Visual Effects In The Movie: The Wizard Of Oz

1299 Words3 Pages

The Wizard of Oz is the 1939 film musical released by the studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that became a cultural icon defining family entertainment for decades after its initial release. Though it did not turn a profit until 1956 when it aired on television, it has been considered a wide success, spawning several re-releases and sequels. The Wizard of Oz set the precedent for visual effects, innovations Hollywood still utilizes today in an age of computer generated images. The film has stood the test of time with its special effects, paving the way for the future of movie magic. The start of special effects in film is largely attributed to Georges Méliès and his process of removing a section of a moving picture to place another moving part within. …show more content…

He is credited for being a pioneer in the visual effects realm of the filmmaking world. In his lifetime, he won three Oscars for his effect-based achievements. The progression of visual effects, the talents of Arnold Gillespie, and the use of then-modern technology made many of the effects possible. The tornado featured early in the film was not a weather phenomena filmed on location, but the result of careful construction. Originally a thirty five foot piece of rubber, the tornado proved challenging because of the weight, and it ate up eight thousand dollars of the film’s budget. As the team experimented with several other lightweight materials, they came up with a muslin cloth that would be hoisted from a crane and aggressively shaken around. It ended up costing the production twelve grand, and still remains one of the most creative workarounds in film …show more content…

In 1956 the film was sold to the Columbia Broadcast System company to air on television after several theater re-releases. Each distribution deal, MGM received more and more money for the rights to broadcast, and the consumerist demand for the famous film drove those prices and ratings up. In a traditional format, CBS has aired it for several years, each with the ratings being high, as the evolution of television from color and quality warrants more views from audiences globally. The Wizard of Oz paved way for future filmmakers and special effects artists to shine in its path as both an excellent feat in storytelling and visual effects. The Wizard of Oz spawned countless sequels, both in live format as is Wicked and film sequels such as Oz the Great and Powerful. These films have never matched the emotional impact and substitute computer generated graphics for the real thing. Highly esteemed film critic Leonard Maltin said “No movie ever can, or will, replace 1939’s The Wizard of Oz…(Oz the Great and Powerful) just won’t have the same resonance.” The legacy left with The Wizard of Oz is considered to be one of the greatest influential movies of all

Open Document