Author Topic: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions (2009-2016)  (Read 1228488 times)

Holly Harry

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1300 on: February 22, 2010, 08:51:32 PM »
People don't say "how'd they do that!?" quite as much as they used to it seems.

Yeah, that's the downfall of the rise of CGI.
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FroHam X

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1301 on: February 22, 2010, 08:55:05 PM »
People don't say "how'd they do that!?" quite as much as they used to it seems.

Yeah, that's the downfall of the rise of CGI.

The upshot is when you get a really amazing practical effect it meets with great reception. The truck flip in The Dark Knight did that incredibly well. It amazed people precisely because it was an actual truck flipping over.
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smirnoff

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1302 on: February 22, 2010, 08:59:16 PM »
I like that line from The Prestige that sort of touches on the issue.

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Melvil

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1303 on: February 22, 2010, 09:01:57 PM »
People don't say "how'd they do that!?" quite as much as they used to it seems.

The interesting flipside is most people understand how they actually did things less than ever.

smirnoff

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1304 on: February 22, 2010, 09:26:13 PM »
People don't say "how'd they do that!?" quite as much as they used to it seems.

The interesting flipside is most people understand how they actually did things less than ever.

If you require people to say more than just "it's cgi" you mean? That seems true.

Clovis8

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1305 on: February 22, 2010, 09:32:05 PM »

smirnoff

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1306 on: February 22, 2010, 09:35:47 PM »
Guy Maddin 100% tomato. Technically a fruit.

zarodinu

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1307 on: February 22, 2010, 09:38:50 PM »
Guy Maddin 100% tomato. Technically a fruit.

 ;D ;D ;D

I second that.
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Melvil

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1308 on: February 22, 2010, 09:41:35 PM »
People don't say "how'd they do that!?" quite as much as they used to it seems.

The interesting flipside is most people understand how they actually did things less than ever.

If you require people to say more than just "it's cgi" you mean? That seems true.

Well, yeah. Saying "they used CGI" is like saying "they used models" or "they did it for real". It doesn't really explain anything, and is an easy dismissal that makes no acknowledgment of the difficulty and innovation that actually went into the work. With practical effects everyone can relate to manipulating reality, so they have a point of reference when they see something and they can't figure out how it was done. With CG, most people have no idea how the medium works, so it's all the same to them.

I constantly see stuff in CGI that blows my mind, but I have the advantage of having practiced CG (sounds like a cult when I put it like that) for many years, so I have a lot more context than most people.

FroHam X

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #1309 on: February 22, 2010, 09:55:32 PM »
All I meant was that there was a time when people would watch a movie like Star Wars or Jurassic Park or even Lord of the Rings and say "how did they do that." But now that cgi is the go-to fix for almost any effect most people just accept that anything that can be imagined can be done an not much is impressive. But then you get something like the truck flip where it is clearly practical and because of that it is instantly more impressive on a gut level. Not even in a "how did they do that" way, but in an "I can't believe they actually flipped a friggin 18-wheeler!" kind of way.

I think recently where cgi effects have been most impressive to people is in the area of melding the practical and virtual. The Avatar cgi is impressive, but on the surface it appears to most people as simply as a big leap in effects quality. But you show people Ben Button and despite them realizing there is a ton of cgi they still go "my how did they make Brad Pitt look so young?" or "how did they make him look so old?" or "how did they turn him into a small guy like that?" People get when something is cgi and so they dismiss it, but when it is mixed so thoroughly with something practical people are more likely to wonder how it's done because there is still a basis for the effect in reality.
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