Puppetry Vs. CGI
November 25th 2011 22:34
Category: No Category
Puppets are damn scary! I have found almost all puppets to be terrifying when I was a kid, and even now as an adult they still give me the creeps. Marionettes freak me out, plain and simple. Now, with computer generated images being all the rage, puppets have faded out of vogue. Is this a good thing or not?
CGI is a powerful tool.; it creates images that we cannot possibly create here on this planet. It can show us creatures moving in a way that we never thought to be possible. CGI is not creepy puppets. Is there creepiness worth discounting the puppets though? No. There are sever drawbacks to CGI as well. The cost can play a huge role in whether CGI will be used in a movie...and how well it till look in the final project. The CGI may be able to make outlandish landmarks, or shiny extraterrestrials, or even a film about a chest full of toys' secret life, but as soon as someone is not willing to pay a pretty penny for it it looks hideous. The other major problem is the disconnect that people have when seeing something CGI, as apposed to a physical effect or puppetry. With CGI the observer can tell when the image in front of them is real or not, creating a disconnect, and thus breaks the illusion of the film.
As for puppetry, it can be creepy, but it is a fading art that still has a lot of pull from movie buffs (such as myself) for its physical properties and the sheer amount of work and forethought that has to be done with it. Puppetry includes everything from Yoda in Empire Strikes Back, to the Shark from Jaws, and the Muppets. All of these are real props and puppets that are really physically in the 3rd dimension; giving them real depth, range of motion, and proper light reflection.Physical effects and props are being used less and less these days, and there seems to be a favoritism towards the CGI effects. This is a shame, because many times things are done with CGI that could have been done more convincingly with a physical effect.
CGI has it's place, making things that we cannot possibly have on Earth. Puppetry and physical affects are not nearly used as much as they could or should be used. Puppetry is still used today, and very well, they just released a new Muppets movie...that's almost all puppetry. CGI's place is making things like space warriors fighting off a precariously placed moon, or a rushing heard of Gallimimus. Currently there is a bias towards CGI because it is less work on the director to find creative ways to shoot the film as to make the physical effects even more realistic/hide the puppeteers. Puppets have their place in cinema. Creepy as they can be, there just is no beating a real prop.
So damn creepy!
I'm beginning to think that this is some sort of motion picture, and not a magical time machine box...
$10 effect, or $10000 worth of CGI work? Tough call
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