Chapter 21: The Digital Domain
MULTIPLE CHOICE
a. it can be copied with no loss of image resolution.
b. it is an analog medium.
c. it records light bouncing off objects.
d. it relies on a photosensitive emulsion to produce an image.
e. it has a higher resolution than digital imaging.
f. All of the above are true.
2. CGI
a. is an analog process.
b. is a form of computerized digital animation.
c. can be used to create backgrounds but not characters.
d. first began appearing in commercial films in the early 1960s.
e. is used only for the creation of special effects.
f. all of the above
3. By the mid-1990s, CGI
a. was no longer in use, as it had been supplanted by a more sophisticated system.
b. was just beginning to be used for creating special effects.
c. was used in nearly all films that featured special effects.
d. was still too expensive to be used in any but the biggest budget films.
e. was not yet able to simulate lighting or lens effects but was good for creating backgrounds.
f. none of the above
4. CGI is currently used for
a. simulating rain, snow, and clouds.
b. removing unwanted elements from the shot.
c. lighting effects.
d. creating artificial extras for crowd scenes.
e. all of the above
f. none of the above
5. CGI was initially used in the motion picture industry for
a. color correction. d. special effects.
b. constructing synthetic sets. e. wire removal.
c. dialogue enhancement. f. none of the above
6. The foundation for all 3-D computer animation is the production of
a. wireframes. d. pin-blocking.
b. digital mattes. e. motion capture.
c. morphed images. f. none of the above
7. 3-D computer animation first appeared in the film
a. 2001: A Space Odyssey. d. Fantastic Voyage.
b. Futureworld. e. Tron.
c. Star Wars. f. none of the above
8. Star Wars
a. used a great deal of CGI for all of its many special effects.
b. used digital matte painting to create its backgrounds.
c. established the special effects company Industrial Light and Magic.
d. was the first film to use 3-D computer animation.
e. Both a and c are true.
f. none of the above
9. The first extensive photo-realistic computer-animation sequence to appear on screen was in
a. Star Wars. d. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
b. 2001: A Space Odyssey. e. Tron.
c. Futureworld. f. none of the above
10. CGI was initially invented for
a. use in CAD in the 1960s.
b. military research in the 1940s.
c. scientific ray tracing in the 1970s.
d. film special effects in the 1980s.
e. network television graphics in the 1950s.
f. none of the above
11. The company that produced the first digital matte painting for a feature film was
a. Mathematical Applications Group, Inc. (MAGI).
b. Digital Productions.
c. Digital Domain.
d. Boss Film Studios.
e. Industrial Light and Magic.
f. none of the above
12. What was the significance of Disney’s 1982 film Tron?
a. It was the first film to use 3-D computer animation.
b. It was the first film to use digital matte painting.
c. It was the first film to produce all its special effects in CGI.
d. It was the first film to be produced entirely in a digital format.
e. It was the first film completely constructed by Industrial Light and Magic.
f. none of the above
13. The first feature film to produce all of its effects digitally was
a. The Last Starfighter. d. Star Wars.
b. Tron. e. 2001: A Space Odyssey.
c. The Black Hole. f. none of the above
14. In digital Hollywood, special-effects houses
a. all perform the full range of special effects from compositing to animation.
b. tend to specialize in some specific aspect of effects creation.
c. do not work in collaboration on the same films.
d. never begin their work until after the film is finished with principle photography.
e. both a and c
f. none of the above
15. The first computer to be designed exclusively for the production of digital special effects was called
the
a. HAL. d. Sabre system.
b. Pixar. e. Go-motion system.
c. Cray X-MP. f. none of the above
16. The first entirely computer-generated character in feature films was
a. HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
b. Yoda from Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back.
c. the stained-glass Knight from Young Sherlock Holmes.
d. the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
e. the Orcs from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
f. none of the above
17. The primary means of outputting digital images to 35mm film for incorporation into celluloid-based
film is
a. optical printing. d. laser scanning.
b. morphing. e. rotoscoping.
c. particle animation. f. none of the above
18. Morphing is
a. the process by which digital images are printed to 35mm film.
b. a way of adding shading, color, and texture to digitally created images.
c. the process by which character movement is captured in real time and rendered digitally.
d. aligning all the digital elements of shot in order to create a composite.
e. the process whereby one image is gradually transformed digitally into another.
f. none of the above
19. The first feature film made completely with CGI was
a. Toy Story. d. The Abyss.
b. Willow. e. The Last Starfighter.
c. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. f. none of the above
20. All of the following are true of The Abyss EXCEPT
a. the effects were done by ILM.
b. it was composited digitally on a CCD scanner.
c. it introduced the “digital set” to feature films.
d. it demonstrated the narrative possibilities of photo-realistic effects.
e. it won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
f. All of the above are true.
