Greg Borkman, section 319
The Balance between Narration and Special Effects
In Back to the Future (1985), there are not too many special effects and so the narrative is not disregarded, therefore according to Bukatman it is a successful movie. There is the disappearing Marty, in which Marty's hand disappears slowly until he is able to get his dad to kiss his mother; inherently saving his life and existence. This special effect is used to enhance the realism of the fantastic narrative because the audience is fearful that Marty will not succeed in getting his parents back together.
As stated in class many effects have been used before and multiple exposure is one of them. This is how I assume they were able to make half of Marty's arm disappear / fade away into nothing.
(photo here) The process of multiple exposure goes back to before film back to photography and trigger photography when multiple cameras were set up to trigger when a horse would run by them giving the final effect of a horse running in one photograph; Chronophotography. 
(photo here). There is however a special effect in Back to the Future that "brackets off" to clearly delineate the real world from this fantastic world.In the movie, the audience is lead to believe that time travel is possible. What is interesting is the Director's (Robert Zemeckis) choice to remind everyone in the audience that this is fantasy by having one last special effect at the end of the movie. Doc Brown's DeLorean starts to hover and then flies off into the sky, with an include appropriate line "There's no need for roads where we're going", leaving the audience wondering what the future is actually like.
(photo here)Back to the Future uses the special effect to differentiate between the narrative story of the movie and the real world that the audience is coming from. These types of movies can sometimes be more effective when it comes to convincing the audience that they are real. For example, look at Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) , it takes place in history yet has elements of the future in it when clearly the two don't belong together, but for some reason they work together to convince the audience that it is possible.
When a film like a Back to the Future or an Indiana Jones comes to theaters movie-goers flock to them because they are like bedtime stories you use to be told as children. The special effects are when remind us they are only bedtime stories. What makes these movies successful is because we are reminded at the end of the movie that these are fantasy worlds, therefore we will come back to the movie theater to see the movie again because it is the only place to get the feeling of excitement and satisfaction.
Because Back to the Future uses special effects to both enhance the realism of the fantastic narrative and to bracket off to clearly delineate the real world from the fantasy of the movie, Bukatman argues that these types of movies can be successful a keeping the quality of the narrative intact. He states, "special-effects sequences are splendidly exhibitionistic" (264) and usually are "accompanied by a reduction in narrative sophistication" (265). Bukatman says movies that do not fail to "reinstate and acknowledge [his] presence in the theater and emphasize the experience of viewing" (267) are more fundamentally solid in terms of narrative are more enjoyable. Back to the Future does not disregard the narrative by throwing dozens of special effects at the audience just because they have the capability of doing so, just as most post Star Wars movies can, this is what makes the movie enjoyable.
Back to the Future. Dir. Robert Zemeckis, Perf. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson. 1985. DVD. Universal Pictures, 2002.
Bukatman, Scott. "Zooming Out: The End of Offscreen Space" (248-272)
