Today's headlines have a topic: those TV series or movies that you have watched more than three times. In the answer, I wrote "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".
(Douban screenshot) Among the 8 movies in the
series, this one has the highest rating and the largest number of people rated, and it is also the only one with 9 points so far. Many reviews were left after 2010, and they were all four-star and five-star praises, such as "Before it, I didn't believe there was a magical world", "the feeling of the whole world being opened", and "the best movie in the entire series".
(Douban screenshot)
There are many reasons. But this time, I would rather talk about its special effects - is a movie released in 2001. After watching it again after twenty years, I will still be amazed by the special effects in the film and do not feel outdated.
There is no doubt that the crew is very concerned about the special effects. I won't go into details about the realistic effect of
. More importantly, they perfectly fit the plot, allowing the audience to fully understand the story even if they have not read the original work.
01 Simple and long-lasting
special effects may not be luxurious and spectacular, but as long as it is used properly, simple can still create good results.
is like a scene when the movie begins more than a minute: the shadow on the wall turns from a cat to a witch.
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
This shot of less than ten seconds can be made by many netizens, but its effect is even more than the previous scene Dumbledore's appearance:
people suddenly appear and turn off the lights without contact, which is also common in magic; but cats are different. In Western culture, cats are associated with witch . European and American audiences will immediately think of this direction when they see cats; cats become humans, which are both magical (not something that magic can achieve), and they also bring out witches. These two images appear at the same time, telling the audience clearly: this is the story of a wizard.
There is also a saying in Chinese culture that "cats have nine lives" - it is also an extraordinary animal. In other words, this small shot allows the audience to enter the magic world at the beginning.
For example, when Harry bought wand : try the first wand, with a wave of his hand, the boxes that were originally neatly coded on the cabinet fell one after another;
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
second, the bottle was broken, glass and water splashed everywhere;
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
third, as soon as he took it, a breeze blew around him, and an orange-red light lit up at the same time.
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
Orange and red is a warm color, with positive hints. In addition, the third wand has not caused the first two chaos and the store was originally a bit dim, so there is no need for lines. The front and back one is cold and warm, one move and one quiet is enough to make the audience understand: is a magic wand choose a wizard, and only by getting your own magic wand can you achieve good results.
This is set through special effects explanation. Similarly, there is the little magic that Hermione used when she appeared on the stage: pointing at Harry's glasses with a magic wand, saying "Fixed" in her mouth, and the light smoke floated by, and the dim lenses lit up instantly.
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
First, there was a previous scene, Ron finished reciting the spell, but nothing happened. Second, he cooperated with her line "I have tried a few simple spells, but they are all very useful." The audience immediately knew: this is a very talented child, and as she said, "tryed", she is very proactive in learning.
has this preparation. Later, when she saw Hermione holding her hands high in the potion class, succeeding in the spell class, holding a large book and saying "reading for entertainment", the audience would not be surprised: is a talented and hardworking university master!
02 Gorgeous and dazzling
Of course, for fantasy movies, what everyone is looking forward to seeing is the gorgeous special effects. There are also many such special effects in the video.
For example, when Harry walked into the Hogwarts lobby: first there were hundreds of candles hanging in the air, then the camera was upwards, aiming at the ceiling - the dark night sky and the big clouds, reflecting the arch columns in the lobby, and even the carvings on them were clearly visible; the arch columns kept pushing forward, while the camera turned down, transitioning to the candle and the branch hat, and gave the latter a few seconds close-up.
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
is not only in line with the scene (audience hall), but also makes people wonder the wonder of magic: even the candlelight dinner is so unique, and eating under the vast night sky is so romantic! And, this is really indoors, not open-air? When you see the camera focusing on the branch hat, you will know that if you can appear in such a wonderful occasion and close-up, this hat must be extraordinary.
includes the next ghost appearance: some emerge from the dining plate, some pass through the wall, and some emerge from the ground.
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
In the magnificent auditorium, translucent, pearl white ghosts flew around under the candlelight, dreamy and thick and thin, forming a visual feast.
Another example is the most gorgeous scene in the movie: Quidditch competition.
Anyone who has seen the behind-the-scenes photos and behind-the-scenes will know that the actors are actually sitting on fixed props on the ground, and no one is flying at all, it depends entirely on the late stage.
However, in the video, wizards are flying rapidly over the court. In the panoramic and close-up view, they can only see their flashes of hair, red or green clothes, and the afterimage of the flying broom, and they cannot tell who is who. The walnut-sized golden thief with wings passed by the protagonist's eyes and disappeared again;
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
brown wandering ball hits here and then rushed to the opposite side in the next second. Some players were almost hit,
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
Someone was directly knocked over and fell straight to the ground from mid-air;
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
Dark red Ghost Flying Ball is constantly changing between athletes.
