CGI or Practical Effects in Movies
Recently, on my ‘Learning or Comprehending’ post, I ranted about how movies over use green screen and CGI. I was comparing Top Gun: Maverick, to other movies, specifically the MCU.
I wanted to discuss this further by making a whole post about it. It is the perfect excuse to add a section to my gaming blog that I have been wanting to make for a long time.
Perhaps this post serves two purposes: introduce the new section where we will talk about anything else, like movies, series, other sports, or technology; and it will also help talk a bit in depth about how action movies are made.
Let’s dive deeper.
Technology serves us
Technology breeds change, it is there to help us automate some tasks and do them in a more precise way. Change is inevitable, and we, as a species, will always innovate and try to improve ourselves, and the way we live.
Today we take so many technological advancements for granted; our smartphones are proof of it. If you grew up in a time where smartphones were not common yet, maybe you understand how convenient it has made our lives.
Back in the day, people did not have basic things like calculators. In school, they had to do arithmetic by memory or with the abacus. Once calculators became popular, teachers were reluctant to use them in class and tests because they thought it would make them lazy.
Maybe you have heard a similar story. We resist technology in the fear of becoming expendable, or too dependent on it. Ironically, that is the purpose. Technology is there to serve us; we depend on it whether we like it or not.
Technology has also made us expendable in some tasks but has opened up new opportunities. I remember a story I read about the Ford Motor Company.
Henry Ford started automatizing its production line. He implemented some technologies that would replace a worker’s job. This translated to efficiency and cost reduction. Ford was happy.
He boasted about this to his plant manager and told him a cocky manner something along the lines: ‘You see this? They don’t complain, they don’t miss days, they don’t ask for a raise. They are the future. At this rate these things will leave you out of a job!’.
The plant manager replied wisely: ‘Certainly, but you will have no one to sell the cars to.’
It was common for the factory employees to actually own stock in the company and also buy cars. The manager’s words are truer than ever. Even though technology has automated a lot of tasks, humans are still needed to sustain the economy.
We won’t be fully replaced; technology opens up doors to new opportunities like, for example, content creation. Back in the day, writing or producing content was not possible without an agency or company dedicated to that.
Nowadays, anyone with a smart device can start creating content without a middleman.
Other jobs like graphic designers and such are able to work from home or don’t need a super computer to produce assets, design models or create worlds. Same goes for visual effect artists and similar trades.
Technology itself does not think or produce anything on its own. Humans are the ones that create; the ones that produce something with their imagination. Technology is there to serve us, after all, we created it.
Movies over use it.
Back in the 70s and 80s, movies were all about practical effects. Even in the 90s this craft was carried. Practical effect artists were sought after and it was a very popular position. The job required making props, models, and even background scenery.
Some practical effect artists were in charge of coordinating scenes that required explosions in models and such.
Other movie making roles included action scene coordinators. Maybe the movie had a car chase that ended in a big explosion. The director worked with the action scene team and worked out a plan to execute the whole scene perfectly.
Movies used to have real cars blow up in a blaze of glory. Models of buildings were made to blow up. The scenes looked realistic in a way. Artists worked in making these models look like the real thing. Action scenes also had no CGI so everything was made using what you had.
Creativeness was real. These artists were truly something else.
Once CGI became more ‘realistic’, movies started to use them here and there. Perhaps it started with an explosion made entirely with CGI. The reasons are valid, keep the actors and crew safe.
Now and then you could tell what was CGI or not. In the late 90s and 2000s, CGI was used in almost every action movie. I remember watching 2 Fast 2 Furious. They used CGI cars in the race scenes. It completely ruined the experience for me, considering the first movie did not have a lot of CGI, and all the chase scenes used real cars. Even the wreckage was real. There is something mesmerizing about seeing things blown up or wreckage happening all over.
That is why 80s action movies were so popular. People liked seeing real things or very good models being destroyed. It sort of feels like what you imagined when you were playing with your action figures.
CGI dependency continues until today. Marvel movies basically are made behind a green screen and actors wear mocap suits or parts. Post production later adds either the entire suit, a helmet, or even hair!
It is sickening to see this kind of thing when we are at a time where technology is at its best. This is why when movies like John Wick use practical effects rather than unnecessary CGI we tend to over praise them.
Top Gun: Maverick certainly used CGI, but the action scenes were filmed by real pilots. Actors also got behind the cockpit of the F-15 Tomcat and filmed their scenes, sustaining considerable G forces. They even had to physically prepare themselves to do them.
It’s all about balance
CGI is not the enemy, not by any means. It is a tool to be used in tandem with practical effects and props.
A couple of series that are doing this perfectly are The Mandalorian, and The Last of Us. The scenery in these series is the ‘hidden character’. You gaze at the worlds Mando visits, or gander at the ruins of the city that Ellie and Joel traverse.
It is no secret that they are CGI, but the perfect balance of its use is unnoticeable by our eyes. On the other hand, superhero movies are just pathetic. It is a heaping pile of bad CGI and looks quite unrealistic. I cannot tell the difference between the CGI of a CW superhero series and the one used in Marvel or DC movies.
I recall seeing a video on YouTube on why all Marvel movies looked like garbage. They all have this greyish hue to it. It started when Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, somewhere after Iron Man’s sequel.
Ever since these movies started catering to younger demographics, they have become lamer. Feels like it is over for those fans who actually grew up reading the comics or watching cartoons.
That is how business works. It is about profit; it has always been.
A few in the industry have realized that
As mentioned earlier, shows like The Mandalorian, Andor, The Last of Us, or movies like Top Gun: Maverick, and others, have found a balance between digital and practical effects. Both of them work together, helping each other, covering for the other’s weaknesses.
Digital effects should be a complement to good practical effects, nothing more.
It is good to see that some studios, although few, are realizing the importance of practical effects and not depend too much on digital effects or CGI.
Hopefully we will start to see a resurgence in the way movies are made. It will be a differentiating factor between a generic Marvel movie, and a good action flick.
What are your thoughts on how CGI is being used in some movies? Are studios depending too much on them? Let me know in the comments below.
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