CGI - Technological advancement - But A backward step??

Imagine If Jaws was made these days???.........No doubt the studio would be saving money all over the place!! Can you Imagine the Jaws movie with Deep blue sea type graphics!! It would completely ruin it....look at Superman It was pretty basic but it looked the real thing nevertheless..

Problem with CGI is that it leads to lazy directing and in a lot of cases it just doesn't look real....

Granted it works in some films but to me I prefer craftsmanship and old fashioned direction..

Main annoyance was Avatar, which was a hit because it looked pretty despite a fairly garbage story.

It annoys me when Zombies are CGI. Humans in decent makeup look far more menacing and lifelike. Surely a bit of slap for some extra's is cheaper than a whole load of technological staff?

I am Legend is a good example. It wasn't a great film anyway, but it was ruined even more by the CGI 'creatures' in it who looked like some spotty geek in his bedroom had designed them.

In I am Legend everyone I know had a a tear when Sam died. I think in part because it was an interaction between two very real entities. Look how absolutely awful Garfield was. I think people are programmed to not like CGI interactions.

kingraf wrote:In I am Legend everyone I know had a a tear when Sam died. I think in part because it was an interaction between two very real entities. Look how absolutely awful Garfield was. I think people are programmed to not like CGI interactions.

Who was Sam? The dog? I can't remember.

theyve ruined thomas the tank engine!!!!!!!

I can see how that would be an issue for you Cherries

It's like any tool - has to be used properly to be effective.

This particular technology though is genuinely capable of blurring fantasy and reality. 2 key moments when I recall being bowled over by the jaw-dropping "has to be seen to be disbelieved" effects - Terminator 2 [1991 I think] and Jurassic Park [1993].

There's been lots of good and bad since then, but those were the quantum leaps for me.

film has gone downhill significantly with CGI. Not only is it everywhere now but also the actual films are just poor stories or even remakes of old classics. Give me the 80's or early 90's over any of the junk we have to see today. Quite sad really.

Jurrasic Park was great partly because the CGI Dinosaurs looked almost real, but CGI should be left alone at times, like in 'The Grey'

Remaking Jaws or adding CGI to the original would be terrible. I didn't particularly like the CGI added to the original Star Wars films.

As skydriver says, when used well, it works. The problem comes when film-makers are either too lazy or lack sufficient creativity, and become over-reliant on it. It then becomes an end in itself, not just a means to an end.

Remember, CGI doesn't ruin films, people ruin films.