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I love special effects personally, I think they can make or break a movie. I especially like the effects used in the Matrix (who doesn't) and the classic terminator 1 + 2.
There are different genres of which special effects can be categorized. These different styles are appropriate for different audiences and varieties of films. At one end of the stick you see the brilliant effects show in the Matrix and at the other you see the effects in Saving Private Ryan, designed to make the battles seem as real as possible. These two films were both released in 1999 (I think) so the technology used was top of the range and is still used in films today.
Special effects haven’t appeared over night; they have been around for years and years. Although films like the original King Kong and films created in that era are laughed upon today by the likes of us, did these special effects do for the audiences then what the Matrix does for us?
This got me thinking. I decided to watch Jurassic Park which when I saw it, I thought that this was the greatest film ever and the effects could NEVER be improved!! How wrong I was. The effects failed to impress me this time and I could tell that the dinosaurs were completely fake; I’m completely baffled how I didn’t spot this before. I asked myself, ‘Why aren’t I impressed?’ I figured out a few answers. Either I was had seen this film before and I was looking for all the glitches or have the advances in technology “spoilt” me?
This got me thinking further, and I asked myself, Will we frown upon the Matrix in several years time and say, ‘I can’t see what the hype was about, these effects are average at the least!’
This seems a bit drastic and no one will be able to imagine this but the bottom line is, it happened to a film like Jurassic Park, why wont the Matrix have the same fate?
Thanx for reading
Atomic_Koala
There are different genres of which special effects can be categorized. These different styles are appropriate for different audiences and varieties of films. At one end of the stick you see the brilliant effects show in the Matrix and at the other you see the effects in Saving Private Ryan, designed to make the battles seem as real as possible. These two films were both released in 1999 (I think) so the technology used was top of the range and is still used in films today.
Special effects haven’t appeared over night; they have been around for years and years. Although films like the original King Kong and films created in that era are laughed upon today by the likes of us, did these special effects do for the audiences then what the Matrix does for us?
This got me thinking. I decided to watch Jurassic Park which when I saw it, I thought that this was the greatest film ever and the effects could NEVER be improved!! How wrong I was. The effects failed to impress me this time and I could tell that the dinosaurs were completely fake; I’m completely baffled how I didn’t spot this before. I asked myself, ‘Why aren’t I impressed?’ I figured out a few answers. Either I was had seen this film before and I was looking for all the glitches or have the advances in technology “spoilt” me?
This got me thinking further, and I asked myself, Will we frown upon the Matrix in several years time and say, ‘I can’t see what the hype was about, these effects are average at the least!’
This seems a bit drastic and no one will be able to imagine this but the bottom line is, it happened to a film like Jurassic Park, why wont the Matrix have the same fate?
Thanx for reading
Atomic_Koala
Gladiator is probably the best film to use SFX, because you can't tell it's there...
A good topic, and worth replying to!
My view is that it's how the effects are done that matters. If the film is heavily effects driven, with little in the way of a plot to detract from this, then the film will suffer for future generations who, by then, will be used to bigger and better things.
Take Star Wars: A New Hope as a good example of the way old effects don't neccessarily matter. The storyline is engrossing enough that you fully believe the effects, dated though they are, and are still drawn in to the magical world of Luke and friends, despite knowing how all the blue screen effects work and realising that the lightsaber duels are merely actors holding sticks, with the lightsaber effects done afterwards.
Likewise Tron, although a Disney film, still contains a pretty good story within all the (hand drawn) computer effects and is still watchable, despite some of the old effects making you wince from time to time.
Lawnmower Man is the opposite to this, the story is pretty much non-existent, and the film companies virtually sold the film on effects alone. I remember watching it at the cinema and thought it was great at the time, but last year I saw it on TV and was utterly dissapointed. The effects were far better than anything in Star Wars, technology wise, but because the film lay so heavily on effects that now seem out of date, it spoilt the experience.
My view is that it's how the effects are done that matters. If the film is heavily effects driven, with little in the way of a plot to detract from this, then the film will suffer for future generations who, by then, will be used to bigger and better things.
Take Star Wars: A New Hope as a good example of the way old effects don't neccessarily matter. The storyline is engrossing enough that you fully believe the effects, dated though they are, and are still drawn in to the magical world of Luke and friends, despite knowing how all the blue screen effects work and realising that the lightsaber duels are merely actors holding sticks, with the lightsaber effects done afterwards.
