Footnote #39 - Special Effects

The Fantasy/Animation podcast takes listeners on a journey through the intersection between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many of your favourite podcast hosting platforms!

What is so special about special effects? What role does technological innovation play in their convincing construction of illusion? What distinguishes ‘special’ from ‘visual’ effects? In this Footnote episode, Chris and Alex play with ideas of special effects in relation to fantasy and animation, going back to early cinema and the animated fantasies (or fantastical animations) of Georges Méliès to think about the history of pro-filmic illusions captured on camera; practical vs. digital distinctions in the articulation and realisation of effects imagery; and the growing influence of post-production processes in the era of computer graphics.

**Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo**

**As featured on Feedspot’s 25 Best London Education Podcasts**

Suggested Readings

  • Holliday, Christopher, and Alexander Sergeant. 2018. “Approaching Fantasy/Animation.” In Fantasy/Animation: Connections Between Media, Mediums and Genres, 1-20. London: Routledge.

  • North, Dan, ‎Bob Rehak, and ‎Michael S. Duffy, eds. 2018. Special Effects: New Histories, Theories, Contexts. London: Bloomsbury.

  • Pierson, Michele. 2002. Special Effects: Still in Search of Wonder. New York: Columbia University Press.

FOOTNOTE PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantSPECIAL EFFECTS, VISUAL EFFECTS, TECHNOLOGY, SPECTACLE