Moving Images, Understanding Media

298 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Media

action? Th e departments that create the physical world to be captured in the

movie provide the answers to all these questions.

Finally, there is a department that has been an important factor in

motion picture production throughout the history of the moving image:

visual eff ects. Matte painters and model makers have been creating illusions

that have amazed or tricked audiences since the early years of the cinema,

and digital eff ects have become a standard tool in motion

pictures of the twenty-fi rst century. Computer-generated

images have become one of the most predominant sources

of moving images, particularly in the realm of interactive

games, which can feature highly developed plot lines that

are animated by extensive teams in digital studios.

Creating Production Value

From our fi rst introduction to the concept of fi lm language,

we have returned to the discussion of realities that make

sense to us on the screen. Filmmakers work to present

to us a vision whose parts fi t together, whether through

performances, visual style, sound design, and overall feel.

In addition, settings, decoration, costumes, objects, vehicles,

and other production elements can add to the interest and

can attract audiences to the world on the screen. All of these

factors can serve a story to make its world believable and

compellingly detailed.

Production value is a term oft en used by fi lmmakers to

describe the overall quality of the production as it is seen

on the screen. It is oft en a refl ection of the budget of a fi lm,

although a high compliment for creative teams on motion

pictures—and particularly for production designers—is

when they work on a movie with a small budget and

the production value is high. A major consideration of

fi lmmakers is the degree to which high production values

serve the story. In some fi lms, high production values are

not important to the story. While style can be an important

Figure 8-11 Models have been used in a

wide variety of contexts throughout motion

picture history, as in this example from The

Sacrifi ce, with director Andrei Tarkovsky.

(Courtesy Lars-Olof Löthwall)

Figure 8-10 The Curious

Case of Benjamin Button,

starring Brad Pitt and

directed by David Fincher,

features extensive use of

visual effects to tell its story

of a man aging in reverse.

(Courtesy Paramount Pictures/

Photofest)

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