Have you seen the picture of the lion, here closely? He can walk, behave and roar like a real lion. In fact, he can exactly do what the director tells her to do. This includes walking to curling a lip or flaring a nostril to the perfect degree, without asking any questions. Now you may think why would a real lion follow the words of a human being. This is because, the lion is not a real one. He is created digitally. Or you can say, he is a computer generated image created entirely out of photo-realistic computer animation.
Recently I watched the new remake of Lion King. It shows how cutting-edge technology developed something that looks totally real while remaining totally unreal. This is not the first time Hollywood is using this level of technology. CGI actors are used in a number of movies such as Avengers Series, Chronicle series, Beauty and the beast etc.
Rogue one was recently in news when late Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin was recreated using computer animation. Now Disney is trying to implement this idea by creating the late Carrie Fisher with CGI in future "Star Wars" installments.
Now when you try to resurrect late actors using CGI, it is showing disrespect to the dead by creating performance the original artist never did. But if you see it in another way, it is just a natural progression of special effects. Actors don't own characters, so what is the harm? If audiences like animated movie stars, and Hollywood earns millions of bucks without paying a dim to blockbuster actors like Will Smith or Tom Hanks, why to stop the using of CGI? Now digital technology and AI has reached to such a level, where photo-realistic creations are possible and we need to ask ourselves what would be the future of the entertainment industry?
All about CGI and its Uses in media.
CGI is a computer graphics application which is basically used to create 2D or 3D images digitally in video games, animated films and television programs. AutoDesk Maya, Blender, Digicel FlipBook, Houndini are some of the softwares one can use in CGI.
In movies like Mad Max and Star Wars included several portions of CGI special effects. Star Wars used to CGI to create the massive spaceship battles. Avatar used CGI effects throughout the entire film. However, a new technology has both pros and cons.
Can too much of CGI ruins a film?
- CGI going against the laws of Physics. When a movie shows stunts which are impossible for a human to perform, that means it has lost the concept of realistic movement with CGI. If you watch movies like Transformer or Cat woman, there are scenes that have abandoned the concept of physics.
- When you overuse a technology, it feels that the film lacks authenticity, original and has slow production quality. In fact, too much of CGI can overlook the acting, dialogue and story.
- CGI is becoming a paralysis for the film industry. Every day there are updates of technology and software. Thus it is taking over production time, budgets, story, and even replacing real characters. Thus becoming expensive leading in making films worse.
- CGI is like bringing laziness among film makers. Why would you go to an extra mile to capture a stunt in-camera when you can just create it?
I believe too much of CGI can make a good film bad. Even too much of perfection reduces the originality. Obviously, special effects would have a great impact in the entertainment world. But only if not overused and used well, then they can make a movie highly successful and memorable. The most important thing is balance. it is necessary to maintain a balance of realistic CGI to make sure a movie isn’t “ruined” by its effects.
References:
Picture References
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/critics-picks-10-landmark-cgi-884346
