The heat of the blockbuster season always reignites the conversation of visual effects, particularly the battle between computer-generated imagery and practical effects. But what if it wasn’t a battle at all?
While much was discussed over the on-set stunts captured on Mad Max: Fury Road, one might be surprised at just how much of the George Miller‘s dynamic visuals were aided by the use of CGI. A new video essay from RocketJump Film School attempts to argue, in perhaps a response to this misformed video on WETA effects, that the execution of ideal visual effects has more to do with the perfect balance than anything else.
“We believe that the reason we think all CG looks bad, is because we only see “bad” CG. Fantastic, beautiful, and wonderfully executed CG is everywhere – you just don’t know it. Truly great visual effects serve story and character – and in doing so are, by their very definition, invisible,” they argue, quite successfully in our opinion.
In using examples from massive budget films like The Avengers, Transformers, and Titanic to more modest, but painstakingly executed dramas from David Fincher, hopefully it’ll shift the conversation a bit regarding the usage of visual effects and where exactly to direct complaints to.
Check out the video below and for more, check out nearly 200 visual effects breakdowns here.
What did you think of the video? Does it change your thoughts on CG?