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Special Effects II

Special Effects II is an interactive exhibition on the techniques and technology used to create the illusions and fantasies of film and television. It allows visitors to discover the science behind movie magic where everything is not always as it seems, and provides an opportunity for visitors to become part of the action and to take that action home with them.

Movie technology

The exhibition provides active experiences which develop understandings of:

• how moving pictures are created
• how these principles have been used over the last 200 years
• the special effects used in today's screen productions
• the social impact of film and television on our lifestyles and attitudes.

The Exhibits

From yesterday's zoetropes to today's high tech computer wizardry of morphing and ultimatting, Special Effects II salutes the industry that has profoundly changed our lives.

There are 37 exhibits including 7 that allow visitors to see themselves in the action on screen, record the action and take home a souvenir video. You can beam yourself onto a distant planet and survive a confrontation with a hungry alien sand monster, survive a jump from a 20 storey building, be shrunk inside a refrigerator, be interviewed by a TV star and star in your own rock video clip. Some of these exhibits use a blue screen Ultimate process while others use projection or modelling techniques to superimpose you into the action picture.

The exhibition also include exhibits on editing, makeup, sound and lighting effects, 3D TV and how projectors and televisions work.