A Time Before CGI - A thread where we sperg about the good old days of special effects

[eldri]

While CGI is rampant across media nowadays, there are studios keeping movie effects alive.

Case in point: StudioADI

Apart from the behind the scenes footage of movies the studio was involved with, they've started a nice comedic series about animatronics.

Spoiler: Play Time: Episode 1

Spoiler: Play Time: Episode 2

Spoiler: Play Time: Episode 3

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

CGI makes film makers lazy. Nothing can replace practical effects.

 

[BerriesArnold]

When used appropriately in cohesion with real practical effects, it can really make the grandness of the movie. I.e Jurassic Park, Titanic etc... When used inappropriately, it can make any million dollar budget movie look like the $5 trash you'd find in a Walmart economy pack movie bin.

But I do have an appreciation for hand-made visual effects. It tickles a part of my soul the current movies don't, for the sake of how quaint and neat it is to see. (The Baboon-sized mini tank from that one Redlettermedia episode was just adorable)

 

[The Fool]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory actually had minimal special effects. They were definitely there, but were minimized as much as possible. The chocolate room was actually entirely real, even the waterfall. The squirrels were mostly real too (they actually did have to train real squirrels), aside from a few seconds of footage that were pure CGI. Here's a making-of playlist.

 

[The Shadow]

The reason to me that practical effects are hard to top is that they have a sense of weight and mass that CGI composited over another image doesn't. In a video game it's CGI on CGI so it doesn't have that issue, but when you have real actors over a composited image, it's obvious what's really there and what isn't.

You might not have noticed it. But your brain did.

 

[ulsterscotsman]

If you want to see a rather modern movie that barely used CGI and looks amazing then it's Dog Soldiers.

 

[oldTireWater]

No fucking CGI here.

 

[Rand /pol/]

 

[millais]

A lot of the old "historical epics" and war movies are very impressive in their use of sheer numbers of real uniformed extras and aircraft/vehicles. Just off the top of my head, there are a number of films that would be way cheaper to CGI today instead of scrounging up thousands of extras and hundreds of vehicles.

"Waterloo" - tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers marching in the exact formations and dispositions as the real Allied and French soldiers in the historical battle
"A Bridge Too Far" - the British/Polish paratrooper brigade airdrop reenacted with hundreds of parachutists jumping from an entire air fleet of surplus C-47s. And they made up an entire armored column from surplused tanks and transports
"Catch-22" - an entire flying bomber squadron around 30 planes in number resurrected from surplus B-25 aircraft for the purpose of a few mass takeoff scenes and formation flying scenes
"Gettysburg" - the climax of the Confederate charge and preparatory artillery bombardment were done with thousands of infantry reenactors and an entire battery of reenactor artillery for each side

 

[Raging Capybara]

 

[Johnny Bravo]

I recently saw some gifs from Little Shop of Horrors and holy shit there is not a better argument on Earth for practical effects.

 

[Muttnik]

I love practical effects, especially in the horror genre. Prime examples I can think of are Carpenter's The Thing and American Werewolf. I also really liked some of the practicals in Carrie and how it was used to blend with the cinematography. I'm kind of a moviefag so I really do miss the fact that practical effects are harder to come by these days.

 

[neverendingmidi]

It’s one of the reasons I love Laika’s films. The stop action they do is amazing.

 

[Andre The Roboto]

The baby from Eraserhead is probably my favorite practical ever. I heard a lot of stories on how they made this thing, but as far as I know, David Lynch bearly talks about it.
Also, here's a clip that I found while looking for a clip from Eraserhead.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

The practical effects in both "The Guyver" movies were excellent, even if the movies themselves were shit.

I really want a "The Guyver" movie done right. It would be fucking amazing.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

If you ever wanted to see CGI done right vs it being done poorly, you don't have to look much further than Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Lord of the Rings was full of CG, but it made extensive use of practical effects. Take the orcs for example; all the orcs have incredible makeup and propwork. They feel real. And I don't think any movie since has replicated that feeling, especially when it comes to sci fi or fantasy antagonists. The orcs are pretty scary in Lord of the Rings, and I fully believe it had to do with the practical effects that went into them.

The Hobbit meanwhile replaces all the insanely detailed orc makeup and props with giant CG models, and in doing so the effect they had in Lord of the Rings is gone. No longer are they legitimately frightening creatures, rather they're giant cartoon characters in a dumb fantasy movie. Just images superimposed on a screen. There's none of that groundedness that the orcs in the previous trilogy had, and as a result there's far less tension.

That's just one example, but I think that one illustrates the difference between the effort poured into the LotR trilogy versus the Hobbit trilogy (though to be fair, Jackson himself wasn't exactly given all the time he needed for The Hobbit unlike Lord of the Rings).

Lord of the Rings as a whole is fascinating, because sequences I believed were green screen and CG actually weren't, like the swamp in Two Towers. Turns out that was a flooded parking lot.

 

[Otis Boi]

Turns out that was a flooded parking lot.

I believe this is why CGI is used a lot more now a days. It is a tremendous waste of resources to flood a parking lot. Could you imagine doing something like that now a days people would lose their shit. That and what would you do with all these expensive props just hold them up in a warehouse some where to rot if a sequel is never greenlit. What about sets do you just dump those in an open field some where or let another studio use your hard work.

Don't get me wrong i love piratical effects it can turn a meh movie into to a really fun and exciting good time. It's why i love Frankenstein army so much even though it this dumb movie about Nazi Zombies with industrial shit duct taped to them.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

I recently saw some gifs from Little Shop of Horrors and holy shit there is not a better argument on Earth for practical effects.

I can kind of see why Frank Oz wanted to direct this movie. I was always impressed with the puppetry and I still can't wrap my head around how they did a lot of the big Audrey II effects.

 

[MuuMuu Bunnylips]

No fucking CGI here.

If you need to use CGI for car combat and crashes, then you're a faggot.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

If you need to use CGI for car combat and crashes, then you're a faggot.

That shit only works if you need to remove complex rigs during such scenes.

Then again, why you'd even need those is a mystery when you can just use well-hidden ramps instead.