WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
- Thread starter skunker
- Start date
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
Yeah, well, check that young actor out as Batman next summer . . .
Yeah, well, check that young actor out as Batman next summer . . .
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
Uh, didn't Spielberg direct at least two miserable scifi pictures in the past five years? :
Catch Me If You Can is arguably the best picture he's done since Saving Private Ryan from a storytelling standpoint.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and you all can disagree if you want to. I think special effects movies look really shitty now. They are painterly, well-lit and well-composed - but not anywhere near photorealistic when projected.
We've learned to adopt, and accept somewhat, these fake-looking images - though I have a really hard time in suspending disbelief when confronted with one onscreen.
I think it all started around the time of Jurassic Park which looked incredibly digital - a lot of that was primitive scanners trying to match to our 3500 line (100 relative lines per millimeter) heritage expectations.
I'll concede this: the effects (less the notable dinosaur transparency issues) on Jurassic park certainly were a leap forward from previous outings using stop-motion animation. The actual animation was quite good - it just doesn't marry well onto celluloid made up of full resolution real world 35 or 65mm background plates.
For my money, digital effects - when used in place of older mechanical effects - often look soft focus, cheated and low-res. Compare (any of) the mechanical effects in Blade Runner to the cartoonish Agent K-car effects in MIB twenty years later and you'll see what I mean.
It's kind of ironic - Dreamworks' cartoons look too realistic - their characters border on creepy, with oddly unmotivated movements and too-realistic mapping of facial blemishes and coarse hairs.
Is the emerging technology fantastic and promising - yes. Are we watching compromise work in the interim? I think so.
I don't care what anyone says, the fairy godmother character in Shrek is unsettling onscreen - and not because she's the antagonist. At the same time, special-effects driven shows that deserve to look realistic - like AI - are cartoonish in their realization.
I'm curious to know what you all think, because we ostensibly, collectively and hopefully make up the digital new wave of filmmakers.
e
Uh, didn't Spielberg direct at least two miserable scifi pictures in the past five years? :
Catch Me If You Can is arguably the best picture he's done since Saving Private Ryan from a storytelling standpoint.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and you all can disagree if you want to. I think special effects movies look really shitty now. They are painterly, well-lit and well-composed - but not anywhere near photorealistic when projected.
We've learned to adopt, and accept somewhat, these fake-looking images - though I have a really hard time in suspending disbelief when confronted with one onscreen.
I think it all started around the time of Jurassic Park which looked incredibly digital - a lot of that was primitive scanners trying to match to our 3500 line (100 relative lines per millimeter) heritage expectations.
I'll concede this: the effects (less the notable dinosaur transparency issues) on Jurassic park certainly were a leap forward from previous outings using stop-motion animation. The actual animation was quite good - it just doesn't marry well onto celluloid made up of full resolution real world 35 or 65mm background plates.
For my money, digital effects - when used in place of older mechanical effects - often look soft focus, cheated and low-res. Compare (any of) the mechanical effects in Blade Runner to the cartoonish Agent K-car effects in MIB twenty years later and you'll see what I mean.
It's kind of ironic - Dreamworks' cartoons look too realistic - their characters border on creepy, with oddly unmotivated movements and too-realistic mapping of facial blemishes and coarse hairs.
Is the emerging technology fantastic and promising - yes. Are we watching compromise work in the interim? I think so.
I don't care what anyone says, the fairy godmother character in Shrek is unsettling onscreen - and not because she's the antagonist. At the same time, special-effects driven shows that deserve to look realistic - like AI - are cartoonish in their realization.
I'm curious to know what you all think, because we ostensibly, collectively and hopefully make up the digital new wave of filmmakers.
e
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
Allen Daviau is the DP responsible for Empire of the Sun and E.T., not Janusz Kaminski, who started working with Spielberg on Schindler's List.
Those guys are both incredible shooters.
Allen Daviau is the DP responsible for Empire of the Sun and E.T., not Janusz Kaminski, who started working with Spielberg on Schindler's List.
Those guys are both incredible shooters.
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
You're referring to Minority Report and A.I.? I really liked both of them. Wouldn't rate them as being miserable, that's a pretty strong word.
I think it's a challenge and oftentimes a failure when films try and realize a scifi future. It's often hoaky and over the top. Gattaca was mentioned in another thread and it works so well for it's simplicity.
Most special effects don't hold up over time. Looking at Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, that shot of the truck going over the cliff just looks so bad now. And the original Star Wars films (minus the recent manipulation) also seem very dirty compared to today's work.
