Opinions Vary: Practically Effective
I don’t mean to alarm anyone here, but sometimes I can sound like an old man bitching about how things today stink. Usually I am aware of my behavior and I ham it up a little. I like sounding like a bitter old man. However today’s Opinions Vary is a very different beast. I actually and truly believe the following.
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I prefer practical special effects over digital effects.
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I know that they are more time consuming. I know that we’ve reached beyond the tipping point and practical effects are more expensive. I know that the business side of movie making has little or nothing to do with pleasing the audience and is about minimizing costs. I don’t care. Massive amounts of CGI combined with lighting effects and fake backdrops take me out of movies.
I understand that there are some effects that cannot be done by practical means. I also understand that part of exploring new ideas is to find something that works better. However, I think that digital special effects are best used to compliment practical effects. The best examples I can give for both are Star Wars.
In the original cuts of A New Hope, Empire, and Jedi, practical effects and digital effects are blended perfectly. I really believed that there were space ships that could fire lasers. I believed that Laser swords existed and could cut through everything. I really believed that Obi-Wan was a benevolent spirit sent to help Luke.
In the prequels, the universe felt stale, sterile, and uninhabited despite all the CGI creatures walking around. The space ships felt too fake because they were made on a computer, not built in model form. There is something about being able to physically touch something, the tactile response, that can’t be simulated. This principle even comes through when on screen. Light sabers weren’t fun anymore because they were out every 5 seconds. There’s no mystique about them in the prequels. If you lived on Boob Island, where clothing above the waist is illegal, boobs would get old fast. I only want to visit Boob Island, not live there.
I don’t want to beat a dead horse by comparing the prequels to the OG trilogy. The problem is that we have more Star Wars coming at us by a man (J.J. Abrams) who is all in on the CGI. While that may have worked for Star Trek, I hope he has a different approach to Star Wars.
Moving along, I’m going to close on the REAL reason I chose this topic. On May 7th of this year, a mere 3 weeks ago, Ray Harryhausen passed away at the ripe old age of 92. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, he was a special effects artist who began his professional career in the 1940’s and kept going strong until his retirement in 1981. He was a master of blending stop motion miniatures and live action film. For those of us that were raised on films like Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, and the Sinbad movies (the pirate, not the comedian), he certainly had a special place in our hearts. It also doesn’t hurt that he and Ray Bradbury were close friends. I would have murdered babies with my bare hands to sit in on a conversation between the two.
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So where do your loyalties lie? Are you dazzled by computer effects to the point that you are drooling out of the side of your mouth in anticipation for more? Or do you enjoy a more practical, realistic approach to effects and cringe every time you see over polished and perhaps out of place CGI?
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