I find CG movies very boring, and largely do not watch them.
I see most of the same problems as quoted in the article and agree 100%.
The problem I see is artists don't understand physics and despite doing very
realistic shading, the illusion is lost the moment anything moves....and
poorly. Once credibility is destroyed it becomes very tough to sit through
the movie and accept it for what it tries to be. Many artists get caught up
in poses or moments, or just don't have the educational background at all.
One thing I've noticed is most CG artists didn't participate in sports
activity growing up. As a result, they don't have a strong grasp of physics
or bodily motion. That may also contribute to the problem.
Another thing that has irritated me since the 1990s is how all creatures
move with essentially the same personality regardless of size or shape.
They act more like cartoonish humans than the animals/creatures they're
supposed to portray. In real life small animals tend to have twitchy
motions, always on alert, and react quickly while larger animals move very
slow and only move when necessary for efficiency. Jurassic world, I haven't
seen the movie, but I've seen enough of the clips to prove the point.
usually when a creature appears on screen, it'll do some hokey motion to
announce, "hey look at me, I'm a velociraptor and I've come to eat you!".
Chomp, chomp, swish, swish. The velociraptors have single dimension focus
on the human they are going to eat, and when multiple appear on screen, only
one tends to act at a time taking turns while the others do really stupid
idle movements. Very unconvincing. The larger sea creatures jumping out of
the water have movements that tend to mirror those of a small to midsize
fish instead of a whale or other large mammal. This is poor execution, not
budget. Same problem exists in video games and other media. In fact, its
probably worse in games.
I can go on, but the problem is everybody is trying to tell stories through
FX rather than having the FX support the story. So much emphasis is put on
the 'look' that it fails to consider the more important element - motion.
That same problem existed in other forms of animation prior to the rise of
CG. Look grabs your attention, but motion establishes credibility.
We see so much of this today because it's what sells. Hollywood is all
about the money. When the day arrives independent movies get enough budget
to do their own CG, you might see more responsible use of the
technology.....maybe.
Form follows function. Most of today's movies have form, but they don't
function.
Matt
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2015 10:15:10 +0200
From: Tim Leydecker <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: OT: Jurassic World, Mad Max, Avengers Ultron ... money
over story?
I think it is a good thing to get an educated critique and honest
feedback, even if it is going to be biased.
I?d actually hope to see more critics point out that a good story,
regardless of it?s tonality goes a long way
in creating an experience and just because it?s meant to entertain
doesn?t mean one can dumb it down
and ignore the need to first of all get the basics of telling a
compelling story to an audience right.
Growing up with 80s/90s sci-fi and action movies, Star Wars, Aliens,
Jurrassic Park, Men in Black,
Blade, Terminator, True Lies, Indiana Jones, The Thing, Rambo, Universal
Soldier, Timecop, 48hrs,
Beverly Hills Cop, Escape from New York, etc, etc. did have an effect on
me, too. I?m loving it.
It took me a few years to also appreciate that there?s this or that odd,
old Woody Allen movie and pick it up myself
and another few years to find out that both directions can have a common
factor, the dedication to their craft.
It?s a lot easier to spend millions and waste all the people involved
than spending one dollar wisely.
The ever growing trend of trivialising the actual craft required in
doing something properly just shows...
Cheers,
tim
P.S: As a personal pick, here?s a documentary that has great practial
effects, an Inception style corridor scene,
absolutely gorgeous wires work, wonderful art direction and a cast and
crew that got it right. If you don?t believe me,
believe imdb. Also note, the Rotten Tomatoes Rating vs. the IMDB Rating.
What we do in the Shadows http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3416742/
