Dear Hollywood
Just because you can
Does not mean you should.
Thank you.
posted by Michael O'Connell @ 5:15 PM
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Just because you can
Does not mean you should.
Thank you.
Just because you can
Does not mean you should.
Thank you.
About Me
- Name: Michael O'Connell
- Location: Sacramento, CA, United States
Michael O'Connell is a mystery wrapped in an enigma served on dry white toast and topped with Seville orange marmalade.
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4 Comments:
At December 9, 2007 at 5:00 AM ,
Martin Maenza said...
Mike, any particular films you have this message targetted for? A short post is not your usual thing. Just curious.
At December 9, 2007 at 2:43 PM ,
Michael O'Connell said...
While it's just a general thought that's been in my head for a long time, and something that's growing to bug me more and more, this graphic was set off by the latest trailer for I Am Legend. I've been looking forward to this film for so long. As a kid, I was totally obsessed with The Omega Man, and thought it was the coolest movie EVER. This remake (or reinterpretation of the novel Omega Man was based on) has been bouncing around for a couple decades (it was originally an Arnie project), and now they're finally making it. Not only did I think Will Smith was a perfect choice, but the first trailer knocked my socks off. Now, in the new one, we're seeing the (lousy) CGI zombies and animals (lions, dogs). WHY? Did you not see the remake of Dawn of the Dead, people? There's this thing called make-up that lets you turn actors and stuntmen INTO zombies, and doing so brings reality to the film, and doesn't pull you out of the viewing experience like obvious special effects do. And there are animal trainers out there working for Hollywood, you know. Use them...and use real animals!
The laziness of CGI is overtaking modern film. Yes, sometimes it's necessary. If you're working in the fantastical, for example. Lord of the Rings is a good example. Peter Jackson had to create a whole mythical world and strange creatures and races for that trilogy. Since there ARE no actual giant eagles out there, you have to create them. But even in those fantasy-based films, the parts that lacked CGI worked best. This is why I connected with Two Towers so much. Sure, there were orc armies storming the stronghold, and a lot of CGI was needed. But interspersed with that were a whole lot of live shots, on an actual set they built (they built the whole fortress) and there were loads of stuntmen in orc gear hacking it out with the good guys. This made it so much more real, and made me feel like I was there. While I still loved Return of the King, the whole film felt like one big greenscreen experience, and that made me less connected to it.
Remember Daredevil? Maybe you're trying to forget. At its core, the whole Daredevil mythos is VERY low-tech. It's a guy in a costume. Period. There was this one scene, in a church, where they needed DD to quickly and acrobatically climb up a wall. This is where you're supposed to hire some stuntman/circus acrobat to do the job (if don't think it can be done and think such people don't exist, just re-watch Ocean's 11). But instead, suddenly this badly-CGI'd DD figure bounces his way up the wall. It was obvious, it was silly, and, again, took us right out of the "living it" experience.
CGI is a fantastic tool, and does keep getting better (slowly but surely). You couldn't have properly done Gladiator without it (I guess they COULD have rebuilt Rome...). Obviously the later Star Wars films (ugh) had a strong need for it (but even there, it was way, way overdone. Compare the epic lightsabre fight with Darth Maul in Ep. 1, which was a real, choreographed sequence, with the CGI silliness of the next two). But when you're doing something like I Am Legend, something that takes place in the real world, it needs to LOOK real world. I'm still looking forward to the film, but I'm already preparing myself for disappointment and a lot of eye-rolling.
Hollywood--create your dragons with CGI. But if you want to show a car flying through the air? Throw the damn car through the air. That's the way you USED to do it, in films that were much better, and had more dignity, than the crap you're making now. Yes, you CAN use CGI. But just stop and ask yourself, for the film that you're working on...SHOULD you?
At December 11, 2007 at 2:22 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Or computer animation, for that matter. It's gone leaps and bounds beyond the freaky Polar Express, but they still look like they're walking stiffs.
HOWever, it's cheaper.
Guess which gets made?
Same with CGI - it's a lot cheaper to do it that way than to actually "throw the car through the air".
Hey, I agree with you 100% - but the economics will unfortunately win out every time. Let's just hope that at least the CGI gets better over time...
KC
At December 19, 2007 at 7:13 PM ,
Anonymous said...
I Am Legend was actually pretty good. The CGI didnt seem to interfere with the story. But ya, the later star wars films, that was a major disappointment for me. In Fact, I sometimes wish they werent even done.
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