One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
So what the hell am I talking about?
Last week I finally got to see Guardians of the Galaxy, and let me tell you, it was rather meh. It is a movie I want to like, and in fact do like, but it's not the movie it could have been.
I noticed a trend in movies, it's called CGI, some of you may already know that his stands for computer generated images. Haha, you say, pointing with your finger at the screen, that's old news, als old as...well...images generated by computers. To which I say: "shut up, lemme explain!".
CGI is a great tool, but mu8ch like other tools, it's also a weapon mankind is not yet ready for. CGI has effectively been around since at least the early eighties, and indeed has made possible some great movie moments, which could only have been dreamt of before. It's in the nature of things for SciFi and Fantasy movies to benefit from them the most; they inertly deal with imaginary things more then contemporary or historical movies, as those things are real, and it's just that some of them are not around any more. They need to be recreated...not just created in the first place. Mark that distinction, it's the point.
The video above shows pretty much everything I hate about CGI, and they talk about it as if they found a way to make Ice cream flavoured Lasagna (That does sound delicious, right, you guys?).
For starters, at 18:30, you can see Obi Wan (I'm not going to explain Star Wars, if you're here, you'll know) hanging from a little flying robot (nowadays it'd be called a drone), except for the fact he does not at all. Later on you see him jumping through a windows, that not even has any glass. So, really, he does not do that, too. Now obviously, I'm not asking Ewan McGregor to hurt himself by jumping through a real, oh-my-gods, that'- solid-I-broke-my-shoulder window. But in earlier, less sophisticated times, someone had to...
So, here are some real ones, go ahead, I'll wait.
http://cinemassacre.com/2013/05/06/top-20-window-jumps/
Now I can't vouch for all of those videos, and maybe stunt men and trick glass were involved, but at some point something flew through something prone to shattering...and our brains can see the difference, for random processes like fire, water or things just collapsing are some of the hardest things to animate, because of their quasi randomness. But jumping through a real window...however bad the movie may be, you just saw someone doing something really cool.
And then of course there's the way actors react to CGI...because essentially, it is not there. If you watched the above video, then you know that Ewan Mcgregor had to act towards a spot on a blue wall. No reaction, no chemistry. Look at the fight between Count Dooku and "Yoda" at 20:30. And then at 39:40 Lucas has to actually ask for Yoda's robe to billow...Now wonder CGI movies look like video games.
Compare all those examples to that:
See what they did there?
However much that scene might have been rigged, (I even included scenes of filming for reference) there's no denying that at one point, Holy shit, you guys, a guy climbed under the truck, was towed behind it and entered the cabin from above, and another climbed on top of the moving truck.
At first, when films like the Lord of the Rings, van Helsing, stuff like that, hit the cinemas, I was on board. I liked how CGI was generally used to improve a visuals, to show things that otherwise would have been impossible. Avatar is a good example. But nowadays, Guardians of the Galaxy isn't so much an improvement of reality, it's more an animated movie with some actors strewn across.
My problem is that CGI is getting so good and easily available that there's seemingly no reason for filmmakers to ask themselves if it's necessary.
And yet it seems artificial, because our brains tell us that it's just impossible. But it is grounded through human actors, and therefore it doesn't warrant the same willing suspension of disbelief like a fully animated film, or one where the practical effects don't announce themselves so loudly.
The video above shows pretty much everything I hate about CGI, and they talk about it as if they found a way to make Ice cream flavoured Lasagna (That does sound delicious, right, you guys?).
For starters, at 18:30, you can see Obi Wan (I'm not going to explain Star Wars, if you're here, you'll know) hanging from a little flying robot (nowadays it'd be called a drone), except for the fact he does not at all. Later on you see him jumping through a windows, that not even has any glass. So, really, he does not do that, too. Now obviously, I'm not asking Ewan McGregor to hurt himself by jumping through a real, oh-my-gods, that'- solid-I-broke-my-shoulder window. But in earlier, less sophisticated times, someone had to...
So, here are some real ones, go ahead, I'll wait.
http://cinemassacre.com/2013/05/06/top-20-window-jumps/
Now I can't vouch for all of those videos, and maybe stunt men and trick glass were involved, but at some point something flew through something prone to shattering...and our brains can see the difference, for random processes like fire, water or things just collapsing are some of the hardest things to animate, because of their quasi randomness. But jumping through a real window...however bad the movie may be, you just saw someone doing something really cool.
And then of course there's the way actors react to CGI...because essentially, it is not there. If you watched the above video, then you know that Ewan Mcgregor had to act towards a spot on a blue wall. No reaction, no chemistry. Look at the fight between Count Dooku and "Yoda" at 20:30. And then at 39:40 Lucas has to actually ask for Yoda's robe to billow...Now wonder CGI movies look like video games.
Compare all those examples to that:
However much that scene might have been rigged, (I even included scenes of filming for reference) there's no denying that at one point, Holy shit, you guys, a guy climbed under the truck, was towed behind it and entered the cabin from above, and another climbed on top of the moving truck.
At first, when films like the Lord of the Rings, van Helsing, stuff like that, hit the cinemas, I was on board. I liked how CGI was generally used to improve a visuals, to show things that otherwise would have been impossible. Avatar is a good example. But nowadays, Guardians of the Galaxy isn't so much an improvement of reality, it's more an animated movie with some actors strewn across.
My problem is that CGI is getting so good and easily available that there's seemingly no reason for filmmakers to ask themselves if it's necessary.
"But Arthur", you say twiddling your 3D-glasses in your spndly fingers in the line for the cinema, "what are we to do?".
Well, it seems we don't need to do anything, because as CGI is getting better, it's getting more expensive. And that means that more an more filmmakers are going back to practical effects. Watch out for Chris Nolan, for example, and rejoice because right now he is such a huge influence in the industry.
Great scene, no CGI, or at least not realzied solely through it. That's important. Don't simply abstain, but use it thoughtfully.
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