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SFX Sequence Analysis #1

Film: Jason & The Argonauts.
Focus	Notes
Fitness for purpose – is the SFX suitable? Does the effect fit the sequence? Would it have been better done another way?	The SFX is suitable as the scene is very realistic because of the animation used on the skeletons which are connected near perfectly with the sounds of movement. A lot of work was put into the animations due to the movie being produced before really good technology was around. Today, technology has improved since the creation of this film and scene. If the film was remade it could be re-created to look even more realistic and believable because of all the new technology.
Role of SFX co-coordinator – Who is the SFX co-coordinator? (use IMDb) What was their role in making the SFX?	The SFX coordinator was Ray Harryhausenm, who spent months creating some scenes as all of the models and photos of movement had to be correct. He wanted everything to be perfect as he only really got one shot at making the skeletons better and believable as an animation.
Function of SFX – what is the function of the SFX? What impact is it meant to have in the sequence? How do you think spectators are meant to respond?	The function of the SFX is to create a believable fight scene, which otherwise do not exist in this, the SFX is made to show that the actors were fighting nothing until the animations were put in. If this SFX was not used, the scene wouldn’t be as impressive as it is meaning audiences wouldn’t be able to understand or appreciate the film.
Its aesthetic appeal to the audience – How does the SFX help to create meaning for the audience? Does it look effective? How does it fit within the wider sequence?	The SFX looks very effective as all motions between the humans and skeletons are synchronised meaning the scene is very believable and realistic. Also the sound effects  are very realistic to what an actual fight would sound like.
The realisation of SFX including the materials, processes & techniques used in its construction – How was the SFX designed? How was it made? What was its purpose?	The skeletons were animated using stop-motion. This means that hundreds of photos are taken, with the model moving slightly after every shot. After combining the photos together, it creates the effect of the model actually moving. This is actually a lot of hard work and due to not having a lot of technology this is very impressive because it would have also taken up a lot of data storage.

SFX Sequence Analysis #2

Film: American Werewolf in London
Focus	Notes
Fitness for purpose – is the SFX suitable? Does the effect fit the sequence? Would it have been better done another way?	The SFX is suitable and effective as it has allowed the Scene to show a full transformation of a man turning into a werewolf using very successful SFX which has an effect on the audience
Role of SFX co-ordinator – Who is the SFX co-ordinator? (use imdb) What was their role in making the SFX?	The SFX co-ordinator on the film was Rick Baker, who managed to create realistic prosthetic makeup, in the exact design of what the director was imagining.
Function of SFX – what is the function of the SFX? What impact is it meant to have in the sequence? How do you think spectators are meant to respond?	The function of the SFX it to create a realistic looking werewolf that transformed from a human. This is supposed to really create emotion and good reactions to the audience as they wouldn’t think that a normal human has changed into something so disgusting only using good SFX. The sound effects made the VFXs a lot more real because it showed the pain he had to go through with the transformation
Its aesthetic appeal to the audience – How does the SFX help to create meaning for the audience? Does it look effective? How does it fit within the wider sequence?	The SFX is well used as it is very realistic and believable. Since the movie being created, a lot more and better technology has been released that could have made this scene a lot more realistic than it already is because the effects used where the best of the time
The realisation of SFX including the materials, processes & techniques used in its construction – How was the SFX designed? How was it made? What was its purpose?	The SFX involved prosthetic makeup and hair which is very simple, but also very effective because it added a sense of realism. The werewolf was a large puppet which the actor could climb inside and play the role of a werewolf. This turned out to be very effective and the movie got a lot of attention for he SFX that it used because of how real the transformation and also the SFXs used where.

SFX Sequence Analysis #3

Film: Star Wars – A New Hope
Focus	Notes
Fitness for purpose – is the SFX suitable? Does the effect fit the sequence? Would it have been better done another way?	The SFX in this scene is very effective as it creates very realistic scenes including things such as being in space, lasers and explosions. With the improvement in technology since 1977, therefore more scenes can use more effective methods of SFX to make them more believable and realistic. Nowadays more and more movies are using the latest technology to get the most believable scenes and animations for the SFX.
Role of SFX co-ordinator – Who is the SFX co-ordinator? (use imdb) What was their role in making the SFX?	There were many people who worked on SFX in Star Wars. One was Bruce Logan, who was set out the task of blowing up things. One example in the scene is when the ‘Death Star’ explodes, which required pyrotechnics. This allowed a small model of the Death Star to be safely blown up in front of a green screen to give the illusion of being in space.
Function of SFX – what is the function of the SFX? What impact is it meant to have in the sequence? How do you think spectators are meant to respond?	The function of the SFX is to create realistic and futuristic looking fight scenes in space. The impact is to make the audience feel as if they were in the scene out of space. The impact is to also make it seem real and to give the audience an adrenalin rush.
Its aesthetic appeal to the audience – How does the SFX help to create meaning for the audience? Does it look effective? How does it fit within the wider sequence?	The use of this SFX in the film looks very effective and is therefore very pleasing to watch. It is very enjoyable as the SFX is realistic and is used very effectively to create the effect of realism
The realisation of SFX including the materials, processes & techniques used in its construction – How was the SFX designed? How was it made? What was its purpose?	Most of the SFX used were small props which were animated then later enhances by VFX. The purpose was to allow a prop to be used in such a way that in the movie it is unprovable of what the object really was for example the model of the ‘Death Star’ was made out in the movie to be as big as a moon.