CGI or models/puppetry?

[jibidy]

CGI can work very well I think. I love toy story and pixar animations and the CGI in transformers is pretty much spot on.

However  think puppetry can be better. The end of Rec comes to mind....shudderingly scary, I dont think CGI would work so well there. I also love the labyrinth and the dark crystal.

I think puppetry can be better but for destruction and explosions its way better to use CGI

[Andrew W]

You can just not go and see the films. Theres no need to try and spoil it for the rest of us.

Those of us to whom its niether passion nor livelihood can like films that are mindless fun. Theres nothing to hold me to your exacting cinematic standards, and I wouldnt want them anyway. I actively seek out dumb films. I get more than enough real human drama in my real human life, and if I want to gain any insight into life, existance and the human condition, I'll read it (just embarked on Descartes' Error, Antonio Damasio, very interesting so far!). When I want to see giant robots fighting, where else can I turn to?

Sorry, I'm not making myself very clear.  I don't have any issue with dumb movies, many of my favourite films are dumb movies (I loved "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull") and clearly anyone who goes to see Transformers 2 is in good company: the ticket sales don't lie.  All I was trying to say, not very well, is that the reason summer films are as they are today, love them or loathe them, is because they are specifically crafted to appeal to a certain demographic: it's a purely commercial imperative and nothing, really, to do with tools used to make it.

[blue]

.

Interesting though, Blue, that you found the mummy debacle more enjoyable than the jones one :lol: (I only used them as examples anyway). We watched the mummy one a second time just to see if it really was as bad as we thought, we watched the jones one a second time because we wanted to!

just different views andy, would be boring if we all liked the same ones! :)  it was more issues with the script that annoyed me in Indy.  like, at the tomb where they found the dead spaniards and the skull, who were the guys with the blowpipes?  why did the monkeys behave the way they did?  random things happened with no explanation whatsoever.  also, maybe i did give in to having high expectations.  thinking about it, the Mummy was rubbish too! it was just that i saw journey to the centre of the earth before it, and i think Zippy and George doing Waiting For Godot would have made sense after that!! :)  actually, that's not a bad idea....

[Will]

I'm not usually that interested in CGI films. If I am, its not something I would particularly notice.

[MDV]

You can just not go and see the films. Theres no need to try and spoil it for the rest of us.

Those of us to whom its niether passion nor livelihood can like films that are mindless fun. Theres nothing to hold me to your exacting cinematic standards, and I wouldnt want them anyway. I actively seek out dumb films. I get more than enough real human drama in my real human life, and if I want to gain any insight into life, existance and the human condition, I'll read it (just embarked on Descartes' Error, Antonio Damasio, very interesting so far!). When I want to see giant robots fighting, where else can I turn to?

Sorry, I'm not making myself very clear.  I don't have any issue with dumb movies, many of my favourite films are dumb movies (I loved "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull") and clearly anyone who goes to see Transformers 2 is in good company: the ticket sales don't lie.  All I was trying to say, not very well, is that the reason summer films are as they are today, love them or loathe them, is because they are specifically crafted to appeal to a certain demographic: it's a purely commercial imperative and nothing, really, to do with tools used to make it.

Oh, all true enough. Anyone who doesnt think that the big film industry and summer blockbuster thing is all just to make money from the lowest common denominator of taste in that particular area, marketing and screening times set accordingly, is an idiot. Some of them are actually good films, but I'm sure its all just a horrible accident.

I'm just content to be in the lowest common denominator for some things :D

[dave_mc]

Models and practical effects for me every time!  Even if they look at bit ropey sometimes, the fact that you're watching the actors engaging with something that's actually there makes all the difference IMO.

When I watch things like the Matrix sequels, Van Helsing ( :x ) or even Peter Jackson's King Kong remake I feel like I'm watching someone else playing a computer game.

