When VFX first started to make their presence felt in movies, I was like a fan boy! Yeah! More, more, more – there simply cannot be too many VFX in any movie! But as the years passed I slowly became disillusioned; basically they did not age well. In fact they aged more rapidly than a fake rolex watch, and I sure as hell know which cost more… So it always makes me feel good to see VFX/3D used in a way that doesnt even try to be photorealistic but instead creates new artforms. And while I am on the subject of photorealism, heres a hint next time you are being wowed out by some initially impressive VFX, 3D rendering, or that even more annoying HDR imagery, let me say it in capitals cos I feel like shouting: visually FILM is about CINEMATOGRAPHY which is about CONTROL OF FOCUS & CONTROL OF DEPTH OF FIELD/EXPOSURE so WHY do so many of those dreadful HDR photos & rendered 3D show reels show no true sign of visual awareness by making EVERYTHING in a scene IN FOCUS and OVER EXPOSED????? I dont care how good your 3D modelling is, it just feels like bad ADR & it wrecks every scene its in because it does the ultimate sin of film making: IT UNDERMINES SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF, or in short it LOOKS FAKE! Arggggg!
Anyway enough negativity, heres a few clips where you can ignore what reality looks like because these are works on art in their own right; they transcend/define their own reality.
The Zoo from zeitguised on Vimeo.
Christchurch Arts Festival ‘PowerPlant’ – Umeric from Umeric on Vimeo.
Much respect to the artists that created those works!
And is that a hang drum on the second clips soundtrack? I initially thought gamelan, but then heard a track featuring a hang drum on an old Giles Peterson show in the car the other day & thought hmmmm…. hang drum = one man gamelan?
I love the sound of the gamelan… I suppose you know the bank from Soniccouture ? I’m thinking about it. HARD.
But I can’t tell for sure wether it’s an hang drum or gamelan, hard to tell, not really instrument I heard every day !
As for the vfx, I think that if it’s going to look out of place, so be it. Go for it. Push in this direction !
Pixar movies are great for that – human don’t look human, but it’s fine. I was watching again Videodrome a month or so ago, and I was “wow”, some fx are fucking good. They’re not believable at all, but they work in the movie. It’s more or less the same in Blade Runner – except for those lens flare