route to Asia. “Aside from the psychic income associated with discovering the New World,” he wrote in a letter in 1963, “it wasn’t exactly another IBM (a stock that was doing very well at the time).”

As he figured, had the queen opted instead to invest the $30,000 at 4% instead, it would be worth over $7 trillion today. Such is the remarkable power of compound interest, which Einstein called the eighth wonder of the world. Even modest amounts, when allowed to compound at relatively low rates but over long periods of time, add up to really staggering sums.

Buffett was intent on pounding this idea into his partners’ understanding of what matters in investing.

His second story on compound interest takes a look at King Francis’ decision to commission the Mona Lisa in 1516. The math works out to show that Ferdinand’s $20,000 would be worth well over a $1 quadrillion if he’d only manage to invest it at a 6% annual rate instead.

Buffett said he hoped this figures would “close the discussion of art as investment in our home” (his late wife was a collector and gallery owner for a time).

In yet another humorous letter on compounding, Buffett inspects who got the better deal, Peter Minuit or the Manhattan Indians, who sold their island for $24 In 1626. When he wrote the letter in 1965, Buffett figured the land value of the island was roughly $12.5 billion, which worked out to a 6.12% compounded annual gain. Not bad. However, had the “Tribal Mutual Fund” managed to earn 6.5% instead, their $24 would have been worth $42 billion. If they could have squeaked out yet another half-percentage point a year and get 7%, the value jumps to $205 billion.

This is Buffett’s way of demonstrating the enormous impact from even modestly higher rates of compounding over long periods of time. An extra percentage point a year may not seem like a lot when viewed in isolation, but as you can see from the example, the cumulative impact of a minor change can be enormous.

Acting rationally, consistently, while harnessing the power of compound interest over a very long period of time is what has made Buffett perhaps the most successful investor of all time. Why not harness it for yourself? Start early and think long term.

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Foods to eat, and avoid for a good night’s sleep!

According to a new study, dark chocolate may help you sleep better - that is because the Magnesium found in dark chocolate helps regulate the body clock, and thus, improve sleep quality. In fact, how well you sleep is, most often, a product of your food habits, and so it is a good idea to watch what you are eating, in order to be able to sleep well. 

Here is what you can eat to bring on a good night’s sleep, and what you should avoid:

Warm milk and other dairy products: The good old advise of drinking warm milk before going to sleep, holds true for other dairy products as well. This is because they contain a sleep inducing substance known as Tryptophan, that helps in the production of the chemicals, melatonin and serotonin, which help put you off to sleep. Try a spoon of honey with your milk – since both contain Trytophan, the combination is sure to give you a good sleep. Yogurt is another good option for helping you sleep.

Fish: According to an article published in the New York Academy of Sciences, fish helps bring on a good night’s sleep. Fish such as tuna and salmon contain vitamin B6, needed to make melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone.

High Glycaemic Index food: According to studies, carbohydrate rich foods, which contain a high Glycaemic Index (GI) – a measure of how quickly carbohydrates are broken down into sugar in the blood - may help induce sleep. This is because food containing high GI increases the level of proteins which are used to make the sleep inducing hormone serotonin. So if you find it difficult to sleep at night, try having carbohydrate rich food such as rice.

Cereal: If you feel hungry in the night, try having a bowl of cereal with milk. The combination of milk (Trytophan) and cereals (carbohydrates) helps induce sleep. The calcium from the milk also helps regulate the muscle movement.

Herbal teas: Herbal teas such as chamomile, passion flower tea, etc, help calm the mind and induce sleep. This is because, according to research, drinking tea increases glycine, which is a chemical that helps relax the nerves and muscles, hence acting as a sedative.

Food rich in Magnesium: According to the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, consuming too little Magnesium can impair your sleep. Hence, opt for food that is rich in Magnesium, such as nuts, whole grains such as barley, dark leafy vegetables and fish. Dark chocolates also contain Magnesium.   

Bananas: Bananas are rich in vitamin B6 (needed to make melatonin), thus helping to bring on sleep. They also contain magnesium and potassium – both of which are known to be muscle relaxants.

Cherries: Cherries – both fresh and dried, are great fruits to snack on in the night as they help to naturally boost the melatonin levels in the body, hence helping you sleep better. Tart cherries are even better options.

Chickpeas: Chickpeas are a good source of Vitamin B6, which helps boost melatonin levels in the body, and the sleep inducing tryptophan, and thus helps to bring on quality sleep. 

What to avoid:

Some foods may harm your sleep, and hence are best avoided at night:

Foods rich in tyramine: The amino acid, tyramine, causes the adrenal glands to secret noradrenaline – a brain stimulant, which can make you alert, or anxious and can seriously hamper with your sleep. Foods that contain tyramine include vegetables such as tomatoes, brinjals, potatoes, wine and processed cheese or meats such as pork.

Alcohol: While one would believe that a bit of alcohol may help you sleep better, too much alcohol can disrupt the body’s natural sleep rhythm. It tends to dehydrate the body, making you feel more thirsty at night, and also causes the blood sugar levels to dip.

Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage: These leafy vegetables, though good for you otherwise, are high on fiber, and hence in some cases, may cause the build up of excess gas – leading to bloating and abdominal cramps.

Processed junk food: This is a no brainer – processed foods which are high on sugar and fats, increase the production of acids in the stomach – leading to heartburn and indigestion. The result - apart from a bad stomach, you may also end up waking up from your sleep feeling sluggish and lethargic. 

Coffee: Come exam time, and most people drink coffee to stay up. The reason is that coffee contains caffeine, which is a nervous stimulant. While people differ in their caffeine tolerance levels, it is best to skip coffee altogether at night.

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