Having said that, practical effects combined with subtle CGI can be very effective.  CGI is best when you don't know it's there.

agreed.

there are certain things that you can't really attempt without CGI- gigantic battles etc., and in those cases i make an exception, but certainly when it could be done without CGI, or it's just an excuse to put some CGI in, i'm not a major fan.

You can just not go and see the films. Theres no need to try and spoil it for the rest of us.

Those of us to whom its niether passion nor livelihood can like films that are mindless fun. Theres nothing to hold me to your exacting cinematic standards, and I wouldnt want them anyway. I actively seek out dumb films. I get more than enough real human drama in my real human life, and if I want to gain any insight into life, existance and the human condition, I'll read it (just embarked on Descartes' Error, Antonio Damasio, very interesting so far!). When I want to see giant robots fighting, where else can I turn to?

agreed wholeheartedly. EDIT: just realised that wasn't what andrew meant- disregard! :lol:

[MDV]

Models and practical effects for me every time!  Even if they look at bit ropey sometimes, the fact that you're watching the actors engaging with something that's actually there makes all the difference IMO.

When I watch things like the Matrix sequels, Van Helsing ( :x ) or even Peter Jackson's King Kong remake I feel like I'm watching someone else playing a computer game.

Having said that, practical effects combined with subtle CGI can be very effective.  CGI is best when you don't know it's there.

agreed.

there are certain things that you can't really attempt without CGI- gigantic battles etc., and in those cases i make an exception, but certainly when it could be done without CGI, or it's just an excuse to put some CGI in, i'm not a major fan.

You can just not go and see the films. Theres no need to try and spoil it for the rest of us.

Those of us to whom its niether passion nor livelihood can like films that are mindless fun. Theres nothing to hold me to your exacting cinematic standards, and I wouldnt want them anyway. I actively seek out dumb films. I get more than enough real human drama in my real human life, and if I want to gain any insight into life, existance and the human condition, I'll read it (just embarked on Descartes' Error, Antonio Damasio, very interesting so far!). When I want to see giant robots fighting, where else can I turn to?

agreed wholeheartedly. EDIT: just realised that wasn't what andrew meant- disregard! :lol:

:lol:

Yeah, the wires crossed somewhere there!

[dave_mc]

:lol:

[Philly Q]

there are certain things that you can't really attempt without CGI- gigantic battles etc., and in those cases i make an exception, but certainly when it could be done without CGI, or it's just an excuse to put some CGI in, i'm not a major fan.

Well, of course, in the good ol' days of Hollywood they did stage gigantic battles with hundreds and hundreds of extras.  And it was a hell of a lot more effective that shite like Troy.   :P

Anyone seen The Good, The Bad, The Weird?  I'm sure it has tons of CGI as well, but there's a massive battle scene with loads of extras in vehicles and on horseback, charging around a huge desert plain.  It's packed with live stunts and brilliantly directed.

[mecca777]

there are certain things that you can't really attempt without CGI- gigantic battles etc., and in those cases i make an exception, but certainly when it could be done without CGI, or it's just an excuse to put some CGI in, i'm not a major fan.

Well, of course, in the good ol' days of Hollywood they did stage gigantic battles with hundreds and hundreds of extras.  And it was a hell of a lot more effective that shitee like Troy.   :P

A good point. In spite of their lesser "scale" in terms of number of participants, the battle sequences in Braveheart or Saving Private Ryan have a sense of reality to me that isn't present when I see two huge CGI armies wheeling across a field in a swooping long shot, Lord of the Rings style.

[_tom_]

However  think puppetry can be better. The end of Rec comes to mind....shudderingly scary, I dont think CGI would work so well there.

Indeed, that ending scene is horrible!

[Afghan Dave]

Gonna Be The Best film EVER!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa7ck5mcd1o

[Afghan Dave]

This is pure class..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skYRZ_-RXtk

[_tom_]

hahah oh my god. I must see this film.

[Afghan Dave]

hahah oh my god. I must see this film.

F**k yeah... Its even got Debbie Gibson in it!! (the old guys will know about her)