Likewise Tron, although a Disney film, still contains a pretty good story within all the (hand drawn) computer effects and is still watchable, despite some of the old effects making you wince from time to time.
Lawnmower Man is the opposite to this, the story is pretty much non-existent, and the film companies virtually sold the film on effects alone. I remember watching it at the cinema and thought it was great at the time, but last year I saw it on TV and was utterly dissapointed. The effects were far better than anything in Star Wars, technology wise, but because the film lay so heavily on effects that now seem out of date, it spoilt the experience.
All special effects become dated as time goes by and techniques improve and there are no eceptions. Their quality can only really be fairly compared to other films that were made at the same time and before.
Toy Story 2 looks better than the first, The Lost World looks better than Jurassic Park, The Phantom Menace looks better than the Star Wars special editions and the sequels to The Matrix will look at least as good as, if not better than, those in the first film.
It's just the evolution of the way special effects are made.
It is an interesting point to note just how far they can go without completely revolutionising the way films are watched. When (not 'if') films get to the point where all computer generated images are 100% photo-realistic can they really go any further?
Toy Story 2 looks better than the first, The Lost World looks better than Jurassic Park, The Phantom Menace looks better than the Star Wars special editions and the sequels to The Matrix will look at least as good as, if not better than, those in the first film.
It's just the evolution of the way special effects are made.
It is an interesting point to note just how far they can go without completely revolutionising the way films are watched. When (not 'if') films get to the point where all computer generated images are 100% photo-realistic can they really go any further?
I love special effects personally, I think they can make or break a movie. I especially like the effects used in the Matrix (who doesn't) and the classic terminator 1 + 2.
There are different genres of which special effects can be categorized. These different styles are appropriate for different audiences and varieties of films. At one end of the stick you see the brilliant effects show in the Matrix and at the other you see the effects in Saving Private Ryan, designed to make the battles seem as real as possible. These two films were both released in 1999 (I think) so the technology used was top of the range and is still used in films today.
Special effects haven’t appeared over night; they have been around for years and years. Although films like the original King Kong and films created in that era are laughed upon today by the likes of us, did these special effects do for the audiences then what the Matrix does for us?
This got me thinking. I decided to watch Jurassic Park which when I saw it, I thought that this was the greatest film ever and the effects could NEVER be improved!! How wrong I was. The effects failed to impress me this time and I could tell that the dinosaurs were completely fake; I’m completely baffled how I didn’t spot this before. I asked myself, ‘Why aren’t I impressed?’ I figured out a few answers. Either I was had seen this film before and I was looking for all the glitches or have the advances in technology “spoilt” me?
This got me thinking further, and I asked myself, Will we frown upon the Matrix in several years time and say, ‘I can’t see what the hype was about, these effects are average at the least!’
This seems a bit drastic and no one will be able to imagine this but the bottom line is, it happened to a film like Jurassic Park, why wont the Matrix have the same fate?
Thanx for reading
Atomic_Koala
There are different genres of which special effects can be categorized. These different styles are appropriate for different audiences and varieties of films. At one end of the stick you see the brilliant effects show in the Matrix and at the other you see the effects in Saving Private Ryan, designed to make the battles seem as real as possible. These two films were both released in 1999 (I think) so the technology used was top of the range and is still used in films today.
Special effects haven’t appeared over night; they have been around for years and years. Although films like the original King Kong and films created in that era are laughed upon today by the likes of us, did these special effects do for the audiences then what the Matrix does for us?
This got me thinking. I decided to watch Jurassic Park which when I saw it, I thought that this was the greatest film ever and the effects could NEVER be improved!! How wrong I was. The effects failed to impress me this time and I could tell that the dinosaurs were completely fake; I’m completely baffled how I didn’t spot this before. I asked myself, ‘Why aren’t I impressed?’ I figured out a few answers. Either I was had seen this film before and I was looking for all the glitches or have the advances in technology “spoilt” me?
This got me thinking further, and I asked myself, Will we frown upon the Matrix in several years time and say, ‘I can’t see what the hype was about, these effects are average at the least!’
This seems a bit drastic and no one will be able to imagine this but the bottom line is, it happened to a film like Jurassic Park, why wont the Matrix have the same fate?
Thanx for reading
Atomic_Koala