Line #55 Main/SpecialEffectsEvolution


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kong332now_1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:From StopMotion, to [[PeopleInRubberSuits Suitmation]], to [[ComputerGeneratedImages Zeroes and Ones]], he's come a long way.[[note]]Left: ''Film/KingKong1933''. Center: ''Film/KingKong1976''. Right: ''Film/KingKong2005'' [[/note]]]]
3	The inevitable fact that, as franchises go on, they will be given a special effects (very often, CGI) upgrade to compete with the times. Justified in the fact that many of today's sequels are of series from the 1980s or 1990s, where then-new CGI was often ditched in favor of actual explosions and stunts, and CGI is much safer (and cheaper) than, say, blowing up an entire office building. Often results in TheyChangedItNowItSucks if the CGI is [[SpecialEffectFailure poor or merely jarring]].
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5	!!Examples:
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11	* When the Pillsbury Doughboy debuted in 1965, he was created with stop-motion animation. He's been CGI since 1992.
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15	[[folder:Anime ]]
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17	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' has changed A LOT since its 1997 beginning. The movements of the characters are much more fluid, there's more computer-generated effects (especially the Pokémon's attacks which were originally drawn with the same animation), and the environments are much more colorful and vivid. For its fourteenth opening sequence, it was fully CG, while initially the show didn't even use digital ink and paint.
18	* This was one of the actual driving forces of the ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' Rebuild project. It was at its most striking in the first movie, which had a lot of redone original footage.
19	* ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'' had some well-modeled but pitifully primitively animated cel-shaded CGI. The "sorta sequel" ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' ditched the cel-shaded look, and still suffered from DullSurprise, but the animation was a definite step-up, especially the great looking and dynamic StockFootage shots (in ''Energon'', when a scene had to look good, they'd at times switch back to hand-drawn animation).
20	* In ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal,'' CelShaded {{CGI}} Sailor Guardian models are used in the {{Team Shot}}s that open and close the TitleSequence and in the {{Transformation Sequence}}s, which are elaborate CGI remakes of those from the [[Anime/SailorMoon 90's anime]].
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26	* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'': The original ''Film/TheTerminator'' was just a modestly budgeted film, albeit one with a rather convincing (if not in movement) T-800 "skeleton". Then came along ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', which had animatronics much more convincing than the "go motion" endoskeleton, and one of the more famous early uses of CGI involving seamless liquid metal effects of the T-1000. ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' even used CGI Terminators for the most part.
27	* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', made 19 years after ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' had a lot more CGI used in its action sequences.
28	* The ''Film/JamesBond'' series makes pretty good viewing to see how far special effects have come since 1962.
29	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
30	** The prequels and the re-mastered originals in comparison to the films from TheSeventies and TheEighties. So... much SceneryPorn. (Though that is not always the case.)
31	** In ''Film/ANewHope'', the lightsaber effect was partially done practically. A spinning rod covered in reflective material served as the blade on set, with an animated blade painted on top of it in post-production. For ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', it was decided that the post-production animated blade was enough, so they just used a plain pole for the on-set blade. This approach was maintained from ''Empire'' all the way through the prequel trilogy. From ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' onwards, LED blades are used on set, creating a practical glowing effect for the first time since 1977.
32	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'', as mentioned in the Live Action TV section.
33	* For the first three ''Film/DieHard'' movies, they all depended on actual explosions (with the exception of one scene in the first movie), miniatures and live ammunition. It's stated that the directors favored the real thing over the then-new CGI. Then ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' had its oil refinery explosion, the F-35 shredding a highway to bits and CGI cars flipping out.
34	* Commented on in ''Film/DeathProof'', where Stuntman Mike bemoans the fact that [=CGI=] has put stuntmen like him out of work. It's then fully averted in the final act, which features an epic car chase without a single bit of computer imaging.
35	* The shift from a simple quad bike to a hovering vehicle as the Mule between ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' and ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. WordOfGod states that the original intention was something similar for the TV show in the first place, but budget constraints wouldn't allow it.
