Performing Illusions

About this book

"The camera supposedly never lies, yet film's ability to frame, cut and reconstruct all that passes before its lens made cinema the pre-eminent medium of visual illusion and revelation from the early twentieth century onwards. This volume examines film's creative history of special effects and trickery, encompassing everything from George Melies' first trick films to the modern CGI era. Evaluating movements towards the use of computer-generated 'synthespians' in films such as Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001), this title suggests that cinematic effects should be understood not as attempts to mimic real life perfectly but as constructions of substitute realities, situating them in the cultural lineage of the stage performers and illusionists of the nineteenth century. With analyses of films such as Destination Moon (1950), Spider-Man (2002) and the King Kong films (1933 and 2006), this new volume provides an insight into cinema's capacity to perform illusions."--BOOK JACKET.