I think we're so accustomed to the dazzle of effects today that we're taking it for granted. The effects can only get better over time and more seamless, but maybe you're indirectly talking about story content in films? With poor storytelling, effects always seem to stand out more, at least for me.
Another problem is when effects aren't integrated into the storyline of a film. When an effect looks cool and removed from a film instead of buffering and complementing a story it will stand out.
You're referring to Minority Report and A.I.? I really liked both of them. Wouldn't rate them as being miserable, that's a pretty strong word.
I think it's a challenge and oftentimes a failure when films try and realize a scifi future. It's often hoaky and over the top. Gattaca was mentioned in another thread and it works so well for it's simplicity.
Most special effects don't hold up over time. Looking at Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, that shot of the truck going over the cliff just looks so bad now. And the original Star Wars films (minus the recent manipulation) also seem very dirty compared to today's work.
I think we're so accustomed to the dazzle of effects today that we're taking it for granted. The effects can only get better over time and more seamless, but maybe you're indirectly talking about story content in films? With poor storytelling, effects always seem to stand out more, at least for me.
Another problem is when effects aren't integrated into the storyline of a film. When an effect looks cool and removed from a film instead of buffering and complementing a story it will stand out.
BLUESPIDER
DVXuser Ninja
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
dude, the only thing I liked about AI is the teddy bear. That thing was cool. The visuals were nice as well.
dude, the only thing I liked about AI is the teddy bear. That thing was cool. The visuals were nice as well.
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
I hear what you're saying about story deficiencies playing into how I perceive the quality of effect. I've done work for ILM on mechanical special effects, and maybe my old-school approach to effects work taints my tolerance for digitally-created content?
I still think Blade Runner sets the SFX benchmark to which all these neo-post-apocalyptic films aspire. Matrix and AI borrow heavily from Ridley Scotts vision.
e
I hear what you're saying about story deficiencies playing into how I perceive the quality of effect. I've done work for ILM on mechanical special effects, and maybe my old-school approach to effects work taints my tolerance for digitally-created content?
I still think Blade Runner sets the SFX benchmark to which all these neo-post-apocalyptic films aspire. Matrix and AI borrow heavily from Ridley Scotts vision.
e
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
Yeah Blade Runner is pretty amazing and has been extensively ripped off and borrowed from.
I also think Blade Runner borrowed from Fritz Lang's Metropolis. I caught Metropolis a few years ago at the Film Forum in New York and I was pretty amazed at the technical ingenuity of the film. Alex Proyas obviously borrowed from Metropolis with his work on Dark City and The Crow.
Yeah Blade Runner is pretty amazing and has been extensively ripped off and borrowed from.
I also think Blade Runner borrowed from Fritz Lang's Metropolis. I caught Metropolis a few years ago at the Film Forum in New York and I was pretty amazed at the technical ingenuity of the film. Alex Proyas obviously borrowed from Metropolis with his work on Dark City and The Crow.
dakotapod
Veteran
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
[quote author=overlandfilms link=board=movies;num=1102691823;start=30#34 date=12/15/04 at 09:05:21]I've done work for ILM on mechanical special effects, and maybe my old-school approach to effects work taints my tolerance for digitally-created content?
[/quote]
I think most old school sfx people are the same way. Even the best fake is still, well, ...not real. You guys tend to have a pretty good eye for this too.
[quote author=overlandfilms link=board=movies;num=1102691823;start=30#34 date=12/15/04 at 09:05:21]I've done work for ILM on mechanical special effects, and maybe my old-school approach to effects work taints my tolerance for digitally-created content?
[/quote]
I think most old school sfx people are the same way. Even the best fake is still, well, ...not real. You guys tend to have a pretty good eye for this too.
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
"...Blade Runner borrowed from Fritz Lang's Metropolis..."
True! Another great picture realized with analog effects was Brazil - a mid-eighties visual masterpiece.
"...Blade Runner borrowed from Fritz Lang's Metropolis..."
True! Another great picture realized with analog effects was Brazil - a mid-eighties visual masterpiece.
Re: WOW....new War of the Worlds Trailer!
Kubric had AI on his mind for years and was always impressed with spielbergs advancements in film technology but to let him direct, i dont believe he would have and I think spielberg in the end did a SPIELBERG job which is why I really dislike AI.
As far as War of the Worlds goes take the name away and that to me was a trailer for another alien movie....zzzz..zzzz...zzzzz.
Kubric had AI on his mind for years and was always impressed with spielbergs advancements in film technology but to let him direct, i dont believe he would have and I think spielberg in the end did a SPIELBERG job which is why I really dislike AI.
As far as War of the Worlds goes take the name away and that to me was a trailer for another alien movie....zzzz..zzzz...zzzzz.