36	** Also partially explained, in-story, with the original Mule being destroyed in the episode ''War Stories'', and the fancy new one being bought with the proceeds from the sale of the Lassiter.
37	* The ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' series has been going on for over fifty years, and started with men is rubber suits smashing miniature cities, evolving to men in rubber suits smashing miniature cities done BETTER!
38	** In the American versions, ''Film/{{Godzilla\|1998}}'' had a digital Godzilla that many found unconvincing. Not so much with the CGI of the Film/MonsterVerse's Film/{{Godzilla\|2014}}.
39	* ''Film/TronLegacy'', looks [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3efV2wqEjEY much darker and slicker]] than ''Film/{{Tron}}''. The special effects are also much improved, albeit in a much darker setting. This is especially notable since the first Tron film was one of the first major films of its time to use extensive computer graphics - and still most of the effects were {{rotoscoping}} instead of primitive CG. This can also be justified since ''Tron'' takes place in a video game world where it must have been [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1IpPpB3iWI upgraded into a newer setting.]]
40	* ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans\|2010}}'': The newer version uses computer animation as replacements for the stop-motion effects of [[Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981 the 1981 version]].
41	* ''Film/HarryPotter'':
42	** The movies started in 2001, so they used plenty of CGI from the start. However, the quantity and quality of the CGI increases with each film. It's telling that Creator/JimHensonsCreatureShop only worked on the first ''Potter'' film while ILM worked on every film in the series.
43	** A good way to observe the CGI evolution is by watching all of the quiddich games. The first film's quiddich scene and to a lesser extent the second film's look rather crude by today's standards, but the later ones are quite impressive.
44	** In ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', the floating candles in the Great Hall were done with wires. In fact, after Quirrell announces the troll in the dungeon, there's a close-up of [=McGonagall=] in which you can [[SpecialEffectsFailure plainly see the wires which the candles are suspended from]]. An accident with a falling candle prompted them to make the switch to CGI candles for safety reasons.
45	** For the first six films, the Hogwarts exterior was [[MiniatureEffects a large model built at 1/24th scale]]. For ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Part 2'', they switched to a CGI version in order to properly create the Battle of Hogwarts.
46	* In ''Film/IronMan'', there was both the digital and the practical suit. In the sequel, the practical suit was used without the lower part (i.e. the legs and such are CG) as it was hard to wear and unconvicing. In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', every time Tony Stark is wearing his suit it's a CG version.
47	* ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' has two: from [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968 the original series]] to the Creator/TimBurton [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001 2001 reinvention]], the evolution of make-up; from the 2001 movie to ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'', the evolution of CG (which in the latter is used to create the apes themselves).
48	* ''Film/TheThing2011'' had many practical effects akin to [[Film/TheThing1982 the 1982 version]], but production problems led digital abominations to be the ones with most screentime.
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53	* ''Series/DoctorWho'' ends up being something of a microcosm for the BBC as a whole, with its style slowly developing from 'televised theatre' to 'cinematic'.
54	** Happened quite a few times in the classic series:
55	*** There's a rather large bump between Seasons 1 (1963-4) and 2(1964-5), as the budget got boosted when the BBC realised they had a hit on their hands. Everything in Season 1 (with the exception of a minute of location footage in the last story of the season, shot with a location double) is shot in a tiny and rather run-down little sound stage, but Season 2 is able to experiment with bigger sets (including some location filming), better props (benefiting from PropRecycling from the Amicus [[Film/DrWhoAndTheDaleks Dalek]] [[Film/DaleksInvasionEarth2150AD movies]]), more elaborate set-pieces (a chase sequence through the streets of London!) and so on.
56	*** Editing became a lot cheaper during Season 5 (1967-8) and 6 (1968-9), which enabled them to do things that had been impossible before. "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E4TheEnemyOfTheWorld Enemy of the World]]" has DoubleVision, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E7TheWheelInSpace The Wheel in Space]]" has a lovely MatchCut, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E5TheSeedsOfDeath The Seeds of Death]]" has StopTrick used for only parts of the screen while other characters move in the foreground, and so on.
