Are some movies going over the top with visual effects?

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Recently I watched Jurassic world and I found the movie a bit of a let down firstly I didn't like that The dinosaurs they looked to visually overdone with special effects. The reason I loved the first Jurassic Park and even the second was because the dinosaurs were real life models and they looked like they were actually there also the movie didn't put you on the edge of your seat like the original trilogy. jurassic Park should be both a magical Journey and a gritty frightening one as you see the characters run for their lives from what looks like a real dinosaurs attacking them. Also there was no interesting characters. I also had same issue with the prequel to the thing it tried to be clever with visual effects but ended up lacking in the realism at the first movie gives out with the disturbing models that were used. So I guess I want to see a bit more of the old style of directing using models but don't get me wrong A lot of films have stunning visual affects a look very real.



They need to use CGI sparingly. Fury Road was a refreshing return to real action scenes. Im hoping the overexposure of CGI is tapering off, it was pretty nonstop for about 10 years there.



The problem with visual effects today, I think, is the misconception that, because you can do something, you should do it.

Because a shot looks good, doesn't mean that it looks authentic. On the opposite, I feel that modern CGI makes movies feel like cartoons.

Plus, they sacrifice simple physics to the altar of coolness, and that's a big mistake imho.
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The problem with visual effects today, I think, is the misconception that, because you can do something, you should do it.

Because a shot looks good, doesn't mean that it looks authentic. On the opposite, I feel that modern CGI makes movies feel like cartoons.

Plus, they sacrifice simple physics to the altar of coolness, and that's a big mistake imho.
That's an interesting point you make



They need to use CGI sparingly. Fury Road was a refreshing return to real action scenes. Im hoping the overexposure of CGI is tapering off, it was pretty nonstop for about 10 years there.


You might be surprised as to how much CGI is actually in Fury Road.
I saw a making of, and believe it or not, almost every scene has been touched on by computer.





As for the OP... yes, many movies over dependent on CGI these days.


Older movies like Jurassic Park, Independence Day, even T2 with it's brilliant use of CGI on the T1000... they all had practical effects backing up the CGI.
What fools the eye is the use of practical effects for at least 75% of the movie. That last 25% maximum, is what gives a movie something special.
These days though, movies tend to be 90% CGI.


Practical effects are becoming something of a lost art now.
Miniature builders and camera trickery as well are becoming a lost art too.


Look at movies like Aliens, Blade Runner, Tremors... they all used camera tricks, mid-scene cuts and editing, forced perspective, miniatures... smoke and mirrors basically... to create an effect.
Camera operators, directors and artists today, simply don't have the skillset to do that these days.


It's like asking my kids to put the PS4 away and play a board game. They simply don't understand it.


As Tongo said though ^^ it looks as though some filmmakers are listening to the audiences of late. Star Wars 7 and Rogue One, and Mad Max Fury Road seem to have struck a balance again... in that just because a computer can do it, doesn't mean they did.
Fury Road does have tons and tons and tons of CGI in every single scene though, but they did use real vehicles and they did do real stunts.



As for the OP... yes, many movies over dependent on CGI these days.


Older movies like Jurassic Park, Independence Day, even T2 with it's brilliant use of CGI on the T1000... they all had practical effects backing up the CGI.
What fools the eye is the use of practical effects for at least 75% of the movie. That last 25% maximum, is what gives a movie something special.
These days though, movies tend to be 90% CGI.


Practical effects are becoming something of a lost art now.
Miniature builders and camera trickery as well are becoming a lost art too.


Look at movies like Aliens, Blade Runner, Tremors... they all used camera tricks, mid-scene cuts and editing, forced perspective, miniatures... smoke and mirrors basically... to create an effect.
Camera operators, directors and artists today, simply don't have the skillset to do that these days.


It's like asking my kids to put the PS4 away and play a board game. They simply don't understand it.


As Tongo said though ^^ it looks as though some filmmakers are listening to the audiences of late. Star Wars 7 and Rogue One, and Mad Max Fury Road seem to have struck a balance again... in that just because a computer can do it, doesn't mean they did.
Fury Road does have tons and tons and tons of CGI in every single scene though, but they did use real vehicles and they did do real stunts.
Sad but true hope practical effects in movies make a comeback



Not sure how (over?)dependence on CGI is inherently bad, seeing that the tool has evolved a lot, allows for many functionalities and expands the ones that existed back then. Directors, camera operators and etc. just use what makes their work easier, the same way they did in the 80s or in the 50s. And assuming that they wouldn't have the skillset to use miniature and camera trickery is sort of fallacious.



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I think that in recent years, we have gotten better about this. With the new Star Wars films, they are returning to having mostly practical effects where they can.



I am on the same level with the CGI but mine is geared more towards the teenage mutant ninja turtles movies. I just love the real people in costumes more than i do the new CGI turtles in today's films.



I agree with jal, CGI has come a long way. Some know how to utilize it and others, not so much. But the actual tool can be very useful and allows so much more room for imagination.



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Agree.. The great thing about the options is having some discretion, instead of using CGI, nudity, cursing, etc., to make money. I notice the only thing that's not evolving is the writing, acting, and overall talent, even though it's so much easier to make a movie now.



I have such vivid memories of movies with older special effects (and which also had good stories & acting) than so many I see today which, two weeks later I can barely remember them.

A good example: Planet of the Apes (1968) - I can remember this entire movie even though the special effects consisted of make-up, sets and a couple matte paintings. Yet I saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) sometime last year (I didn't see the first one). It had all the CGI, but I have little memory of it. I can't remember a single human character or what they did. (While Taylor and Nova will always be in my memory.)



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No, it feels that way because simply because the visuals are being given more emphasis. Which is not a bad thing if it suits the film well.



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You might be surprised as to how much CGI is actually in Fury Road.
I saw a making of, and believe it or not, almost every scene has been touched on by computer.


By touched over I think you mean they color corrected it to have a more sepia tone. Regarding CGI, yes it's a huge problem.
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Do you guys remember that times when CGI movies was two or three times a yer? I remeber when I watched King Kong (The Peter Jackson one) on the cinema and was amazed by the visual effects. Now there's so many CGI movies that I got sick. I'm so tired of CGI ********.



If you're watching any recent films, you're experiencing CGI in one form or another. That scene you see of people doing something as mundane as walking in a modern city? More times than not that city background is CGI. Or even those people walking around were added through CGI. It's pretty much a staple of cinema now, so even though you might claim you're tired of it, you're really not because you see it all the time and not even know it.



On the plus side for CG, we get to see scenes that would be otherwise impossible to show. Sometimes CG is done very well, and sometimes it has a certain look that is distracting. One thing is for sure it's here to stay