Old post on CGI Magic lessens the movie magic

Still relevant after all this time...


Overuse Of CGI Effects Lessens The Magic
By Hazimin Sulaiman
HARRY Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, has met with some criticism in
its screenplay. Newcomer Michael Goldenberg (who co-wrote the 2003 version
of Peter Pan and Contact in 1997) just joined the fray, giving Steve
Kloves, the regular screenwriter a much deserved break.
The fingers are also pointing to director David Yates who is making his
debut with this instalment of Harry potter. prior to this, he directed the
HBO film The Girl in the Cafe.
But don't dismiss The Order of The Phoenix as a bad movie. In fact, it
is a good movie. However, besides the creative liberties taken by the
filmmakers (to simplify the storyline and squeeze the entire book into
mere minutes), there are other things which diminish Potter's magic.
The computer-generated effects are brilliant, especially the dark battle
scenes. Yet they are missing the "ooohs" and "aahs" from the audience.
Though most of the audiences were movie reviewers, it does reflect in
general how real audiences would react.
The question is, are we jaded by computer-generated imagery (CGI)? The
Centaurs and Hagrid's 16-foot giant half-brother, Grawp, did not manage to
draw any surprise from the audience. The magic seems to have disappeared
though the technology has improved. This makes it increasingly challenging
for filmmakers to up the ante in introducing jaw-dropping CGI into their
movies.
Grawp is technically excellent. The character is a combination of 3-D
computer design, motion capture, visual effects and the talented actor,
Tony maudsley. The motion capture is smooth and relatively lifelike. Yet
poor Grawp isn't as memorable compared to Gollum in the Lord of The Rings.
Now, on our turf is the successful Cicakman. It incorporated CGI effects
as well, albeit on a lesser budget than The Order of The Phoenix but
managed to engage the audience's attention for a good span of the movie.
Though expectations were not as high as for Harry Potter or the Lord of
The Rings, the storyline seemed to meet the public's taste for a local
comic superhero.
Audiences were enthralled by this fictitious city called Metrofulus,
which is a 3-D CGI composited cityline that looks like new York City
complete with tram cars and yellow cabs. These are hardly wow factors, but
it made the story's illusion a tad more believable.
The real reason movie-goers were going in droves was to watch Cicakman
sticking to walls and fighting for justice, lizard style.
The problem with Harry Potter and other CGI-laden movies is that people
tend to expect high-quality CGI and digital effects to make things more
realistic. The illusion of reality has warped us into accepting a certain
CGI character as being part of the movie - just like human actors.
A great movie should be able to address this to utilise CGI to aid and
enhance the storyline and plot to make the unbelievable, believable.
NST Aug 2, 2007 p.02 Notebook