57	*** While the effects remain at about the same level as they were before, there's a massive bump in quality of the fight scene choreography in Season 7 (1970) caused by a lead actor who was a martial artist and liked to [[NoStuntDouble do his own stunts]] whenever possible, talent inflow from various SpyFiction series of the era, and HAVOC, a newly-formed group of young, gifted stunt performers who became the BBC's go-to stunt people for the era. The sets also become more convincing due to more limited settings (meaning more detail could go into recurring sets like the UNIT HQ), [[BackedByThePentagon the UK military giving them extras and equipment]] and more location filming.
58	*** What seems now to be a SpecialEffectsFailure was occasionally a SpecialEffectsEvolution at the time, such as the massive use of unnecessary [[ChromaKey CSO]] during Barry Letts' era.
59	*** The set design is kicked up a notch from Season 12 (1975) starting from the stunning cryonic chamber in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]" (which was so expensive to construct they were forced to spend most of the plot there). Season 13 (1975-6) is similarly gorgeous, with the jungle in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E2PlanetOfEvil Planet of Evil]]" and Solon's castle in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius The Brain of Morbius]]" being particular high points. A new production schedule from Season 13 onwards also meant the location shooting was now done in summer rather than winter, which means the exteriors are much prettier, flowerier and more colourful ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars Pyramids of Mars]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E4TheAndroidInvasion The Android Invasion]]" particularly benefit). It was, unfortunately, all kicked back down again in Season 15 (1977) due to slashed budgets and the UK recession, to depressing levels (like building sets entirely out of [[ChromaKey CSO]]ed miniatures because they couldn't afford real ones).
60	*** Advances in camera technology allowed for murkier, grainier, almost 'film-look' video shots in Season 12 onwards, allowing the team to turn the lights right down for the first time. This was very helpful for the show's GenreShift into GothicHorror. See "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E1HorrorOfFangRock Horror of Fang Rock]]" for stunning dark video shots.
61	*** There's a large bump in Season 18 (1980-1), caused by a new production team eager to establish a 'polished' look, new technical innovations becoming available to the show (like a new system which allowed them to [[ChromaKey CSO]] actors into model shots and have the camera move), advances in SFX makeup, better editing technology that meant that they could do cinematic-style editing cheaply, and some early analogue colour processing.
62	*** The last four seasons (1986-9) featured a large advance in effects from the previous couple of seasons (a lot of which is still convincing today). This is due to the increasing use of CGI in the film industry pushing extremely talented PracticalEffects experts and puppeteers into less prestigious work in television. Some primitive CGI was also available, and due to its significant expense was used only where necessary, meaning much of it still looks good. The bump may have been even more noticeable had the budget not been slashed following the 18-month hiatus.
63	** A lot of fans found it very jarring when the new series premiered (2005) and the spaceships and aliens actually ''looked'' like spaceships and aliens, and none of the props were made out of egg cartons and bubble wrap any more. The new series also lacks the 'soap opera effect' due to digital technology meaning they could shoot on video and 'filmise' it to make it look expensive.
64	** The new series has a subtle, but visible evolution continually across the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctor's eras.
65	** The Twelfth Doctor's era uses less in the way of CGI and more PracticalEffects, due to a less experienced CGI team and a reduced budget. Whether it's a strict improvement depends on your taste, but the focus on physical props prevents the CGI having to compete with the much more expensive effects in things like ''Series/GameOfThrones'' and gives the show its own unique visual character. The practical effects are easily the best looking in the series' history, and allow the actors to do more.
66	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'', has been in near-constant production with films and TV series since the 1970s.
67	** The Remastered [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Original Series]] in particular.
68	** The [[Film/StarTrek2009 2009 film]], to, well, ''anything else''.
