In the world of movies and television there are some debates that rage on forever. Marvel vs DC, who the best Chris is (Evans, Hemsworth or Pine) and whether the Avatar movies are overrated (they are). However, one of my favourite debates is the one between practical effects and computer-generated imagery (CGI).
Practical effects tend to be favoured in part because of their rich history. For a long time, filmmakers could only use practical effects and they got really good at making them as realistic as possible.
One of the best testaments to practical effects is the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. In a time before computer generated imagery (CGI), Kubrick created his effects through the manipulation of the camera, the use of miniatures and elaborate sets.
In an iconic scene where an astronaut goes for a jog around the space station, the set itself was spinning to create the appearance of artificial gravity.
Even the colourful vortex the astronaut travels through towards the end of the film was shot practically using a technique called slit-scan photography. The best way I can explain slit-scan photography (partially because I barely understand it) is that it provides a similar effect to when you scan a page in a copier but move the page while it’s being scanned.
While practical effects have a longer history than CGI, it’s impossible to deny that CGI has its own benefits. CGI allows us to create effects that we could only have dreamed of prior. Unfortunately it’s easy to get CGI wrong, especially when it comes to faces. Remember Henry Cavill’s erased moustache in Justice League?
Or young Princess Leia at the end of Rogue One? Even in the 21st-century when CGI can be done by anybody with a laptop, we still get it wrong. Despite a still growing list of bad CGI examples, you can’t deny how it’s revolutionized visual effects. CGI opened a whole new world of opportunities and has been a part of some classic movies.
Take 1993’s Jurassic Park. The scene where they first encounter the brachiosaurus on the island contains fully CGI dinosaurs that are impressive even by our standards today. While in today’s industry CGI is common and easy to achieve, it can be difficult to make it truly convincing.
What Steven Spielberg understood when he made Jurassic Park is that the best kind of effect isn’t practical or CGI, but rather a mixture of both. When you see an effect in a movie or tv show and think to yourself, “woah that looks so real,” it was probably made with a combination of practical and CGI.
In 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Russo brothers made realistic effects by basing certain effects in practical techniques while using CGI to enhance them and erase any evidence (such as wires).
When Steve Rogers chases Bucky Barnes through traffic, they actually were running that fast. By having the performers run on a sort of mat being dragged by a car they can make it look like they’re running faster than a person possibly could.
And when Bucky grabs the motorcycle and spins it around? That’s real too. Using wires, framing and perspective with a little CGI added in to polish, they achieve an impressive level of realism in their stunts.
The best directors and visual effects artists understand that CGI can’t be an afterthought. You have to shoot with the effects in mind and can’t just slap it on in post-production.
Good visual effects can make a movie fun, but great visual effects can make it legendary.
Contributed Photo/Theryaney on Youtube. Princess Leia in Rogue One.
