特效(special effects)
电影或电视演出所采用之人工视觉或机械效果。最早的特效是透过特殊的摄影镜头，或如在演员身後投影一个会动背景的戏法所创造出来。而随着可结合分开影片片段并取代部分影像之光学印像机的发展，特效也因此具有较大的灵活度，因而允许如让角色飞过天际的效果。透过使用如钢丝、爆炸物及玩偶等装置，以及藉由建造模拟如小规模战役的壮丽场景，特效也可以机械地在舞台上被创作出来。使用电脑绘图及电脑产生影像的增加，已经可创作出越来越好的精巧真实地视觉效果。虽然以往每一个电影制片场都有其自己的特效部门，但是特效现在已经藉由如乔治卢卡斯之光影魔幻产业（Industrial Light and Magic）的个人公司来创造，以提供在《星际大战》（Star War, 1977）及往後的电影中所见的革命性特效。
English version：
special effects
Artificial visual or mechanical effects introduced into a movie or television show. The earliest special effects were created through special camera lenses or through tricks such as projecting a moving background behind the actors. Greater flexibility came with the development of the optical printer, which made it possible to combine separate pieces of film and replace part of an image, thus allowing for such effects as characters flying through the air. Special effects have also been created mechanically on the set through the use of devices such as wires, explosives, and puppets and by building models to simulate epic scenes such as battles in miniature. The growing use of computer animation and computer-generated imagery has produced increasingly elaborate and realistic visual effects. Though each movie studio formerly had its own special-effects department, effects are now created by private companies such as George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic, formed to provide the revolutionary effects seen in Star Wars (1977) and later movies.