21. Which of the following is NOT a controllable variable in the construction of “digital sets”?
a. lighting
b. camera positioning
c. shot scale
d. camera movement
e. object movement
f. All of the above are controllable variables in “digital sets.”
22. The film that used motion capture to create the first computer-generated character modeled on the
human form was
a. Terminator 2: Judgment Day. d. Toy Story.
b. The Last Starfighter. e. The Abyss.
c. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. f. none of the above
23. The immediate product of any motion-capture system is
a. a shaded, colored, textured image. d. a wireframe.
b. a composite. e. a digital set.
c. a morph. f. none of the above
24. The CCD input scanner was revolutionary because
a. it replaced primitive motion-control systems.
b. it made the need for celluloid film stock a thing of the past.
c. it was the best compositing system available.
d. it printed from digital images onto film stock.
e. it allowed filmmakers to more easily convert celluloid images to digital files.
f. none of the above
25. The first company to use the High Resolution CCD Digital Input Scanner to create visual effects was
a. Go-Motion. d. ILM.
b. Digital Domain. e. IMAX.
c. Pixar. f. none of the above
26. Death Becomes Her is a significant film in the history of motion picture technology because
a. it blended CGI with make-up effects and animatronics.
b. it developed a digital rotoscoping program called Colorburst.
c. it developed a digital bluescreen program called C-Bal.
d. it perfected a pin-blocking system.
e. it developed a technique to shoot digital-effect sequences in slow-motion.
f. all of the above
27. Pin-blocking
a. aligns and registers the elements of a composited shot.
b. captures the movement of actors on a set so they can be digitized.
c. traces an object frame-by-frame in real time so that it can create a digital image.
d. allows CGI-generated objects to move in real time.
e. allows analog celluloid images to be digitized more easily.
f. none of the above
28. The Go-Motion system
a. is the best morphing system available today.
b. uses computer-controlled rods to move objects in real time and space.
c. is a CGI motion-capture system.
d. uses animatronics as an element in a CGI-composited image.
e. allows for the erasure of unwanted elements in the frame.
f. none of the above
29. Which of the following is NOT an ILM development from the film Jurassic Park?
a. texture mapping
b. inverse kinematics
c. digital rotoscoping
d. match moving
e. enveloping
f. All of the above are techniques ILM pioneered for Jurassic Park.
30. The digital software technique used in Jurassic Park to give dinosaur flesh the appearance of actually
moving against muscle and bone is
a. ViewPaint. d. Digital Rotoscoping.
b. Enveloping. e. Softimage.
c. Matchmoving. f. none of the above
31. Inverse kinematics
a. is a texture-mapping software that allows artists to paint onto the surface of a model.
b. links one movement to another for more realistic body motion.
c. precisely matches computer-generated camera movements with those actually made on the set.
d. adds motion blur to every shot to make it look like the product of real-time cinematography.
e. both c and d
f. none of the above
32. The CGI process that links the dynamics of a virtual camera to a live-action camera is called
a. match moving. d. “previs.”
b. animatics. e. particle animation.
c. inverse kinematics. f. none of the above
33. The film for which Digital Domain first created computer generated stuntmen was
a. The Abyss. d. Pearl Harbor.
b. Titanic. e. Dragonheart.
c. Jurassic Park. f. none of the above
34. Particle-animation software uses a form of modeling called
a. morphing. d. flocking.
b. ray-tracing. e. animatics.
c. procedural animation. f. none of the above
35. The purpose of particle-animation systems is to
a. composite together moving elements from a wide variety of sources.
b. allow for the animation of fully rendered figures rather than just wireframes.
c. pre-visualize the mixing of live action with CGI effects.
d. add elements of randomness into the CGI environment.
e. create digital sets.
f. none of the above
36. Dynamation is
a. a motion-compositing software. d. a particle-animation system.
b. 3-D stop-motion animation. e. both b and d
c. an animatics system. f. none of the above
37. All of the following special effects houses contributed to Starship Troopers EXCEPT
a. Boss Film Studio.
b. Sony Pictures Imageworks.
c. BFTRE.
d. Tippett Studio.
e. Persistence of Vision.
f. All of the above worked on Starship Troopers.
