porntrooper
Posts: 2497
Joined: 6/9/2006
From: Sheffield
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ORIGINAL: Spaldron
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ORIGINAL: porntrooper
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ORIGINAL: pauljthomas
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ORIGINAL: porntrooper
Someone mentioned aboe that although Gollum is a great peformance and although it is, at times, a great piece of effects work, it isn't perfect and certainly has it's fair share of dodgy moments.
The PotC movies have used CG brilliantly in my opinion, of course Davy Jones being the best, but there are some other really really good effects shots (I'm thinking of the shot from behind Jones on the Dutchman as it plunges below the waves and the sea washes up over the 'camera' and we're underwater with the ship. It's pretty fucking brilliant) in the second and third movie.
The use of CGI in Master & Commander is at times superb too, brilliantly subtle.
I kinda agree with Silas on the CGI work in RotS, at times it is superb, but as with most other CG heavy movies it does slip and suffer. Terminator Salvation uses some great CG work too actually, and as for all three Transformers movies, well they're pretty amazing from an effects perspective. I don't see how anyone, regardless of how much they dislike the film, could say the CG work is poor. It's busy, very very busy at times, but it is mostly flawless.
Which parts were they? I can only think of 1 when his facial features seemed odd (when Sam & Frodo spot the Oliphaunt in Two Towers), other than that-incredible!!
Having not watched them in years, I couldn't tell you where in the final two films the scenes apepar, but a couple I remember (which I think are from Two Towers) are as Gollum climbs down rocks on a sleeping Frodo and Sam, they both spring up and jump him, tying him up after scrapping with him. Some of the interaction between real world and the CG effecct just doesn't work, it doesn't feel like Gollum is there in the scene. There is a similar scene later on where Gollum is grabbing at Frodo's clothes, pulling them and begging for something, again the real world interaction just doesnt work and makes the fact that this is a CG creation jump right out. Also, at times Gollums eyes just don't look right, it sounds strange, but they have no depth to them. I can ignore it mostly, and I'd never argue that it isn't, on the whole, a great piece of effects work, but it isn't without faults. I'm planning a rewatch of LotR in the near future so it will be interesting to see how it holds up before my eyes after several years. I certainly don't class Gollum, as an effect, in the same league as Davey Jones. Davey JOnes still holds up as a great piece of CG. I can only think of a couple of shots that drew attention to the CG.
That's a fair point however you have to remember when they were doing Gollum they were in uncharted territory as in how to make a CGI character as believable as a real one, as previous to this most CGI characters looked and felt exactly like computer animated puppets. They set the bar right there and then and considering it was a new effects house with relatively inexperienced effects team compared to the likes of ILM is all the more impressive. And the fact that Andy Serkis is as well known and is still pushing the boundaries (Caeser et al) is a mark of Gollum's legacy.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great effect and I fully appreciate what Weta, Serkis and Jackson achieved with it, but it's far from flawless and doesn't spring to mind when I think of effects shots that stand the test of time, such as Davey Jones, Jurassic Park's T-Rex or the subtleties of Master & Commander. It's good yea, occasionally great, occasionally stunning, but at others it doesn't look great.
I appreciate what you say regarding legacy, but then you would also have to give Lucas his due for Jar Jar in Episode One, something which people seem reluctant to do due to their hatred of the character. I actually think King Kong is a much better example of Weta/Serkis' performance capture work. Kong is an effect that rarely slips and in certain parts of the movie (the New York finale) the CG effects work on Kong and his surroundings is stunning. I haven't seen Rise of the Apes yet, but the work their does look stunning, but even I can see areas already where it appears to slip (baby Ceaser looks a bit iffy to my eyes).
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RE: CGI/Special effects in films..... - 
My personal favorites is the special effects for the na'vi especially grace's avatar and neytiri's are amazing, sometimes i forgot while watching the film that they weren't real. The effects for home tree coming down were amazing.
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