CGI seems to be the overwhelming go-to for special effects in movies/TV and it's debatable on whether or not that's for the best. More often than not when i'm watching something with CGI in it there is a level of disconnect and a lack of immersion inherent on screen. I've watched a lot of the series "The Movies That Made US" on Netflix and it's given me such an appreciation for the talent and hard work that went into making some of our favorite movies come to life. Whereas now these special effects are made almost entirely by CGI and in my opinion it takes the humanity out of a lot of our entertainment experiences. Initially a lot of these effects were super cool, showing me things i've never seen before but now with their constant usage whenever a situation calls for something cool to happen on screen the fakeness of it all is too much to ignore. Maybe because i've seen things like this...
...and now that i know how the sausage is made i'm too disillusioned to enjoy it as i once have. This isn't strictly or even mostly about the MCU, they're merely an easy example representing my main point that there is an over-abundance of CGI in our entertainment media now and I don't think it's necessary to deliver good to great shows or movies. CGI seems like it's used for everything now when film/show makers want to make something cool happen on screen. I understand it for large scale battles or something in space but a lot of times i notice it's just used for set back drops or for entire characters. What happened to animatronics and carefully labored, "hand-crafted" special effects and why have they been mostly replaced by a green screen? The answer is probably because it's more cost and time effective but is that really what's best for the movie-goer?
Can any of us truly say that the special effects in Jurassic Park are worse than what we get in today's JP movies? Or that the shark in Jaws gave us a more fake version of what we see in "The Meg"? Or how movies used to have battle scenes with what felt like 1000+ real people all dressed in appropriate costumes as opposed to today's version which is a CGI battle fest that are almost always uninteresting.
I used to love watching the DVD bonus features when i was younger and seeing how the movies were made. The whole process of it was so creative and it clearly took a lot of effort to make happen. Designing costumes and set pieces for large scale battles in historical movies, designing the super intricate make up on characters, and just a general sense of making something cool happen on screen that was actually happening in real life.
I'm sure that CGI is a very labor-intense process and it is getting better all the time. I just think it's too prevalent in entertainment now and it misses the point for why so many of us watch tv or movies. We all want to be entertained in some way but deep down i think we're really watching to find some sort of human experience to relate to or connect with. I think it's getting harder and harder to do that when CGI is stapled to so much of what we see. Its prevalence has made it less impressive and less immersive. Not every movie out of Hollywood needs to try and blow my mind with what's happening on screen. It looks less real. It feels less fun. The more "cool" things I see with CGI the less i'm drawn in.
Give me back some realism. Show me characters who are experiencing
Maybe i'm just an old man shaking my fist at a cloud (although i'm in my early 30's) but growing up there were plenty of instances where even if the animatronics in what i was watching
...and now that i know how the sausage is made i'm too disillusioned to enjoy it as i once have. This isn't strictly or even mostly about the MCU, they're merely an easy example representing my main point that there is an over-abundance of CGI in our entertainment media now and I don't think it's necessary to deliver good to great shows or movies. CGI seems like it's used for everything now when film/show makers want to make something cool happen on screen. I understand it for large scale battles or something in space but a lot of times i notice it's just used for set back drops or for entire characters. What happened to animatronics and carefully labored, "hand-crafted" special effects and why have they been mostly replaced by a green screen? The answer is probably because it's more cost and time effective but is that really what's best for the movie-goer?
Can any of us truly say that the special effects in Jurassic Park are worse than what we get in today's JP movies? Or that the shark in Jaws gave us a more fake version of what we see in "The Meg"? Or how movies used to have battle scenes with what felt like 1000+ real people all dressed in appropriate costumes as opposed to today's version which is a CGI battle fest that are almost always uninteresting.
I used to love watching the DVD bonus features when i was younger and seeing how the movies were made. The whole process of it was so creative and it clearly took a lot of effort to make happen. Designing costumes and set pieces for large scale battles in historical movies, designing the super intricate make up on characters, and just a general sense of making something cool happen on screen that was actually happening in real life.
I'm sure that CGI is a very labor-intense process and it is getting better all the time. I just think it's too prevalent in entertainment now and it misses the point for why so many of us watch tv or movies. We all want to be entertained in some way but deep down i think we're really watching to find some sort of human experience to relate to or connect with. I think it's getting harder and harder to do that when CGI is stapled to so much of what we see. Its prevalence has made it less impressive and less immersive. Not every movie out of Hollywood needs to try and blow my mind with what's happening on screen. It looks less real. It feels less fun. The more "cool" things I see with CGI the less i'm drawn in.
Give me back some realism. Show me characters who are experiencing
Maybe i'm just an old man shaking my fist at a cloud (although i'm in my early 30's) but growing up there were plenty of instances where even if the animatronics in what i was watching
