MovieChat Forums > The Beast Within (1982) Discussion > Special effects now days.

Special effects now days.

posted 18 years ago by arron_392001
8 replies | jump to latest

The Magic Hunter

I have not seen this in a long time scince when it first came out in 1982. But if they did a remake the special effects hopefully would be awsome. Like any other wear wolves movie,An American Weaarwolf In London,The Howling,etc would be so musch better then today because of the special effects department.Don't get me wrong they were all excellent movies .and the SE were great,but with all the new stuff they hane now days I'm just saying I would see these movies again even it they were remakes. The Beast With in was a good movie though as it is.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] chrisandsuzy2000 17 years ago

Absolutely none....the guy who did the special effects won an oscar and deservedly so. CGI is killing special effects NOT enhancing them!

[–] jbaker1-2 15 years ago

There's nothing inherently inferior about CGI. It's fine when it's done well. The problem is it often isn't.

Good CGI is time-consuming and expensive - far more so than traditional FX techniques - and is beyond the reach of most independent filmmakers. They simply can't afford it. *Cheap* CGI, on the other hand, depending on what's needed, can be the least expensive way to go, and is sometimes the only practical choice for a director working on a tight budget. It may look like something out of a five year old video game, but it won't break the bank, and that's what counts with the guy who's putting up the bucks.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

That is a valiant defense of CGI. Unfortunately, too often it is used cheaply and in excess, to the point where the special effects become a distraction rather than an enhancement.

Still, I admire, respect and generally prefer these "old school" ventures that rely on makeup and prosthetics. If only the rest of this film could have been as good as the last 15 minutes.

[–] alucardvenom 8 years ago

Absolutely none....the guy who did the special effects won an oscar and deservedly so. CGI is killing special effects NOT enhancing them!

Actually, it's not, it's lazy directors who are killing FX, because they are too lazy (or too stupid) to decide what to do on-spot, so they just brush it off and say "we'll fix it in post"

A friend of mine is practical FX guy. I spoke about CGI with him few times. He always says that CGI actually helps out a lot, because if used right, it can fix imperfections of practical makeup.

As an example, he gave me one scene he did, where guy gets machete in his head. Without CGI, he would have to make two machetes, one "full" and other with hole\missing-part where head would fit.

With use of CGI, he could just make the second machete, and CGI would just "fill in the hole". Done that way, it's less time and resource consuming, since he doesn't have to make "full" machete.

A good user of this method is C. Nolan. Now, I don't like Nolan that much as screenwriter, but he understood this when it comes to direction. Use CGI only when needed, and don't overdo it (even if you can).

So, it's actually lazy and inexperienced "directors" who are killing practical FX, not CGI itself.

[–] Fedorevsky 10 years ago

arron_39001, people like you should be put to death.

Hidyho!