The Avengers - Special Effects

A film that required half a decade of solo prequels to build character ( in the case of Iron Man, literally), The Avengers was released last year to enormous box office success. A movie that combines all of Marvels greatest superheroes in the ultimate culmination of action and geekdom. As the previous movies have already introduced the characters, the film takes off with a running start and incorporates special effects throughout it's entirety very well.

 Seeing as the film is based on comic book heroes with super powers brought to life on the big screen, a large company with computer animated experience was required to provide the special effects. Enter Industrial Light & Magic, a company with a grade A track record of special effects in some of the biggest blockbusters including Iron Man 1 and 2, Transformers 1, 2 and 3, Rango and Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith to name a few.

Using various software tools alongside green screens and live action movement from the actors and actresses, Industrial Light & Magic created a special effects experience like no other that not only caused The Avengers to become one of the worlds highest grossing movies, beaten only by James Cameron's Avatar and Titanic, but also won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects.

One of the biggest challenges in The Avengers was animating The Hulk. A by product of a nuclear radiation gone wrong, The Hulk was perhaps the most difficult character to animate due to his size and nature.

Spider-Man and the Special Effects

When the first movie in the Spider-Man series came out, it created quite a stir due to the over the top stunt sequences and the brilliant graphics that were incorporated into this movie. John Dyskstra, one of the best special effects directors in the Hollywood business at present was hired to do the visual effects of the film. Dyskstra was the one who actually convinced the director to use computer generated images for the dare devil stunt sequences of the lead superhero as well as the villains in the film, because otherwise, these stunts would have been very hard to produce physically and even if they were produced, they would not have the same effect.

The very famous Spider-Man swing from building to building, lovingly described as 'ballet in the sky' by the director was the best work of the special effects team, something that improved further in the next two installments of the series. The effect was created by strapping a stuntman, or sometimes Spider-Man himself, actor Andrew Garfield, to a wire "no thicker than a bootlace" 60 feet in the air, which was connected to a winch on a rail. When they'd jump and reach the bottom of their swing, the winch would move down the rail, giving them a nice clean arc and unquestionably solid underwear.

The brilliant use of special effects is probably one of the reasons why the Spider-Man movies drew so much crowd and went on to become one of the most successful movie franchises of all time in Hollywood. Spider Man is easily one of the top most superhero movies, although the special effects work of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are far more superior to it.

How to Recreate the Joker's makeup from The Dark Knight movie

The Dark Knight (2008)

Make-up is a key element in the overall design of films or television productions, creating a look for the characters in relation to social class, and time periods, and any other elements required to create the desired illusion. Make-up is responsible for the overall design, application, continuity and care of make-up throughout the pre-production and production periods. 

Makeup plays a huge role in "The Dark Knight,” especially for the role of the Joker. The Dark Knight is a 2008 British–American superhero film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan.



John Caglione gives instructions to the audience to apply their own Joker make-up:

      1.Apply the white face paint first. Dab the makeup sponge into the white cream, then apply generously to your face. Try blotting as you move around, so that it creates an uneven effect. Make sure to cover your entire face, including your eyelids and your forehead. You may have to get some in your hair to be able to reach your hairline. You don't want skin to show through.

     2.Take gray face paint and use your finger to dot it on your forehead and under your bottom lip and chin. Use just a few dabs--not too much! Then smudge it in with your fingers. This creates the messy shadows you see on the Joker: His face is not completely white. Alternatively, you can use a tiny makeup paintbrush, made for face paint, and draw squiggly lines across your forehead before smudging them in.

    3. Rub black face paint across your eyelids and under your eyes. Make it especially dark under your eyes. Then continue to rub above your eyes and into your eyebrows.

    4. Take the paintbrush and cover your lips with red face paint. Use your fingers to apply large lines of red from the corners of your mouth up toward your cheeks in a large grin. Then smear it around, especially on your lips downward under your chin.