Visual effects are digitally created imagery added to live-action footage. They are created in post-production, using computer software. They include CGI characters, digital environments, explosions, and de-aging. They are used to create the impossible. A dragon, a spaceship, a city destroyed by aliens. They are also used to enhance the possible. A sky replaced, a wire removed, a building extended. Visual effects are everywhere in modern cinema. The audience often cannot tell what is real and what is digital.

Visual effects have several components. Modeling creates the 3D objects. Texturing adds the surface detail. Rigging allows the objects to move. Animation brings them to life. Lighting integrates them into the scene. Compositing combines the digital elements with the live-action footage. Rendering calculates the final image. Each stage is complex and time-consuming. A single shot may take weeks or months to complete. A team of artists may work on a single frame.

Visual effects are not a substitute for storytelling. A film with stunning effects but a weak script still fails. The best visual effects serve the story. They create a world that feels real enough to believe in. They disappear into the film. When they do not, they become a distraction. The uncanny valley, where a digital human looks almost but not quite real, is a persistent challenge. The technology keeps improving. The judgment about when to use it does not. Visual effects are a tool. They are not a crutch.