Doctor Who Season 7 (2013) episode "Cold War" -- actually using miniature photography for submarine exteriors.
And it looked good.
And it looked good.
Great day in the morning! What once was lost now is found.
- Thread starter David Jimerson
- Start date
Barry_Green
Moderator
Bless them.
It looked great. Warmed my heart. I almost couldn't believe it at first.
Reminded me of a story -- back in high school, there was a Doctor Who to-do at the Bowling Green, OH, PBS station, and Janet Fielding, who played Tegan Jovanka (4th-5th Doctor companion), was the guest. During her talk, she made a remark, that the BBC (of the '80s) produced "the BEST [her emphasis] special effects in the world." The whole audience, in unison, slapped hands to their mouths to keep themselves from doing a spit-take.
But "Cold War" looked so much better and more real than so much of the CGI out there, I gotta give today's BBC mad props.
Reminded me of a story -- back in high school, there was a Doctor Who to-do at the Bowling Green, OH, PBS station, and Janet Fielding, who played Tegan Jovanka (4th-5th Doctor companion), was the guest. During her talk, she made a remark, that the BBC (of the '80s) produced "the BEST [her emphasis] special effects in the world." The whole audience, in unison, slapped hands to their mouths to keep themselves from doing a spit-take.
But "Cold War" looked so much better and more real than so much of the CGI out there, I gotta give today's BBC mad props.
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
I haven't seen that episode of "Dr. Who", but that is very cool that they used miniature work for some of the special effects. When I was growing up, "Techniques of Special Effects of Cinematography" by Raymond Fielding (first edition) was one of my bibles. I dreamed of the day when I could work with an Oxberry aerial image animation stand and a high speed Mitchell! What can be done today with digital effects is great, but I think that there is most definitely a place for the use of miniatures. I think that folks making low budget films needing effects should think more about mixing miniatures with modern digital animation and compositing techniques.
I commend them for that. Call me old fashioned but I still like optical effects and miniatures. I actually work with CGI because I cannot afford to actually make real models and big sets, but I have shot enough live action stunts and action that I know how things react to physics and what it's like to actually shoot it. Therefore I can easily pick out CGI work. Miniatures done well (with a big budget) such as Star Trek: The motion picture and Star Trek III as well as The Empire Strikes Back still look more real to me than any CGI I've seen since. My hat goes off to those guys that do it the hard way. While I can appreciate the time it takes to model, rig, animate and create the CGI, to me there's just something better about really making, doing and shooting it. Do I sound like an old geezer? 
I think films of any budget would do well by erring toward this -- practical photography enhanced by CGI.