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The Overuse Of CGI In Film

Thursday, April 24, 2014

By Rebecca Mills


As you can probably imagine, CGI is a component that can actually add a tremendous amount to movies. Filmmakers have been able to use it for a number of reasons, amongst them being the addition of elements that they would not have been able to incorporate otherwise. It is able to promote more dynamic landscapes and bring life to certain features. However, it can also be argued that CGI, regardless of the medium where it's utilized, is an element that has been overexposed in recent times.

On the surface, this appears to be the case. It's interesting because CGI is almost like the film and TV equivalent of the seasons changing; it's just something that we have come to expect. When we see impressive visuals like Iron Man, in the third movie of his trilogy, descending from the sky in order to save a number of civilians, we don't say, "Look at how fake this appears." CGI is involved but it's incorporated in such a way that we don't try to search for a wizard behind the curtain.

Think of CGI as almost like the whipped cream atop an ice cream sundae. Of course you will want whipped cream because it adds something special to the overall dish. However, what happens when it seems as though there is too much whipped cream? That particular experience winds up leaving something to be desired. CGI is the same way; too little and the product becomes cheap. If there is too much CGI, though, it stops looking less like an authentic piece of art and more like a synthetically manufactured entity.

It's easy to say that CGI is oftentimes utilized poorly, even now when it's been around for a number of years. For example, upon watching the first "Twilight" movie, I did not care for many of the visuals. At first, the paler colors were interesting, as I thought they added to the somber atmosphere of the film in general. However, once the CGI werewolves made their presence, I found myself taken out of the experience. Yes, werewolves are creations of fiction but the movie-going audience should not be made aware of this.

Unless "Twilight" was supposed to be self-aware - which was not the case - its usage of CGI was underwhelming, to put it mildly. CGI, depending on the party utilizing it, can vary in terms of genuine nature. You may not even realize that you are seeing something that was rendered by computers while you may be able to spot where exactly special features appear phony. In time, one can only hope that movies are able to develop to such a degree that they will be looked at as entirely genuine.




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