Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Harmonia (A) on December 18, 2007 at 06:47:49

In Reply to: RE: I'll never see another CGI movie..... (I am Legend) posted by Dingojazz on December 14, 2007 at 16:39:19

Not an end in and of itself.

CGI is just one more tool in the filmmaker's arsenal...to be used well...or not so well, depending on the budget, time constraints and imaginations of the director and FX team. As 2001, The Abyss and other classic movies prove, you don't need CGI to create great FX on the screen. But CGI opens up many possibilities for the creative fimmaker.

As Analog Scott notes, you have probably seen thousands of frames of CGI in non sci-fi movies and never even known it. CGI makes it possible to achieve things on the screen that would either be prohibitively expensive or impossibly long and intricate, or that simply couldn't be done any other way.

One of the most brilliant uses of CGI serving a story was in Master & Commander, where CGI, miniatures, mattes, composites, digital grading, practical effects and a brilliant sound design achieved total and believable immersion in the world of an 18th century sea vessel. It served to enhance realism, but the realism of a time and place and sensibility far removed from our own. In this film, the FX were at the service of a great script, a superb FX team and cinematographer, confident producers and a master director.

What CGI isn't is a crutch - a substitute for story, character, structure or imagination. When done poorly, CGI takes you out of the movie. If the movie is working on every other level, then CGI is usually not an issue. In I Am Legend, what you had was an intelligent sci-fi thriller for the first two acts, and a cheap cop-out for a third act. Even great CGI wouldn't have saved this failure of imagination. Had there been more post production time available the critters no doubt would have looked better but it still wouldn't have made the movie good. And that's not the fault of CGI. It's the fault of the producing/directing team.

You got tasteless, excessive moviemaking your CGI will reflect it. A good movie is a good movie, no matter how the magic is done.