Plastic Reality: Special Effects, Technology, and the Emergence of 1970s Blockbuster Aesthetics

Julie A. Turnock follows the evolution of special effects in filmmaking, which culminated in the groundbreaking achievements of 1977. She analyzes the far-reaching impact of the convincing, absorbing, and seemingly unlimited fantasy environments of that year's iconic films, which include Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and then traces their technological, cultural, and aesthetic influence into the 1980s in the deployment of optical special effects and the "not-too-realistic" and hyper-realistic techniques of stop motion and Showscan. Turnock closes with a critique of special effects practices in the 2000s and their implications for the future of filmmaking and the production and experience of other visual media.

Julie A. Turnock tracks the use and evolution of special effects in 1970s filmmaking, a development as revolutionary to film as the form’s transition to sound in the 1920s.