Continued...

I always found that in all the new films that are rated bad, mainly focus on special effects than the drama or time taken in making the film.

Most films get a great opening weekend, but seriously dissapoint people.
Some films are rated bad by the LACK of special effects, this is something that really dwells on my mind, Are people looking for special effects? Are they after narrative?

Harry Potter is a good example of this Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
When I came to watch this the film focused more on the drama aspect of the book rather than the dramatic action it involves. This is more like a british film making style in my view.Although it was great narrative wise, it did not fully catch the eye of the public.

'This is the least involving of the series so far, with an unclear storyline and action set-pieces that fail to convey the excitement of the book. '
This is an extract from Rotten Tomatoes from a fan that clearly did not like the film. Some people did not like the fact that the film Lacked CGI, which I did not think was the point of this film.

People think a film without CGI for it's genre is not good, and because all of the films that come out of the cinema as blockbusters include big CGI and explosions, as an audience we now EXPECT them.

The Matrix is an example I believe uses CGI to help the Narrative, much like many Sci-Fi films. They use CGI in order to portray the narrative, and the matrix was one of the examples of films that uses a good mix of film styles, from wire fighting, to tricky camera work (the slow motion BULLET TIME shot is a fantastic example of this).

I believe that the sort of films that are made solely for impressing the audience with CGI should be shoved in the bin. I think that modern day effects are ruining film because they are shoddy, do not fit the narrative, and do not work alongside the narrative to deliver the story and energy of the film.

Are Modern Day special effects Ruining film?

Recently I went to watch the film 'G.I. Joe, The Rise of Cobra'. Having said the film itself was cheesy and stereotypical, the effects where not bad, but on the other hand, it does not keep in the realism of film.


-Spoiler-

There is a main piece in the film where the main evil base is destroyed by Ice falling ontop of it and crushing it. Now what strikes me, is that the base is underwater.

Ice does not sink, the effects here are pretty good, but I think as a fan of special effects, we would have all settled with a nice big explosion to finish off the stereotypical 'we beat the bad guys' style of this film.



Another prime example I see if a classic example of the director thinking 'How much sound and effects can we cram into this film to make it work' is Transformers 2.
Transformers 2 is another example of trashy blockbuster cinema, which opens up with Megan fox straddling a bike like she is posing for FHM magazine.
Now, Noted this film holds the second-highest opening day gross of all time, but I felt as though this film had too much CGI and sound in to be taken seriously as a film. The CGI was neccesary for the film considering it's about robots, but I still felt as though it somehow ruins the drama for them.

Shining the Spotlight

It makes us jump, it creates atmosphere and it's what helped create sci-fi and fantasy alike, it gives us the unreal. Special effects give films an extra edge. I remember hearing from my aunite about how she would hide whenever the cybermen were on doctor who. It looks rediculous and cheesy now, but back then to them it was scary.


From Harryhausen to Fritz Lang, many people have come up with new ways to use special effects. Some of the best films had unique effects which helped create the movie, for example, One of my favorite scenes from a film was the skeleton fight scene in Don Chaffey's film Jason and the Argonaughts, in which the heroes fight off the raised dead . adding drama/Live action alongside effects created an entirely new world, Harryhausen was unique, in which he made models and incorporated them into his films. His most famous being the early 1933 version of King Kong, the film that he was most famous for, The fight between Kong and the Tyrannisaurus which had the actress screaming on a piece of set in the front, whilst the two clay models battled it out in the back, people still rate that film to be one of the greatest to this day.




You could Argue that Modern effects are ruining films, as they focus more on the CGI than they do the actual drama of the film (one being Transformers 2,Michael Bay's so called 'blockbuster of the year' ).

Special effects can also help create shots, for instance, the famous silent black and white science fiction film Metropolios, shows how effects can help shape a film, like the tower of babel shown in the film, or Maria being Transformed


This film was so successful for this time it influenced other films such as blade runner, gotham city for batman, and even the famous C3PO in Star Wars was based on 'Rotwang's robot'.

In one of the books I am reading, a section in the 1990's Action and Disney films were at their height, disney gained the first best picture academy award an animated feature ever received and Terminator 2 Extended the possibilities of digital effects with it's impressive use of CGI. The opening to Terminator two is one of the best Opening scenes I have seen in film and it really captivated me and got me interested in the film, when it had only just started!

By this time, the American Film Industry was developing into the countries most profitable import!

Special Effects today are key to many successful films, and create a sense of realism in a fictional world. One of the greatest examples is The Matrix, one of my favorite films. What I love about films is that they bring unique things that inspire others, and can help shape it even better. I think for modern film the use of Bullet time in the Matrix and the way they used Camera (sticking to the 180 rule of cinematography as well!) has opened up a path to a whole new way of showing fight scenes, guns and other shots.


I found this video which shows the scene at the beggining of the Matrix where the character 'Trinity' Kicks a security guard. To me, this is how Special Effects SHOULD be used, with more immagination, style and originality, which this film shows. Slo Motion Kick



I think a good argument to put forward is 'Are Modern Day special effects Ruining film?' or even 'Too many Special Effects are crammed into films today, do you think using them less would gain more audience or lose them?'

I will carry on reading and exploring the timeline of effects, and Put forward my thoughts on those two arguments I have listed above