The international conference The Magic of Special Effects: Cinema–Technology–Reception will cast new light on the essential topic of special effects and artifice in the cinema by bringing together renowned specialists from around the world who will examine discourses on the magic of cinema — its special effects, trick shots and artifices, from the advent of the motion picture camera to the development of today’s new sound and image technologies — and reflect on the influence these technological innovations and magical techniques exercise on our perception of moving images and other media.