©Academy Museum Foundation, Photos by: Joshua White/JWPictures
About the Exhibition
Special and visual effects are used in the majority of movies. They can be expertly woven into a scene, so as to go entirely unnoticed, or be distinctly grand in depicting otherworldly visages, mythical creatures, or long-extinct reptiles. Inventing Worlds and Characters: Effects highlights illusions in moviemaking through the stories of effects artists and their landmark innovations. This gallery looks at three approaches to transforming a human form into a monstrous one, in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (USA, 1931), An American Werewolf in London (USA, 1981), and scenes featuring the Hulk in The Avengers film series (2012–2019). The immense variety of effects on view—optical, practical, makeup, digital—expresses not only their prevalence but also the ingenuity of the teams behind them.
This gallery is curated by Senior Exhibitions Curator Jenny He and Assistant Curator Nicholas Barlow.
Supported By
Dolby is the exclusive audio sponsor of this gallery.
Stories of Cinema is presented by PwC. Major funding is provided by Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman. Generous support is provided by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Ruderman Family Foundation, FotoKem, Barbara Roisman Cooper and Martin M. Cooper, Jocelyn R. Katz, John Ptak and Margaret Black, Lauren Shuler Donner, Randy E. Haberkamp, Kevin McCormick and A. Scott Berg, CHANEL, and John and Lacey Williams. Technology solutions generously provided by Panasonic and Sony Electronics Inc. Powered by Dolby. Academy Museum digital engagement platform sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies.