CGI and Its Use in Cinema

It seems today that many people feel the addition of computer-generated imagery, or CGI, to films is going to completely ruin the age-old tradition of filmmaking by replacing actors with computer-generated models, creating a less authentic world, and simply making it easier to make a film. However, it is incredibly important to take into consideration just how much work goes into a CGI film or even just one scene that utilizes CGI. It’s important to realize that CGI can enhance a film’s storytelling and that not everyone uses it in order to make a great film. If used properly, CGI can be a fantastic tool to enhance the storytelling of a film.

One of the fears that comes with a generation of movies that uses CGI is that it will ultimately replace real people. With the introduction of motion capture, people seem to fear that after a while, using actors will become obsolete and technology will eventually figure out a way to eliminate using humans to portray characters. However, even in the motion capture process, actors are still an essential part of filmmaking. Without real humans to portray the characters, the animators would be creating models from scratch. Motion capture is a technology that uses the performances of real actors to enhance the animation. Sure, there are fully computer-animated movies, but even those movies require the voices of performers to capture the emotions that they want from the characters. While traditional methods of filmmaking should not be completely replaced by modern forms of technology (traditional animation vs. CGI animation, motion capture vs. live-action, etc.), they should not be discouraged from being used entirely. Movies like Avatar and The Polar Express use motion capture or a combination of motion capture and live-action in order to create fantastical yet realistic-feeling worlds without needing to use a huge chunk of their budget on grandiose sets and stunts. On top of that, movies like those animated by Pixar and Dreamworks allow animated films to feel more realistic than if they were traditionally animated. Choosing how your film will be made is an important part of the filmmaking process, and using certain filmmaking techniques over others can enhance the storytelling if done correctly.

Other people may think that using CGI is much easier than simply making a live-action film. Just sit at a computer and animate the models you need for the film and you’re done. However, CGI is a lot more complicated than simply animating the models and putting them on screen. In order for the audience to believe the events that are unfolding on screen, the CGI elements need to feel as authentic as possible. Animators and artists typically research the movement of animals, the topography of certain areas, the science and physics of a certain area of the universe, etc., in order to create a realistic-feeling atmosphere. They then work for months on making sure every single frame feels completely fluid and that the film looks as good as possible. It can take months to animate a single scene and years to animate a full movie depending on how reliant the movie is on CGI and how complicated the scene is to animate. Even adding a CGI element to one scene of a live-action film can take months. If anything, creating a CGI movie is potentially even harder because the animators usually have to create models from scratch and always have to make them feel as realistic as possible.

Taking all of this into account, it’s also important to realize that CGI does not necessarily make a world feel less realistic than a completely live-action movie. Some films are able to create living, breathing worlds using CGI that feel so lifelike it’s almost like they weren't animated at all. Movies that take place in space, like Interstellar and Gravity, utilize CGI in order to simulate the feeling of the actors being in space without actually traveling into space. There is no way a realistic-looking set based on the blackness of space could be made, so making a CGI backdrop for space allows the actual sets that become places like space bases and the surfaces of planets feel more authentic. Motion capture and other CGI technology also allow for actors to safely interact with animals that might not be safe for them to interact with in real life, such as the tiger in Life of Pi. Even though real footage of a tiger was utilized, the filmmakers decided to make the tiger and other animals CGI throughout most of the film in order to minimize the danger for the lead actor. It can also make animals and other creatures feel more human, such as the Navi from Avatar or Andy Serkis’ performances as creatures such as Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Animating over actual performances allows for real human emotions to come through in the performances and can thus make creatures like those more human. If you look at how CGI characters and worlds have been utilized over the years, more often than not, they’ve been able to breathe life into a movie that would otherwise have been impossible to make.

CGI gets a bad rap amongst audience members today. It’s sometimes seen as a cheap and easy way to make movies and sometimes as the downfall of traditional filmmaking. However, if utilized correctly and as long as it doesn’t completely replace live-action filmmaking and practical effects as a whole, CGI truly can enhance the story of a film. Just like any element of a film (music, editing, acting, sound, color, direction, writing, etc.), if used appropriately and not excessively, it can bring a new level to the storytelling of films and help to potentially create a movie that many will one day consider to be one of the best of all time.