special effects artist

Visual trickery professional

A special effects artist creates visual illusions for film, television, theater, or other media.

The work divides into practical effects—physical techniques like prosthetics, animatronics, pyrotechnics, and miniatures—and digital effects created through computer graphics.

The special effects artists built a scale model of the city for the disaster sequence.

CGIDigital movie imagery
pyrotechnicsArt of explosive displays
explosionsViolent, rapid expansions
greenscreenSolid backdrop for compositing
green screenSolid backdrop for compositing

makeup · prosthetics · miniatures · matte · matte painting · forced perspective · motion control · animatronics · wirework · compositing · rotoscoping · stuntman · bluescreen · rendering · motion capture · latex · blood · smoke

Categories

entertainment jobsactor, actress, producer, director, singer
film crewcinematographer, director, gaffer, editor, grip
makeup artistsdepartment head
entertainerssingers, actor, dancers, actress, musicians
body artiststattooist, tattooer, piercer, body piercer, ear piercer

Opposites

artifice vs. reality in filmmaking

special effects artistdocumentary filmmaker

Creator of factual cinema

news cameraman · location scout

production role specialization

special effects artistcinematographer

Person capturing screen visuals

director of photography · camera operator

visual artifice vs. captured reality

special effects artistdocumentary filmmaker

Creator of factual cinema

cinematographer · photojournalist · nature photographer · war correspondent · street photographer

Family

special, effect, artist, especially, specialty, specialize, specialized, specialization, specialist

Familiarity: Top 200,000
Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G