69	** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was converted to HD using the original film, requiring the replacement of the effects that were only on the digital video tape, requiring editing of effects from the 35mm negatives, and replacement of any effect done just on tape. Including the Transporter, Replicator, phasers, shields and some planets. The ships, originally done on 35mm, were digitally recomposited. On top of all that, a few matte paintings were recreated.
70	** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' lasted long enough for CGI effects to become affordable. The ''Defiant'' was introduced as a model, but by the final seasons was done in CGI. Similarly, the Borg battle seen in the pilot (all model work, only a couple ships on screen at once) was positively ''sedate'' compared with the giant starship battles from the Dominion War (all CGI, scores of ships on screen at once).
71	* The first six series of ''Series/RedDwarf'' were filmed with models. Then during the 3-year hiatus between series VI and series VII, CGI became much cheaper. Series VII featured all-CGI effects. However because of the poor reception to the CG, Series X went back to using models for the ships. This gives those shots a feel similar to Series I-VI while CG is used in other areas. Back to Earth before it used a CG ship, but only due to the small budget it had.
72	** To give the earlier seasons a bit of a polish, they went back and re-mastered them, replacing the model shots with the new-model CGI, adding sparkle to the in-scene effects, and so on. The re-mastered episodes were roundly denounced, mainly due to the CGI effects being not up to the quality of the old model shots. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen They were originally going to use a brand new model]], but it ended up being far too large for the studio and was later used in Series X.
73	%%* ''Series/BabylonFive'' suffers from this a lot.
74	* The effects of ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' and its sequels have gone through a spectacular evolution beginning from 1999 to 2005. While very good for their time, the effects in the original series have aged quite a bit, and the closeups of the CGI dinosaurs looked rather textureless and plastic-like, which is why the bulk of these closeup shots were realized using [[PracticalEffects animatronics]], and there was a lot of noticeable clipping and use of ObscuredSpecialEffects. They got more ambitious for ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'', although mostly out of necessity; with mammals, and to a lesser extent, birds, as the focus, they now had to animate a lot of shaggy fur and feathers instead of smooth, scaly skin. The computer graphics of the series had advanced so much by the time ''Series/WalkingWithMonsters'' was released, that even CGI closeups looked magnificently lifelike.
75	** ''Series/TheBalladOfBigAl'': When compared to [[Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs the original series]], the dinosaur models are more detailed, the puppets are more convincing, and most notably the shots are far more dynamic with a lot of camera movement, something the original series was keen to avoid. There's also a lot less use of composited bushes and shrubs to hide foot contacts.
76	* {{Tokusatsu}} is an obvious example, given that the genre as such (primarily ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and the ''Franchise/KamenRider'' franchise) have been around since the 1970s. Evolution can be found on the small scale too: compare the transformation effects in 2000's ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'' to the giant monster versus CoolTrain battles in 2007's ''Series/KamenRiderDenO''.
77	** It's especially noticeable during a ReunionShow, when you get to see past characters do their favorite attacks with today's technology. When powers from the 70s or 80s show up in ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' and ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'', your jaw will drop.
78	** In ''Movie Wars Megamax,'' the ''original seven'' Kamen Riders appear. The franchise began in ''1971.'' If you think 2000's ''Kuuga's'' effects are a bit cooler in 2009's ''Decade,'' try the ''first'' Rider's effects in 2012. Each got to use special attacks and finishers and they looked ''spectacular.'' Especially since some of them (especially the first three) never had ''any'' special effects for their attacks. X and Stronger especially; if you're used to [[PowerGlows flashiness equaling power]] and so underestimate the old Riders, today's the day you'll believe that the modern Riders have nothing on at least those two.
