Realističnost filmových vizuálních efektů z pohledu diváka

Visual effects in movies are a crucial part of modern cinematography. They aim to eliminate the limitations in the movie industry and allow the author to fulfil his vision even if it is not based on a real-world phenomenon. This bachelor's thesis is focused on audience perception of movie visual effects. It explores the topics of realism, believability and visual appeal of a specific type of visual effect: the pyrotechnic visual effects that are both one of the most attractive and expensive to create. The main goal of this thesis is to establish key attributes for a realistic pyrotechnic visual effect, based around the hypothesis that states the movie audience perceives bigger, longer-lasting explosions full of flammable material as more realistic. The hypothesis is built on the differences of size and speed of the visual representation of movie and real-world explosions. To validate the hypothesis, testing scenes with different pyrotechnic visual effects were created by non-linear animation methods and the combination of software tools Cinema 4D and X-Particles. Said testing scenes were explored further by qualitative research methods. Participants that don’t take deeper interest in the topic of visual effects or those that aren’t immediately aware of the difference in visual appearance of said visual effect in movies and reality, confirm the created hypothesis and identify bigger and slower explosions as more realistic. Key attributes that contribute to viewer perception of realism were identified as size and explosion duration. Besides the topic of realism, the visual appeal of said visual effects was explored and the research led to the conclusion that viewers identify the explosions with movie attributes as more appealing than those with real-world attributes.