Yeah, I work at one of the other SoCal CSUs and Iâm very aware of the weird ass history behind the property for CSUCI! I have known people who were confined there. Itâs really funky.
Marvel movies have completely eliminated the concept of practical effects from the movie-watching publicâs 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 donât say Star Wars because they went back and fixed that with CGI later.
*big sigh* *puts head in hands* heathens whoâve 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 âCGI fixesâ 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 âdespecializedâ fan projects explicitly dedicated to un-doing all of the shitty âfixedâ 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 byâŠ.*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, CGIâd 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 CGIâd to this day. Youâre 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 ârestoredâ 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.Â
I want to talk fantasy.
This shot was achieved with splicing and green screen.
This wild-looking shot (and similar manipulations) was famously achieved by having a professional juggler in a duplicate of Bowieâs 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 DIDNâT EXIST YET! (The juggler is hidden under the cape. If thereâs a scene where heâs wearing a cape, thatâs actually probably why.)
And this? This heartstopping shot?
This does appear to be from the version with CGIâ
âCGI THAT WAS USED TO ERASE THE SHADOW FROM THE PRACTICAL EFFECT.
The shot itself hasnât 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 âtouch upâ 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.
How about this?
You donât know it, but youâre 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.
A MODEL OF A HOUSE SHOT INSIDE A NYLON STOCKING ATTACHED TO A FAN.
MAN IN A COSTUME.
HORSES DUSTED WITH COLORED GELATIN.
And this? This is where it wouldâve 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?
Iâll 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.
More respect for practical effects please. We need to bring it back (unionize CGI).
The Detectiveâs Guide is nearly here! Out on Feb 23 from Affirm Press, and starting to get its first reviews now. Itâs an adventure mystery set on the RMS Aquitania in the 1920s, and I absolutely loved it.Â
Congrats to Nicki on a brilliant story, and thanks infinite to Meg at Affirm for all the help while we worked through the cover.
Needing a little extra murder in your Halloween season? Join us this Friday for a re-visit of Poe Party, but where weâre switching all the roles! Many familiar faces from the cast will be joining us, as well as a couple new ones. Livestreaming on our channel at 5:30 pm PacificâŠsomething is bound to happen.Â
Tonightâs the night! Join the four of us, along with Ashley Clements, Whitney Avalon, Blake Silver, Tom DeTrinis, Ryan Garcia, Tara Perry, Christopher Higgins, Dylan Saunders, Julia Cho, and Al Fallick on our channel for a terrifyingly good time!
Using only examples from When Will My Life Begin, we can see that she indulges in chores and hobbies with both hands. Some things take strength. Some take dexterity. The fact that she uses both hands for these things goes to show that sheâs ambidextrous.
Now, whether she decided to learn to use her non-dominant hand out of boredom/the challenge, or whether she was simply born with the skill is hard to say. But either way, our girl can meet any challenge with either hand.
You wanna talk trust? Stevie and mom werenât running around the world for a decade and a half with random men, leaving me at home to wonder if they were okay. Well, Iâm sorry for having fun, David, with a selection of very confident international men, but I was always okay. Were you? Because I was the one at the consulate sending you temporary passports and colored contact lenses whenever you needed them. I was the one, at home, not having fun because I was constantly worried which East Asian palace Alexis was being held in this week. Not mom and dad. Me.
This is just to say that if I follow you I am 100% down with your obscure obsessive interest in Whatever. I love that about you. I donât share your interest, maybe, but I love that YOU love it, and I get a kick out of seeing it in my dash.
