MOVIE MAGIC
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids|July/August 2023
Special effects are the special ingredients that make movies magical. They create scenes that otherwise would be impossible to capture.
Andrew Matthews
MOVIE MAGIC

Consider any of the 31 (and counting) Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. The Avengers transform from civilians into superheroes. They leap from and into moving spaceships. They engage in epic battles against alien armies. Thanks to special effects, those fictional scenes look real.

Special effects can be practical or visual. Practical effects are actual objects or elements that filmmakers manipulate or that actors interact with in real time while filming. Many practical effects have been used since the beginning of motion pictures. They include props, models, puppets, makeup, prostheses (artificial features that temporarily change a face or body part), animatronics (lifelike robots), and pyrotechnics (fireworks or explosions).

Practical effects can enhance films in a variety of ways. Early horror films made use of prostheses to bring monsters to life. Puppets have been used to portray aliens and animals. Using stop-motion animation, a director can build a scene by making tiny adjustments to a puppet between shots. Once the film is sped up, the inanimate object looks like it is alive and moving.

This story is from the July/August 2023 edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the July/August 2023 edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM COBBLESTONE AMERICAN HISTORY MAGAZINE FOR KIDSView All
Eye in the Sky
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

Eye in the Sky

An interview with Joe Piotrowski

time-read
7 mins  |
November/December 2023
Airborne Animals
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

Airborne Animals

Humans have taken to the skies in balloons, gliders, and airplanes-but we're not alone among the clouds. Animals of all sorts have evolved to harness wind power.

time-read
2 mins  |
November/December 2023
TAKING OFF
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

TAKING OFF

The Wright brothers expected airplanes to “take off,” but even they might be amazed at the way the airline industry has become big business. In the past, it was expensive to send something by plane.

time-read
1 min  |
November/December 2023
GROWTH OF AN INDUSTRY
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

GROWTH OF AN INDUSTRY

After their historic flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright returned to Dayton, Ohio. They spent the next few years making adjustments and building additional versions of their powered aircraft in their bicycle shop.

time-read
3 mins  |
November/December 2023
WHY KITTY HAWK?
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

WHY KITTY HAWK?

The Wright brothers searched carefully for the best place to test their gliders and flying machines. Their main concern was for good, steady winds. But they also hoped to find a remote location to allow them to perform tests away from the public eye.

time-read
1 min  |
November/December 2023
Two Brothers From Ohio
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

Two Brothers From Ohio

Most people do not realize that the Wright brothers—Wilbur, born in 1867, and Orville, born in 1871—performed various scientific experiments before inventing their aircraft. For as long as anyone in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, could remember, the Wright boys had worked on mechanical projects.

time-read
4 mins  |
November/December 2023
A Helping Hand
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

A Helping Hand

May 6, 1896. A group of people who had gathered beside the Potomac River, just south of the U.S. capital, grew quiet. Then, it erupted in cheers as a small, unmanned aircraft took to the skies and flew for more than half a mile. The flight came seven years before the Wright brothers’ first manned, powered flight. The inventor of the aircraft was Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley.

time-read
2 mins  |
November/December 2023
THE IDEA MEN
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

THE IDEA MEN

People dreamed of flying thousands of years before the Wright brothers found success near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. These dreamers, such as Leonardo da Vinci, studied birds flying and imagined how humans might do the same—if only they had wings. Other men developed a more hands-on approach to the topic. Early inventors made wings of cloth, glue, and feathers and tied these creations to their arms in an attempt to imitate nature.

time-read
3 mins  |
November/December 2023
Da Vinci's 4 Designs
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

Da Vinci's 4 Designs

Have you ever wondered how a bird flies? Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) did. He thought that understanding how a bird flies would provide the key to human flight. So, what did da Vinci learn from birds?

time-read
3 mins  |
November/December 2023
Silken Wings
Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids

Silken Wings

Seven hundred years before the Wright brothers began experimenting with human flight, the Chinese had already mastered its secrets—with kites.

time-read
2 mins  |
November/December 2023