My backyard got way cooler when I added a dragon

What can kids do when they get their hands on special effects? 10-year-old Enzo Cox poses this exact question in his Talk. His answer? Just about anything. Enzo has a passion for special effects, and in this delightful, action-packed Talk, he takes us through an exciting collection of practical and digital special effects he taught himself to create.

The TED-Ed Clubs program supports students in discovering, exploring and presenting their big ideas in the form of short, TED-style talks. In TED-Ed Clubs, students work together to discuss and celebrate creative ideas. Club Leaders receive TED-Ed's flexible curriculum to guide their Members in developing presentation literacy skills to help inspire tomorrow's TED speakers and future leaders.

To learn more about TED-Ed Clubs or to start your own club, go to http://ed.ted.com/clubs.

I have a question for all of you.

What is your favorite movie?

If I say the name of a movie,
clap really loudly if you like the movie,

and don't clap if you
don't like the movie.

First, I have Superman.

Frankenweenie.

Pirates of the Caribbean.

Star Wars.

Avengers: Age of Ultron.

And finally, Harry Potter.

One of the things that all
of these movies have in common

is that they all have or include
special effects.

Why am I interested in special effects?

I've always wondered how movies were made.

For example, In Star Wars Episode 4's
X Wing attack on the Death Star,

how did they do that?

And in Pirates of the Caribbean,
how did they do Davy Jones' face?

I decided to find out for myself.

What are special effects?

They create everything imaginary
in movies or TV shows

and its purpose is to make something
imaginary look real.

And let me talk a bit about
the history of effects.

George Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon,
made in the year 1902,

was the first movie to use
miniature models.

Here is a picture of the miniature model
of the moon from his movie.

Modern movies still use this kind
of miniature technique today

like in the movie Lord of the Rings.

On the right, you can see a picture
of the Argonath from the movie.

While it appears to be gigantic,

you see on the left in real life
while it's only as big as a human.

There are two types of special effects -
mechanical effects, or practical effects,

and digital effects, or visual effects.

Mechanical effects have been used
since the beginning of film,

like George Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon
with the use of miniature models.

They create wounds, blood splatter,
dirt, grime, real makeup, and even more.

Digital effects use computers,

like putting in the miniature Argonath
in the movie The Lord of the Rings.

They create digital creatures,
animation, explosions, digital makeup,

and even more than that.

Here's a video of my sci-fi effects.

I will explain to you how I did them
as the video's playing.

I used the Efexio and FxGuru apps
to create this.

For this one, I took a picture of
a space background

and then I put the ships in.

For the ships, I positioned the direction
and the rotation.

This took me about 35 minutes.

For this one, I wanted
a computer-generated background,

so I did that.

I changed the light direction
and rotation of the ships.

This took me about 45 minutes.

For this one, I took a picture
outside and then I put the monster in.

The challenge here

was that I had to position the light
direction of the effects monster

to the real light direction of the sun.

This took me about 45 minutes, as well.

Here are some more sci-fi effects.

This one's called Dragon in the Wild.

I used the Creature FX app to create this.

The dragon is a digital effect
and everything else is mechanical.

The trees in the background
were moved using a stick

and timing was essential
to make the scene more realistic.

Here's my Star Wars effect
called The Lightsaber.

I used the Saber Movie FX app
to create this.

The challenge here was that I had to
position the individual lightsaber blade

in every single frame in this little film.

This took me about an hour and 15 minutes.

What does this do? Hi-yah!

Oh no. I sliced it.

Here's my Blaster Effects.

This one, just like the last one
with the lightsaber,

I had to position the individual
blaster shot in every single frame.

This took me about 15 minutes.

The blaster shot was the only
digital effect here,

and the coolest mechanical effect
is the box that's really on fire.

I also added a Stormtrooper
Blaster shot sound.

Here's my Star Trek effect
called The Enterprise.

I used the Action Movie FX app
to create this.

In case you were wondering
where I got the cloud background,

I filmed this on the plane
to get the altitude effect.

Here's my Action Movie FX
called The Crusher.

The car and foot are both digital
and everything else is mechanical.

Here's my digital makeup.

I used the Corpse Cam app to do this.

Starting on the left, we have a Wolfman,

Frankenstein,

Water Creature,

and even and Ape.

Now, let me talk a little bit
about effects and moods.

Horror increases your heartbeat,
makes you feel more alive.

Sci-fi does the same thing to me,
but I like sci-fi way more than horror.

Comedies and laughter actually
destress you and help your immunes system.

For my presentation,

I made a comedy animation
that I'm not going to show you just yet.

I'm going to show it to you at the end
like a little bonus.

What can kids do when they have
their hands on special effects?

Of course, they can have fun!

But it's not just play.

They can be practicing for future jobs.

Jobs in the effects industry can include
animator,

digital artist,

creature modeler,

digital compositor,

and even a technical director.

What about the future of special effects?

I think actors will still remain
in the movie business

because it would be kind of weird
if everything was effects,

including the actors.

By then, you will be able to make
three-dimensional movies

in your own home.

And there will be no mechanical effects
used whatsoever.

Speaking of no mechanical effects,

there is a car called the Blackbird
which can become any car possible.

Sadly, you cannot see this cool trick
with the human eye

as it only works if seen using
a special computer.

Here's a picture of the Blackbird.

As you can see, it is basically just
an exoskeleton of a car.

It can actually change its length
and height

to replicate any car possible.

The little black thing that you can see
at the top of the car

is actually a 360-degree view camera

which it uses to see everything around it

and create the reflection
on the car's metal.

This is a picture of a normal Jaguar,
isn't it?

Or maybe not.

Let's enlarge this photo.

Now, cut out the middle part.

As you can see,
this is actually the Blackbird.

Here is a picture of the Blackbird
becoming many cars at one time.

As you can see, there's no need
for real cars in movies,

TV shows,

or advertisments anymore.

Finally, this is the comedy animation
I promised you.

It's called I farted.

I farted.

I farted, also.

Thank you!