Tron

The story of TRON starts in the fall of 1975 when a young animation artist named Steven Lisberger witnessed a demonstration of computer generated imagery during a gathering of Boston-area filmmakers. Dr. Phillip Mittelman, president and founder of the Mathematical Application Group Inc. hoped to generate interest and ultimately business in the computer aided generation of three-dimensional objects – traditionally a sore spot with animators. Rendering correct perspectives of objects such as buildings, vehicles etc. was complex and costly. Lisberger, as an artist trained in animation, recognized the possibilities of the computer as a new and powerful tool and years later the techniques of computer generated imagery (CGI) together with the unique method of ‘backlight compositing’ became the main principles of TRON. Tron becomes the first movie to use computer generated graphics, ushering in an era of continual progression to the effects-laden films we see today.