In the film and entertainment industry special effects (or SFX) are effects than cannot be achieved by normal means, such as large explosions or travel to other worlds.
Special effects techniques are divided into several categories:
- practical effects
- miniature effects
- matte paintings
- bluescreen
- digital compositing
- Computer Generated Imagery
- sound effects
- prosthetic makeup effects
- animatronic models
Often several different techniques are used together in a single scene or shot to achieve the desired effect.