Technical elements

 " The best science fiction movies and TV shows transport us to other worlds and keep our imaginations fresh "

When it comes to the technical elements of science fiction movies, I've learned that special effects are of upmost importance. Special effects are "techniques and technologies that create illusions or enhance visual elements in a movie". In order to successfully portray a world more advanced than what we currently live in, such as one that includes time travel (Back to the future, 1985), or aliens (Starship troopers, 1997), there is no choice but to utilize special effects in post-production. 

There are two types of special effects: ones that leave the crowd questioning how the editors achieved the effect, and ones that go unnoticed, but subtly enhance the movie. 

What can they be used for?

1. Creating a characters look and persona

2. Making fake and fantastical environments realistic

3. Creating a world where "impossible" ideas exist

4. Showing incredible stunts and tricks

Realistically, I know that my strong suit is not editing or making special effects through technology, so I want to focus on the many other, more achievable forms of special effect. For example, props, makeup, and prosthetics. 

Although it can go unnoticed, makeup and costume design has been used since the beginning times of the film industry in order to create a character, and show the viewers what they are like. These elements can even change throughout the movie to show the characters story or mood changing and progressing.

 Using Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind as an example again, the main female character of the movie, Clementine, constantly changes her hair color throughout the movie, and each one is meant to represent a different "setting" of the movie. When her hair color is blue, the movie is in the present, or "real world". When her hair color was orange, the film was inside of joel's mind. And when her hair was green, we were shown clips of Joel when he first met her. This is a subtle and doable special effect with my limited resources, but it added so much context and uniqueness to the movie. 

Following a more recent production, Euphoria, a very popular series among my peers on HBO max, makeup was used on almost every character, more than in other films. Although it is not a science fiction show, I can still take inspiration from how the makeup developed each character's image. Kat, a bold character from the film, is always wearing bold eyeliner and big gems on her face, which match her big, confident personality. Jules, on the other hand, wears softer makeup with a lot of pastel colors in them, which add to her soft and sweet persona. 

Sources: 

https://thedailyhowl.org/1617/creativity/the-effects-of-makeup-in-film/

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-are-special-effects-in-movies/