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
Needless to say, this is a fierce, difficult and dangerous game. No wonder Harry almost grinned his mouth when he finally caught the golden thief, and was regarded as a hero by his classmates.
03 Apart from the huge and shocking
, how can there be no monsters in the magic world?
For example, the three-headed dog in the film has stared at dark yellow eyes, half-open mouth full of sharp yellow teeth, and one head is almost as big as a door.
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
and trolls. In fact, the trolls in the movie are not exactly the same as the description in the original book, "twelve feet tall, with gray skin like granite, small head like cocoa bean , and short legs as thick as a tree stump", but it grasps the essence - is huge, ugly, and strong, and it is extremely hit by it.
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone")
The students panicked when they heard the monster, and Hermione was so scared that she almost didn't dare to move when she saw it. It was so normal! If the movie is 3D or 4D, I would also want to escape because the image of the troll directly conveys the message of "stupid, fierce, extremely aggressive, and running quickly when you see it."
At the same time, facing such a monster, Harry and Ron still ran to save Hermione and tried their best to attract the attention of the monster to themselves. It was really brave! And after experiencing life and death together, no wonder the three of them can become friends and their friendship is indestructible.
Here you can refer to a counterexample: dementor in the fifth movie.
Dementor first appeared in the third part. The book describes it as "wrapped in a cloak, with its face completely hidden under the turban, and its hands stretched out from the cloak are thin and scabbed, as if something died and was soaked in the water again." To be precise, the whole body hidden under the cloak is rotten. This monster feeds on human happiness and hope, leaving only the worst memories of a life.
It can be said that it has a mysterious aura itself, but this mystery carries chill and pain, and the cloak aggravates the smell of despair (rotten itself also implies ugly despair): I don’t even know what the source of fear looks like, how can I escape?
The dementor in the Order of the Phoenix movie is more of a mummy than a cloak - his arms and hands are exposed, and they are not rotten; the outlines of his body and head can be seen, and even the teeth in his mouth can be seen clearly.
(screenshot of the movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix")
is terrible, but I can't feel that mysterious fear and despair, which weakens its horror effect; especially as the most gloomy and depressing part in the series, the dementors that appear at the beginning should strengthen this atmosphere, However, in the movie, there are only ordinary and dangerous tensions.
04 The best special effects will not overshadow the main one
The special effects in "The Magic Stone" - whether it is small but beautiful or big but exquisite, the above list is still not mentioned. In addition to being a strong sense of reality and fitting the plot, there is also an advantage - just right:
All special effects serve the plot , or pull the audience into the story as soon as possible, or be an ambush of commentary. It is eye-catching enough, but it will not only ignore the plot; what everyone remembers is the brave Harry, the smart Hermione, the loyal Ron and the ultimate obstacle to Voldemort.
You might as well compare the derivative works of "Harry Potter": "Hart 9 Where to Be the Fantastic Beasts ".
This movie released in 2016 is naturally more exquisite and realistic than it was 15 years ago in terms of special effects - naughty and flexible sniffing, the tree-protecting pot that dares to shy his face at the owner, the dazzling Thunderbird , the bird snake , the bird snake ... When I first watched it, I couldn't help but star in my eyes, and I wanted to catch one and go home, but after watching it, I still felt unsatisfied.
However, after a few days, I suddenly realized that "Where is Fantastic Beasts" is not that good: the plot is thin and the pace is not good. On Douban, many netizens have the same impression as me, such as "No one can leave behind feelings after watching", "Interesting creatures are very attractive", "The rhythm is strange, too many are too messy", etc.;
(Douban screenshot)
Although the title of the movie is "magical animal", I didn't expect that the one with the most memorable point is actually an animal, and the plot and characters are a bit vague.
But then again, strengthening special effects in the situation where the plot is dull is also a way to make up for the shortcomings of the movie and enhance the viewability of the movie, but this is a bit putting the cart before the horse. In a movie, the most important thing is the plot, and the most memorable thing is the plot or performance, and the special effects are just seasonings.
privately believes that the best special effects of should be both realistic and fascinating, without concealing the glory of stories and characters.
While both the story and performance are excellent, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" have achieved the above points, so its 9.1 points are well deserved.
(Hi~This article was first published on the WeChat public account "Qingping Shuying", and both sides are welcome to follow~)
