Great points spoco2! I couldn't agree more.

>> ^spoco2:

>> ^PalmliX:
I agree with the poster that models should be used more often, but CGI is simply not lazy. It's an insane amount of work in and of itself, which makes it even more frustrating that it dominates as much as it does these days

CGI is lazy, well, it can be. CGI, when used properly can be utterly stunning. Avatar, Golem, Benjamin Button and others all attest to the wonders that CGI can bring to a film, as to the countless 'invisible' improvements that CG can be used for.
Now the problem is that in films of the ilk of Species et al, we are talking about low-mid level budget movies. At this level CG tends to be unpolished and lazy and stands out like a sore thumb. And that's because it does take a lot of work to make it REALLY good, but far less work to make it 'ok', and 'enough'. These types of films used to have physical effects, and quite often you would watch them almost solely for these effects because they were creative and imaginative and wonderful. The way they worked with real objects to get around the limitations in budget are fantastic. The way they get around a limitation in budget for a film with CG is just to half cook the CG.

Even worse though is that because CG is so hard to do 'right' you get even films with insanely huge budgets containing CG that stands out like a sore thumb, where a physical effect would have been better.

>> ^PalmliX:

Oh and SFX is short for Sound Effects, not visual effects which is VFX <---- not trying to be a prick just for future reference


Well, it's used both ways, quite often SFX is used for Special Effects comprising both visual and sound.

You can't really say FX on it's own, well you can, but it sounds silly, and if you're trying to say Special Effects it gets shortened to SFX

>> ^PalmliX:

I agree with the poster that models should be used more often, but CGI is simply not lazy. It's an insane amount of work in and of itself, which makes it even more frustrating that it dominates as much as it does these days


CGI is lazy, well, it can be. CGI, when used properly can be utterly stunning. Avatar, Golem, Benjamin Button and others all attest to the wonders that CGI can bring to a film, as to the countless 'invisible' improvements that CG can be used for.

Now the problem is that in films of the ilk of Species et al, we are talking about low-mid level budget movies. At this level CG tends to be unpolished and lazy and stands out like a sore thumb. And that's because it does take a lot of work to make it REALLY good, but far less work to make it 'ok', and 'enough'. These types of films used to have physical effects, and quite often you would watch them almost solely for these effects because they were creative and imaginative and wonderful. The way they worked with real objects to get around the limitations in budget are fantastic. The way they get around a limitation in budget for a film with CG is just to half cook the CG.


Even worse though is that because CG is so hard to do 'right' you get even films with insanely huge budgets containing CG that stands out like a sore thumb, where a physical effect would have been better.

That was great! At first I was thinking it would be sacrilegious because John Carpenter's The Thing is the best horror movie using practical effects ever made (well, that and George Romero's Day of the Dead) but, I lol'd.

Exthellent.

You are speaking of what is commonly referred to as Slacktivism.

(paraphrased from wiki)

[Slacktivism is slacker activism. The word is considered a pejorative term that describes taking "feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction.

Examples of activities labeled as "slacktivist" include signing internet petitions, the wearing of wristbands with political messages, putting a ribbon magnet on a vehicle, joining a Facebook group, posting issue-oriented YouTube videos, complaining in chat rooms and comment threads or taking part in short-term boycotts.]

some major methodological problems with this:

1. practice effect

2. driver was accompanied in the second trial, not in the first

3. driver knew what the experiment was testing, may have (un)intentionally manipulated the results

>> ^budzos:
Great flick. I usually don't wish for remakes but this could probably be awesome with a little bit of CG and a ton of newfangled practical effects.

You do realize this IS a remake?

Great flick. I usually don't wish for remakes but this could probably be awesome with a little bit of CG and a ton of newfangled practical effects.

The chick in this movie is totally hot and she only did a couple movies.

I've now seen Jon Favreau talk about the movie twice (Comic-Con 2007, and Wondercon 2008). Seeing just how excited he is, and the enthusiasm he puts into everything he says about it gives me hope that it'll be great. Not to mention all the great footage he's shown us at the cons. It's going to be awesome, and a big part of that has to do with his passion, and how he tries to stick with practical effects before resorting to CGI. Plus, the fact that Stan Winston is involved and all of the CGI is based on something physical that Stan and his team built before hand just makes the CGI have that extra polish that is sadly lacking in many films.

Anyway, enough rant. Go find as much as you can about it, I'm sure the Comic-Con and Wondercon talks are up on Youtube, plus all of the other interviews out there.

Edit: Photos of the Mark I suit from Comic-Con 2007 here: http://www.zooomr.com/photos/ricin/sets/21771/
The detail just blew me away. The pictures don't really do it justice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Bluming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyokushin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo

Jon Bluming is currently a 9th dan black belt in judo (the second-highest possible rank) and a 10th dan black belt in Kyokushin Karate. (Kyokushin, for those of you unfamiliar with the style, is well-known among martial artists for their tough, effective training and for their full-contact tournaments where fights are done bare-knuckle or with only wraps and no other protective gear whatsoever. Insane, but awesome.)

He is also widely considered to have been one of the first proponents of mixed martial arts in the modern world. This man was promoting and practicing effective martial arts and fighting the spread of bullshido long before the terms "aliveness" and "bullshido" even existed.

And if this doesn't make it out of the queue, I'll eat my hat.