Top Effects Craftspeople Converge for Academy Digital Summit

Below the Line: When Charlie Chaplin famously roller-skated on the brink of a large department store drop-off in Modern Times in 1936, few in the audience realized that Chaplin was in no danger of falling many storeys below. A painting on glass of the drop-off was carefully placed on the set and lined up for the movie camera so as to create the final illusion of open space below where none actually existed. In the many decades since, filmmakers have attempted to enhance such magical illusions with every technique possible, always striving for greater panoramas and verisimilitude.