Marvel movies have completely eliminated the concept of practical effects from the movie-watching public’s consciousness
Not just practical effects just like. Basic set design lol
How… How do they think sci-fi was done before CGI?
Really badly? Do you remember sci-fi before CGI? It was shit. And don’t say Star Wars because they went back and fixed that with CGI later.
*big sigh* *puts head in hands* heathens who’ve never watched pre-MCU sci-fi movies OR the unedited Star Wars movies, my beloathed
So first of all, most people agree that the majority of the “CGI fixes” in the Star Wars original trilogy (excluding minor visual/sound effects like lightsaber colors and blaster sounds) are unececssary, extremely conspicuous, and/or bad. This is not news to literally anyone older than about 20 who has consumed Star Wars content on any level. There are quite literally two very famous ‘despecialized’ fan projects explicitly dedicated to un-doing all of the shitty “fixed” CGI effects while simultaneously restoring the OT in HD.
And yes, I do, in fact, remember sci-fi special effects before CGI was the foundational cornerstone of moviemaking. It was not, in fact, shit:
Also, ironically I can show you by….*gasp* using fucking Star Wars, of all things. Welcome to the Tatooine pod race set of The Phantom Menace, which was not, as popularly believed, CGI’d but was instead a fully-built miniature set:
Yes, they built the entire set as a minature, built life-sized pod racers for the actors, then spliced the two together using digital effects. Yes, they did such a fantastic job that people think the entire set and scene sequence was basically completely CGI’d to this day. You’re fucking welcome for undervaluing the time, effort, and talents of set designers by implying that set design and practical effects inherently mean things will look like shit.
CGI also ages really poorly. What you think looks incredibly realistic now is going to look terrible in a few years. Just look at the original vs remastered Star Trek. They “restored” Star Trek around 2006 and replaced a lot of the practical effects with CGI, and maybe it looked ok in 2006, but it looks so bad and fake now.
In the 60s they built a whole model of the Enterprise, complete with blinking lights and beautifully sculpted/painted details. It looks stunning! Then they replaced it with that horribly smooth and fake looking cgi ship.
Just look at this beauty
You can see the model at the Air and Space Museum in DC
Unfortunately the remastered version is the only version available to stream, but you can still find DVDs with the original effect.
made in 1968 and still stunning 2001 A Space
Odyssey
the designers worked with engineers at NASA to make realistic futuristic special effects using models and matte paintings no computer effects at all! - and incidentally inspired David Bowie to write Space Oddity, later performed in space by astronaut Chris Hadfield
The CGI of the original Jurassic Park may not be aging well (though arguably still better than some), but the practical effects will always look stunning.
This wild-looking shot (and similar manipulations) was famously achieved by having a professional juggler in a duplicate of Bowie’s jacket and gloves sitting behind him, basically with Bowie in his lap, doing the handwork while Bowie kept his arms behind the juggler. You may have seen a game based on this on Whose Line Is It Anyway.
This? Wires! Splicing! THE CGI TO DO THIS DIDN’T EXIST YET! (The juggler is hidden under the cape. If there’s a scene where he’s wearing a cape, that’s actually probably why.)
—CGI THAT WAS USED TO ERASE THE SHADOW FROM THE PRACTICAL EFFECT.
The shot itself hasn’t changed. The lift itself was done with wires and Bowie was given some propulsion with an air cannon so he could make that turn at speed. A minor amount of CGI was used in the 30th anniversary to “touch up” the work done in 1986, and one of the things they did was to remove a shadow on the wall from one of the wires.
You don’t know it, but you’re looking at a practical effect. In real life, the Ruby Slippers are almost orange. That luxe, rich ruby color showed up on the film as black when the shoes were the correct color, so the costumers adjusted the actual costume to give the color they wanted.
And this? This is where it would’ve been useful to have CGI. Margaret Hamilton got really badly burned on the steam doing one of her entrance/exits, and ended up in the hospital. THIS is what you use CGI for.
You come into my house and insult practical effects?
I’ll just finish off by reminding you THIS IS ONE, TOO.
That last one, iirc, was there was a double in a sepia-toned costume, and the interior door and wall there was painted brown, so when it was lit and shot it all appeared to still be in the sepia tone of the Kansas scenes, and part of why Dorothy stepped back out of the frame was so the double and Judy Garland (in the proper blue-and-white costume) could swap.
You are correct. The double’s name, by the way, was Bobbi Koshay.
Joe Russo when Tony Stark said “billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” in the first avengers
so far, I have quotes from the russos on how they think Cap is old fashioned and needed to go, how black widow was damaged and needed to “complete herself” how tony “needs to go.” they clearly don’t care for thor or ant man, thinking them idiots. They don’t seem to respect Falcon or War machine (I wonder why) so who DO they like?
Why were they given control over a movie franchise where they hate all the characters?
Completely agree. Here are the quotes they’re referencing btw
This really freaking annoys me. If you’re in charge of a movie franchise then it is your job to embrace every character, to help them grow and overcome their differences. But no, NO! These asshats kill off every single character that they hate and are acting like complete babies just because they don’t like them. If you don’t like them so much then fuck off! Go and work on something else! Just stop ruining the MCU!!!
They both literally just hated everyone. Here is another quote I haven’t heard a lot of people mention either
Loki: h-
Joe Russo:
this is so funny tho
Oh they hated everyone that explains why the movies are like that
No wonder the mcu feels like a slightly better Michael bay franchise
On the bright side, knowing the directors actively hated half the characters they were working with leaves me feeling 0% hesitant to ignore every single bullshit character move they made! 😜
I don’t know why people do this… for example they did it with Star Trek and jj abrams…
Look, I have my differences with the LOTR movies, but you can see in every frame the sheer overwhelming love for the story that went into those movies. On genuinely every level. Every person involved with the production of those movies loved what they were doing and were working passionately, and it shows.
The disregard that leaks through parts of the MCU, two of the new Star Trek movies, and the new Star Wars trilogy really is baffling to me. So many people love these franchises and would have lovingly poured their heart and soul into them. And filmmakers who just didn’t care were handed these films?? Imagine what we could have gotten if actual fans had been allowed to make these movies.
Oh wait, I don’t have to imagine. People who love these franchises and these characters put their tiny amounts of free time and overwhelming effort into producing fanfiction and fanart for these characters every day. I could go on AO3 right now and in half a dozen clicks get sweeping, beautiful, poetic treatises on the human condition written through these ‘Verses. Vast arrays of adventures starring these characters, and the characters themselves would be lovingly adored by their writers. I could enjoy content made by people who care.
These directors and producers don’t deserve to be handed these franchises and they don’t deserve the paychecks they receive for half-assing their way through them. Not when fans produce outstanding content every day for free, just out of passion alone. This is ridiculous, can Hollywood please start putting people who actually care about the characters in charge of the movies? Please? I promise I’ll go back to buying movie tickets if I think the characters will be treated fairly by their narratives.
That explains why, despite my incredible geekiness, I’ve been meh about seeing these movies. The contempt showed.
I am Silver Tongue, I am an artist. I have many characters and you can check out my art in the art tag. I occasionally practice witchcraft though I don't do anything too complicated. I am girl 2 and don't know what else to put here.
