How CGI (special effect) makes movies better

How CGI (special effect) makes movies better

Computer generated imagery (CGI) is a type of special effect that is widely used to make films. CGI effects have had a great impact on mainstream movies and it is as a result digital technology has become synonymous with exceptional visual effects. Digital imaging has been used by major motion picture companies since the personal computer was in its early days. During the early stages of their use, it was difficult to produce effective and efficient effects that would be acceptable to movie fans and critics. Over the years there has been an evolution of special effects which has seen the introduction of computer animations that have greatly uplifted the standards of movie effects. With the development of new methods of CGI, less money and expertise is required to produce the effects and as a result even movies on a shoe string budget can now afford to make use of such technology. Currently movie directors make use of CGI to create special effects thus enabling them to replace stunt people, thousands of extras and characters that look like puppets as witness in blockbusters such as Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Digital effects enable movie director to achieve feats that were earlier thought to be unimaginable. For instance, the movie Armageddon (1999) the director engages digital visual effects to produce impressive and highly successful film. The film is saturated with digital effects some which are produced as a result of very complex processes. Teams of heroes are sent into orbit in the film blow up a meteorite and save the earth. Creating scenes depicting outer space would virtually be impossible without the use of digital technology. High quality visual effects make films more believable to the viewer and Hollywood films try hard to hide any signs of the method used to make the film. Films made using special effects used to very rare due to high cost of technology and expertise involved but due to advances in technology the films are cheaper and easier to produce.

Computer generated visual effects have augmented the film experience by producing films that exceed the expectations of the audience. However, there is a growing concern among many that digital film making has over the years eroded the quality of a number of films. Advances in technology have made digital film making so easy and affordable that studios such a Pixar Animation have been producing whole films based on computer generation. This is a dynamic shift from the conventional film making and it is the concern of many that such trends have the capacity to erode qualities entrenched in traditional film school training. Despite the affordability of computer generated visual effects, the techniques involved in producing the films are intensively time consuming hence the visual effects are usually contracted away from the action of Hollywood by visual effects companies. Films such as Avatar which are widely popular with movie fans world are constructed by up four different visual effects companies working on s single film. These are the key areas of concern in regards to visual effects as compared to contemporary film making.

Digital film making produces high quality films that are very popular across the film. James Cameron a Canadian film maker has been on the forefront in embarrassing the use of digital technology in his films. The result of this technology is films like the Terminator series which without would be very expensive and difficult to produce without the use of CGI. Digital effects in movies produced in Hollywood are worth their price since they enjoy a high profit margin from the sale of merchandise such as computer games and toys associated with the films. However, for CGI to produce popular films, it has to be accompanied by captivating narratives and ground breaking graphics which compensate for any dissatisfaction of the audience with the film.

The top ten most successful films of all time have been produced by CGI to some extent. Harry Porter, Lord of the Rings, Toy Story and Avatar are some of the most successful films in recent history and they have relied heavily on digital imagery. The positive contribution of digital effects to film making cannot be ignored since there are several advantages of CGI to the film industry. The benefits of CGI to film production far outweigh the demerits and in the future film production is expected to rely more heavily on computer generation as compared to the conventional ways of film making. The use of digital imagery enables movie directors to venture into visual realms that would be impossible with the use of conventional cinematography. The result is that CGI films continue to awe audiences by incorporating new cinematic experiences that take audience to the edges of virtual reality which offer phenomenal visual experiences. However, it is important that no single cinematographic technique can produce ground breaking results by itself. It is therefore important that CGI films incorporate the right balance of using digital images along with other important aspects of film production such as script writing, audio production and captivating narration.