38. The Lost World is important to the development of CGI because of its advances in
a. procedural animation. d. the Cari software tool.
b. pre-visualization. e. inverse kinematics.
c. virtual camera movement. f. none of the above
39. Twister and Starship Troopers are considered landmarks in the history of CGI because they were the
first films to
a. use particle animation.
b. combine live action with digital characters.
c. feature effects that would have been impossible to create without CGI.
d. have their actors, director, and effects artists working simultaneously in different locations.
e. use multiple effects houses to work on the same film.
f. none of the above
40. The process of creating moving storyboards with CGI stick figures to create a guide for matching live
action with digitally created material is called
a. animatics. d. Cari.
b. maquette. e. procedural description.
c. inverse kinematics. f. none of the above
41. Cari software permits
a. the pre-visualization of composited scenes.
b. precise control of the movements of an individual object within a dynamic group.
c. the integration of multiple software programs into a single composited image.
d. the simulation of natural randomness in CGI effects like weather and mass movement.
e. particle animation.
f. none of the above
42. Films like Sphere, Godzilla, and Alien: Resurrection showed that by 1998
a. audiences were beginning to tire of films based entirely around digital effects.
b. public taste for digital-effects films was intensifying to the point where even poor films could be
very profitable.
c. digital effects had reached a level of sophistication that made them completely invisible to even
the most expert eye.
d. the creativity of digital-effects artists was virtually limitless.
e. CGI-based films could be made on low budgets.
f. none of the above
43. Pleasantville is significant because
a. it used digital color-correction technology to make the colors in the film brighter.
b. it used CGI color correction to change color film into black-and-white.
c. it used the most sophisticated form of particle animation seen until that time.
d. it was shot with digital cameras and not on celluloid.
e. it depended on Cari software for all its primary effects.
f. none of the above
44. The first film to conclusively demonstrate that the future of motion pictures was digital was
a. Starship Troopers.
b. Titanic.
c. The Mummy.
d. Mission to Mars.
e. Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace.
f. none of the above
45. “Flow–Mo” or “bullet time” photography requires
a. wireframes. d. image digitization.
b. motion capture. e. compositing.
c. still cameras. f. all of the above
46. The film that became known for its introduction of “Flow–Mo” photography is
a. The Matrix.
b. Mission to Mars.
c. Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace.
d. Starship Troopers.
e. Stuart Little.
f. none of the above
47. The digital intermediate process allows for
a. more extensive compositing. d. fluid dynamic simulation.
b. procedural animation. e. pre-visualization.
c. computerized color correction. f. none of the above
48. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
a. was the first film to be shot entirely digitally.
b. was the first film to use bleach-bypass and silver-retention.
c. used the digital intermediate process for color correction.
d. shot both color and black-and-white film stocks eventually printing them together for a desaturated
look.
e. used the Flow-Mo technique in its chase scenes.
f. none of the above
49. Silver-retention and bleach-bypass processes
a. are both digital intermediate processes.
b. are both CGI methods for creating visual effects.
c. produce crisper, cleaner images for compositing.
d. increase contrast and grain while desaturating color.
e. intensify color while at the same time reducing grain.
f. none of the above
50. The genre that had disappeared from American cinema but was brought back because of the effects
made possible by CGI was
a. science-fiction. d. the musical.
b. the historical epic. e. the horror film.
c. the western. f. none of the above
51. The Thirteenth Floor
a. used no CGI but only optical effects.
b. used both color and black-and-white interpositives to create a retro color palette.
c. was the first film to use extensive tiling.
d. used a digital intermediate process to create its unique color effects.
e. used both bleach-bypass and CGI color correction.
f. none of the above
52. Tiling is used to
a. perform sensitive color correction.
b. remove unwanted elements from the frame.
c. add the quality of randomness to computer-animated images.
d. multiply extras.
e. create photo-realistic backgrounds.
f. none of the above
53. Rome, in the film Gladiator, was created using
a. digital matte painting. d. computer-graphic models.
b. digitized photographs. e. only a and d
c. actual buildings. f. all of the above
54. Without CGI, the budget of a film like Gladiator
a. would be significantly lower.
b. would be about the same, but it would not look as convincing.
c. would be prohibitive.
d. might be slightly higher, but it would not be as spectacular.
e. would be as much as three times higher.
f. none of the above
55. Contemporary filmmakers
a. view CGI as a fundamental narrative building block that is integral throughout the production
process.
b. use CGI as a particularly spectacular form of special effect.
c. think of CGI primarily as a postproduction tool that allows for the fixing of mistakes and
correcting of framing and color.
d. think of postproduction as much less important now that CGI has been integrated into production
itself.
e. still have not begun to consider CGI during the scripting and preproduction phases.
f. none of the above
56. The difference between the CGI-created storms in the 1996 film Twister and those in A Perfect Storm
from 2000 is
a. Twister was done by ILM while A Perfect Storm was created by Digital Domain.
b. Twister’s storm was composited into live action while the live action in A Perfect Storm was
integrated into the computer-generated storm.