79	** Speaking of new looks for the same tricks, there's a ''world'' of difference between mecha and vehicle action between now and the old days. Used to be, heroes' vehicles vs. enemy air/tank force would be the same three or four swooping movements on either side put together different ways. Villain air and tank forces then largely disappeared for ages. Then the moth-vehicles in ''Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger'' arrived. Thanks to the wonders of modern CGI, they can do a lot more than such forces could ever do before. It happened a lot faster for American fans, where the special effects were a bit spiffier. The three-or-four-motion plane fights in ''Series/VRTroopers'' and ''Series/{{Beetleborgs}}'' give way to ''Franchise/StarWars'' class dogfighting in ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace''.
80	** Though in this case, ''VR Troopers'' was adapted from [[Series/ChoujinkiMetalder three]] [[Series/JikuuSenshiSpielban different]] [[Series/SpaceSheriffShaider shows]] made in the mid-to-late 1980s, while ''In Space''[='s=] [[Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger source material]] came from 1997-8 (''Beetleborgs''[='s=] [[Series/JuukouBFighter source]] [[Series/BFighterKabuto material]] was only a couple of years older at most, and featured slightly more-advanced fighting sequences).
81	** The Command Center set used for ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' was very simplistic looking. By the time it got bombed and rebuilt as the Power Chamber for the beginning of ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'', the show had a much bigger budget, meaning the new Power Chamber set was much more elaborate. Subsequent homebase sets and other interiors during the Saban era became more intricate and detailed, the trend continuing throughout the rest of the franchise.
82	* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' the colored demon eyes were originally done with colored contact lenses, which left the actors virtually blind. This made for some nice footage for the blooper reel, but the actors often had difficulty hitting their marks when they could not see. In later seasons this practical effect is usually replaced by CGI.
83	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had this all over the place over the course the seven seasons, but it's especially noticeable in the vampire dustings, which evolved from the vampires suddenly vanishing into brown blurs to the vampires turning into skeletons which then disintegrated.
84	* Not specifically special effects, but film technology in general. The BBC nature documentary ''Series/PlanetEarth'' made its 2nd series 10 years after the first specifically because advances in cameras and other tools would allow them to get better footage and better explore the same locals they had covered in the first series. The improvement in palpable, and each episode of the 2nd series ends with a 20 minute "making of" portion where they detail the hardest shooting they endured.
85	* ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'' benefitted from more advanced puppetry than 1982's ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' (notably, the Gelflings are more expressive), as well as CGI for some effects that can't be rendered any other way or to hide puppeteers better.
86	* ''Series/TheMandalorian'': Grogu/"The Child" is a bit of a subversion in that Creator/JonFavreau was tempted to use CGI instead of an animatronic puppet, but was eventually convinced to go with the puppet by Creator/WernerHerzog. The puppet itself is a pinnacle in its field, costing a hefty $5 million to build, and it is way more advanced than similar creatures it's been compared to such as Gizmo from ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', itself a more advanced version than that of the [[Film/{{Gremlins}} first film]].
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91	* Parodied in the ''{{WesternAnimation/Freakazoid}}'' episode "The Curse of Invisibo". When he first appears, the titular villain is portrayed by a staff suspended from obvious wires, and the narrator interrupts, asking the audience to pretend that it's scary. After a couple of minutes, the narrator comes back and says they've successfully embarrassed a bigger FX budget out of the network, at which point the staff now seems to float and [[PowerGlows glow]] on its own.
92	* In the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse and [[WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies similar DC Comics adaptations]], the use of conspicuous CGI backgrounds and vehicles has continued, but is done much better nowadays. Compare the Batwing in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndMisterFreezeSubZero'' to the Batwing in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood''.
93	* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' (as well as most of [[Creator/RainmakerEntertainment Mainframe Entertainment's]] early output) looked very crude in its first season, but season 2 provided a notable visual boost with the more detailed backdrops and the new, more robotic-looking character designs. Season 3 saw yet another upgrade, with lush jungle sceneries, convincing underwater scenes and far more fluid animation. Also, whereas the organic animal modes were clearly composed of several separate parts in season 1, solid, better deforming animation models were introduced later on.
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Context Main / SpecialEffectsEvolution