Wadey Wilsoney Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) The Gate was this little horror movie from the eighties that I saw about thirteen years ago on the Sci-fi Channel. I remember very little about it, save for one thing: those little demon imps. Too good to be stop-motion and far too early to be CGI. So how did they do it? Forced perspective and people in suits. Sounds simple, but those visuals stucks with me. Truly impressive, even if the movie was just okay in the end. Prior to CGI, which visual effects have impressed you the most? Please point to specific scenes when possible. Or In the age of CGI, which effects did you think were computer generated at first, only to realise later that they were practical? Edited March 5, 2013 by Bazooka Wadey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Old Tele Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 2001, Star Wars, Forbidden Planet, The Thing (1982), off the top of my head. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Gary Scott Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Star Wars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashrendar44 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Star Wars Star Wars got CGI... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Old Tele Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Star Wars got CGI... No, the first CGI in feature films was TRON and STAR TREK II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndustriousAngel Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) Blade Runner and Alien had fantastic FX, as did 2001. @CGI: Fun thing is that even the CG scenes in "Escape from NY" were really model work Edited March 5, 2013 by IndustriousAngel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndustriousAngel Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 And looking a bit back, effects were always important in creating the illusion - a good example is the sea battle in Ben Hur. Would be done completely in CG today, then it was all model and camera work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Old Tele Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Heck, METROPOLIS is pretty impressive even today! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashrendar44 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) No, the first CGI in feature films was TRON and STAR TREK II. The Death Star blueprints, destruction planning and demonstration shown to the rebel pilots was all pionneering wireframe CGI. In ROTJ, the holographic presentation of Death Star II by Mon Mothma to the rebel fleet officers is also CGI. You're wrong. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery Edited March 5, 2013 by dashrendar44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndustriousAngel Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Heck, METROPOLIS is pretty impressive even today! I rewatched it recently and have to say that I was a little disappointed in the model work. Ok, those were huge sets, but the details were "flat". Sure, it was not meant to have a realistic look, but it was clearly visible that those were model buildings flooded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Old Tele Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 The Death star destruction planning and demonstration shown to the rebel pilots was all pionneering CGI, the targeting device on the fighters too. In ROTJ, the holographic presentation of Death Star II by Mon Mothma to the rebel fleet officers is also CGI. You're wrong. I wasn't referring to ROTJ.... I do stand corrected on the rebel briefing, I completely forgot about that. However, such early CG (and in other films) shouldn't disqualify the 99% of traditional effects used, particularly since they were so memorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndustriousAngel Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 The Death star blueprints, destruction planning and demonstration shown to the rebel pilots was all pionneering wireframe CGI. In ROTJ, the holographic presentation of Death Star II by Mon Mothma to the rebel fleet officers is also CGI. You're wrong. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery I don't think that's what the thread is about - computer screens showing computer screens are not CGi effects in my book, or else even Star Trek 1 would have CGi (they were so proud their screens showed "real" screens) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashrendar44 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) Well for me, SW is the blend of traditional effects and computer effects. People forget about the Dykstra-flex that is a camera whose movements are entirely programmed using computer software. SW VFX would not be as impressive without that innovation. Edited March 5, 2013 by dashrendar44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashrendar44 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) I don't think that's what the thread is about - computer screens showing computer screens are not CGi effects in my book, or else even Star Trek 1 would have CGi (they were so proud their screens showed "real" screens) In SW, there are computer screens and holographic maps showing pictures achieved by CGI and not "traditional effects" so this is not off topic to remind people about that fact. Edited March 5, 2013 by dashrendar44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Old Tele Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Well for me, SW is the blend of traditional effects and computer effects. People forget about the Dykstra-flex that is a camera whose movements are entirely programmed using computer software and. SW VFX would not bet as impressive without that innovation. Yes, without computer-controlled systems ILM wouldn't've been able to do the multiple camera passes required for all that compositing. However, that isn't CGI, since there's no computer-generated imagery in those shots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndustriousAngel Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 While we're at it: "The Black Hole" featured the most beautiful model spaceship, the Cygnus. That thing was huuuge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndustriousAngel Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 And to stray from SF: "An American Werewolf in London" had some really disturbing images, those were absolutely fantastic masks and prostethics. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Old Tele Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 There's some very painterly, but still stunning, matte painting work in BLACK NARCISSUS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashrendar44 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) Yes, without computer-controlled systems ILM wouldn't've been able to do the multiple camera passes required for all that compositing. However, that isn't CGI, since there's no computer-generated imagery in those shots. Fair enough but I can already smell the "CGI sucks" scent out of this thread while quoting Star Wars even if Star Wars pionneered CGI effects and opened the Pandora's box, that's kind of ironic Back on topic. The crossing of the Red Sea by Moise and his people in The Cecil B DeMille's Ten Commandments. Ben Hur: Edited March 5, 2013 by dashrendar44 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moviedweeb Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I love the reverse photography shots used for the face hugger in Aliens. It was brilliantly practical. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