c. only A Perfect Storm used procedural description.
d. A Perfect Storm was the first use of the Massive software system.
e. the level of visual detail is higher in Twister as a result of more time spent on particle animation.
f. none of the above
57. The cost of CGI in the late 1990s
a. was still so high that only the biggest-budget films could afford it.
b. was getting more expensive, further limiting the number of films that could use it.
c. had dropped so low that even exploitation producers could afford CGI.
d. was leveling off so that CGI-based effects could be utilized by most studio films with a reasonably
large budget.
e. both a and b
f. none of the above
58. The problem with the CGI werewolves in An American Werewolf in Paris is
a. they were so expensive to create.
b. they lacked realistic-looking fur.
c. their movements seemed artificial because of the low-budget CGI.
d. they appeared to lack volume.
e. they looked fine in long shot but unconvincing in close–up.
f. none of the above
59. Persistence of Vision is a company that specializes in
a. creating digital mouth movements. d. procedural animation.
b. compositing. e. pre-visualization.
c. particle animation. f. none of the above
60. CGI is used by low- and mid-budget producers, such as Sense and Sensibility and The Ninth Gate, for
all of the following EXCEPT
a. to remove unwanted elements from the frame.
b. for color correction.
c. to simulate day for night.
d. to simulate backgrounds.
e. to change the look of the sky.
f. CGI is used by low- and mid-budget producers for all of the above.
61. The Bone Collector
a. used still photographs of Beijing to provide a background for scenes that would have been too
expensive to shoot in China.
b. used CGI bullets so that no actual firearms had to be used on set.
c. used CGI to create a basket full of leeches that the ASPCA would have objected to.
d. was shot against a blue screen on a soundstage and then had its Manhattan setting composited in
later.
e. was shot with very few extras who were then all composited in after editing was complete.
f. none of the above
62. The procedural animation program called Massive was developed for
a. Moulin Rouge.
b. Pearl Harbor.
c. Gladiator.
d. Twister.
e. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
f. none of the above
63. Avatar
a. was shot in traditional 3-D and then converted to digital 3-D for exhibition.
b. has been called “The Jazz Singer” of 3-D movies.
c. required just a single camera and lens.
d. works off of a completely different principle than the anaglyphic 3-D of Bwana Devil and Kiss Me
Kate.
e. was initially not filmed in 3-D at all but converted through a CGI process.
f. none of the above
64. The Cameron Pace Fusion Camera is used for shooting
a. IMAX films.
b. any film that might require extensive CGI.
c. digital 3-D.
d. extreme slow-motion.
e. underwater.
f. none of the above
65. The Polar Express
a. was the first film to shoot in IMAX 3–D.
b. was the first feature film to be shot in the simplified RealD process.
c. was first animated traditionally then turned into 3-D animation through CGI.
d. was the first feature film to be shot live action on normal 35mm celluloid and then transformed
digitally into 3-D animation.
e. was the first film shot in the 4K digital format.
f. none of the above
66. Which of the following directors did NOT announce that they were preparing to make films in 3–D?
a. Martin Scorsese
b. Steven Speilberg
c. Ridley Scott
d. Francis Ford Coppola
e. All of the above announced their decision to work in 3-D.
f. Only a and c expressed interest in 3-D.
67. The cost to make and physically distribute a celluloid film print is
a. $20.
b. $200.
c. $2,000.
d. $20,000.
e. cheaper than the distribution of a digital print.
f. about the same as the distribution of a digital print.
68. Digital Cinema allows for all of the following EXCEPT
a. filmmakers can shoot thousands of hours of footage with very little cost.
b. directors can check a shot on the spot before moving on to the next one.
c. it can capture the deepest blacks and brightest highlights.
d. projection has no loss of quality over time, regardless of the number of times the film is screened.
e. there is easier integration of special effects.
f. none of the above
69. Which of the following is NOT one of Lev Manovich’s ideas about digital cinema?
a. The computer has displaced photography as the only means by which to generate a photo-realistic
image.
b. Once live-action footage is digitized, it loses its direct relationship to reality.
c. Digitization makes film as malleable a medium as painting or sculpture.
d. The distinction between editing and special effects collapses in the digital realm.
e. The digital realm breaks down the distinction between creation and modification.
f. All of the above are Manovich’s ideas on the digital cinema.
70. The impact of digital technology on feature films
a. has been almost exclusively in the realm of special effects.
b. has been less profound in terms of editing and post-production.
c. has not changed image-capture technology significantly.
d. has been inconsequential in the field of exhibition.
e. will not be seen until films are distributed via the Internet.
f. none of the above