15 Historical Firsts in Practical Effects

Because of the technological aspect, we tend to think of visual effects as modern, “new age” filmmaking tools. But what if we told you that the original explosion in special effects occurred from 1895 to 1925?! Crazy! Okay, maybe the film historians and effects wizards out there will pat our little heads like, “Aww, you finally caught up,” but we’ll admit it… We were genuinely shocked at the visual trickery that these movies pulled off over a century ago!

Before visual effects companies like Industrial Light & Magic brought us computer generated effects in the 70s and 80s, movies solely relied on practical effects. These effects are physically made without computers or other post-production techniques. What you see on the screen was actually shot with a camera, but had some help from mirrors, stop motion, miniatures, and matte paintings. And when you see how much time and effort they take to make, you’ll realize how computers clearly needed to be the next evolutionary step. But hey, we hear enough about computers. Let’s give the O.Gs their flowers. Here are 15 “firsts” in practical effects.