Film’s Mishandled Tool
Tried and true practical effects have been making a comeback recently. Frequent moviegoers may have felt there has been an overbearing amount of computer-generated effects in films in the last decade or so. Naturally, this push back from audiences is leading to some changes in how some high budget films are being made. Film studios naturally wish to ride on the potential goodwill they can receive by avoiding what people consider pitfalls in proper movie making.
But that can also lead to framing CGI as a scapegoat when critiquing a film, which is a question worth exploring. Just how much can relying on CGI effect the way movies are made and how we as an audience experience a film.
To make things easier to follow, let's go over the specific terminology used to describe effects in cinema:
Special effects (SFX) is everything that's handled in real-time while filming, like actors, wind, and fire.
Visual effects (VFX) get filmed separately and are then added during post-production by editors whose job is to combine the new footage of miniatures and green-screen with the rest of the film.
Digital effects cover effects made with green screen and CGI, which can only be added in post as a visual effect.
Practical effects are effects made with real materials like wood, steel, and smoke, and can be used as either a special or visual effect.
Criticism about the excess of CGI in modern films is as common as the air that we breathe, but despite being seen as a cheap imitation, there has been little argument that it has been more significant boon than con. The sheer amount of flexibility that CGI has provided VFX artists is monumental. Effects that would be either impractical or downright impossible to achieve traditionally have been made possible for filmmakers of all backgrounds and resources. Science Fiction, in particular, has gained a lot of much-needed space and scale. Classic Sci-fi was often trapped in cramped sets or a nearby desert which could take away from the vast majesty of space. CGI has also benefited stunt work as there is less need to put people in danger with lethal stunts when CGI can simulate the threat. Mind Blowing spectacle has never been safer or more accessible than it is now and unfortunately that ease comes with downsides.
The art VFX is an attempt to convince the viewer that everything in front of them was filmed in real time and is interacting with effects added in post and there isn't anything less real feeling then improperly used a digital effect like poor or rushed CGI. The poor use of CGI in movies mostly springs from a lack of restraint. It is used in places where it doesn't belong or as a shortcut by inexperienced directors or impatient producers. The accessibility of CGI has made it a lazy solution for filmmakers to avoid filming complex practical effects (like the animatronics used in original Jurassic Park movies) or intricate stunt work which would require hours of reshoots to get right. Those effects become even less convincing with the strict Hollywood pipeline that asks for sequels every year doesn't provide VFX artists time to polish their work.
Grand visuals like a fantastical environment or an action set piece can usually only impress audiences for so long. The answer to this issue is to make these scenes carry some kind immersive weight to the viewer. Whether it be through designing an engaging setting, they'll want to explore or personal and relatable stakes for an action sequence. Unfortunately, that is rarely the case in blockbusters where filmmakers compete to see who can blow up the most stuff, which naturally has diminishing returns in viewer engagement when the effects become increasingly focused on impossible movements and scenery.
CGI is at it's best when used as a complement to reality, where it isn't in focus and where its flaws are readily apparent to even unseasoned eyes. The unfortunate truth is that the current state of the industry has pushed for the excessive use of VFX to replace reality with transparent fiction outright. The push back from audiences was justified and may end up maturing the industry towards rediscovering its restraint. Only time will tell, but the recent trend toward putting practical SFX back into focus in movies like the new Star Wars movies and Mad Max: Fury Road provides some hope for a more restrained use of the wonderful VFX artists use to bring us into their worlds.
Levitt Lin