Digital Visual Effects in Cinema
ISBN: 9780813552187
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / Rutgers University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters
Subjects: Cinematography; Cinematography; Digital cinematography.; Motion pictures; Motion picture industry;

Avatar. Inception. Jurassic Park. Lord of the Rings. Ratatouille . Not only are these some of the highest-grossing films of all time, they are also prime examples of how digital visual effects have transformed Hollywood filmmaking. Some critics, however, fear that this digital revolution marks a radical break with cinematic tradition, heralding the death of serious realistic movies in favor of computer-generated pure spectacle.

Digital Visual Effects in Cinema counters this alarmist reading, by showing how digital effects-driven films should be understood as a continuation of the narrative and stylistic traditions that have defined American cinema for decades. Stephen Prince argues for an understanding of digital technologies as an expanded toolbox, available to enhance both realist films and cinematic fantasies. He offers a detailed exploration of each of these tools, from lighting technologies to image capture to stereoscopic 3D. Integrating aesthetic, historical, and theoretical analyses of digital visual effects, Digital Visual Effects in Cinema is an essential guide for understanding movie-making today.

STEPHEN PRINCE is a professor at Virginia Tech. He has written or edited numerous books, including Classical Film Violence: Designing and Regulating Brutality in Hollywood Cinema , 1930-1968; The Horror Film ; and American Cinema of the 1980s: Themes and Variations , all published by Rutgers University Press.


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