CGI (Computer-Generated-Imagery) in Cinema pRODUCTION
CGI (Computer-Generated-Imagery) are elements of a film produced with the aid of computer technology.
A little of Story [*]
One of the most influential “special effects companies”, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), a division of Lucas film Ltd, was founded in 1975 to produce special effects for Star Wars (George Lucas, US, 1977).
The company used traditional techniques such as model work, blue screen, and matte processes, but combined these with computer-controlled cameras, resulting in extremely detailed, high quality composite images.
In the 1980s, ILM developed ways of creating computer-generated three-dimensional environments that could be composited with “live action”; as seen in many of the location shots and space scenes in the Star Wars films (1977-83). As the technology became more sophisticated it was used to produce computer generated moving images, referred to as Computer animation.
The term CGI is usually reserved to refer to non-moving composited elements, whereas computer animation refers to moving images; in practice the two terms are used interchangeably.
Short computer-animated sequences appeared in Hollywood films such as Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (Nicholas Meyer, 1982), Tron (Steven Lisberger, 1982), and Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984). Young Sherlock Holmes (Barry Levinson, 1985) boasts the first wholly computer-animated character, a knight assembled from the different sections of a stained glass window.
Since the late 1980s, the US film industry has become increasingly reliant on CGI. The digitally created “morphing” alien character in The Abyss (James Cameron, 1989) and the T1000 character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron 1991) further developed computer animation.
A seminal film is generally agreed to be Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993), whose dinosaurs were created by ILM through a combination of model work, animatronics (the technique of making and operating lifelike robots), and computer animation. The film's six and a half minutes of digitally animated dinosaur footage required 18 months of work by 50 people using US$15millions worth of equipment.
In 1990 Disney produced the first completely computer-animated film, The Rescuers Down Under (Hendel Butoy and Mike Gabriel); and within a decade computer animation had largely replaced traditional cel-animation techniques.
An important marker of this change is the success of the Pixar film studio. Set up in 1986 by former employees of Lucas film, the company developed the Renderman software platform and used this to produce computer-animated short films and adverts and a number of extremely successful feature films, including Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995), A Bug’s Life ( John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, 1998) and Monster inc. (Docter and David Silverman, 2001). Pixar studio was incorporated into Disney in 2006.
Many of the technical problems that hindered early adoption of the technology - for example how to simulate gravity and how to make physical bodies, especially skin, move and respond to stimuli in a believable way - have now been resolved; and widespread adoption of the technology by the film industry has precipitated a number of shifts and changes.
Most obviously, the technology is regarded as empowering filmmakers working in the “science fiction”, “fantasy film”, and “action” genres.
There has also been an increase in the production of “historical” films such as Titanic (James Cameron, 1997) and “epic” films genres such as Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000), where CGI and computer animation are used to recreate the past on a grand scale.
Digital animation has also resulted in the development of special effects such as “bullet time” and “flo-mo”, (or flow motion) , extending the range of possibilities available to filmmakers.
The work of 'acting has been significantly altered, with performers now often working in blue or green screen environments, and with “location”, "raise-en-scene”, “costume”, and so on added in post-production.
Hybrid characters, played by actors but with later addition of computer-animated elements - as with Andy Serkis/Golem in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Peter Jackson, 2001-03) - have given rise to the term Synthespian.
Gladiator is also noteworthy for the digital resurrection of Oliver Reed, who died during production but appears as a digital avatar in a scene filmed after his death (a tactic also deployed by the producers of The Crow (Alex Proyas, 1994), after actor Brandon Lee was killed during production.
CGI is also increasingly a feature of non-US film production, as, for example, in Anzelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France, 2001), El laberinto del fauno/Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, Spain/Mexico, 2006), and Melancholia (Lars von Trier, Denmark/France/Sweden/Germany, 2011).
It is also now relatively straightforward to make amendments to earlier films, with George Lucas adding computer-animated elements to the Star Wars trilogy, and Steven Spielberg removing elements from ET.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982, re-released in 2002).
CGI and computer animation are now an integral element of 'high concept, 'blockbuster film productions such as Avatar (James Cameron, 2009), and the technology is used for a range of effects that were previously manufactured on set: explosions, bullet hits, smoke, fire, and even underwater photography can now be produced digitally in post-production.
Even films with middle-range or low budgets can now consider using digital effects: Monsters (Gareth Edwards, UK, 2010), for example, uses a restrained and careful deployment of CGI and computer animation in a number of key scenes.
The company used traditional techniques such as model work, blue screen, and matte processes, but combined these with computer-controlled cameras, resulting in extremely detailed, high quality composite images.
In the 1980s, ILM developed ways of creating computer-generated three-dimensional environments that could be composited with “live action”; as seen in many of the location shots and space scenes in the Star Wars films (1977-83). As the technology became more sophisticated it was used to produce computer generated moving images, referred to as Computer animation.
The term CGI is usually reserved to refer to non-moving composited elements, whereas computer animation refers to moving images; in practice the two terms are used interchangeably.
Short computer-animated sequences appeared in Hollywood films such as Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (Nicholas Meyer, 1982), Tron (Steven Lisberger, 1982), and Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984). Young Sherlock Holmes (Barry Levinson, 1985) boasts the first wholly computer-animated character, a knight assembled from the different sections of a stained glass window.
Since the late 1980s, the US film industry has become increasingly reliant on CGI. The digitally created “morphing” alien character in The Abyss (James Cameron, 1989) and the T1000 character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron 1991) further developed computer animation.
A seminal film is generally agreed to be Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993), whose dinosaurs were created by ILM through a combination of model work, animatronics (the technique of making and operating lifelike robots), and computer animation. The film's six and a half minutes of digitally animated dinosaur footage required 18 months of work by 50 people using US$15millions worth of equipment.
In 1990 Disney produced the first completely computer-animated film, The Rescuers Down Under (Hendel Butoy and Mike Gabriel); and within a decade computer animation had largely replaced traditional cel-animation techniques.
An important marker of this change is the success of the Pixar film studio. Set up in 1986 by former employees of Lucas film, the company developed the Renderman software platform and used this to produce computer-animated short films and adverts and a number of extremely successful feature films, including Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995), A Bug’s Life ( John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, 1998) and Monster inc. (Docter and David Silverman, 2001). Pixar studio was incorporated into Disney in 2006.
Many of the technical problems that hindered early adoption of the technology - for example how to simulate gravity and how to make physical bodies, especially skin, move and respond to stimuli in a believable way - have now been resolved; and widespread adoption of the technology by the film industry has precipitated a number of shifts and changes.
Most obviously, the technology is regarded as empowering filmmakers working in the “science fiction”, “fantasy film”, and “action” genres.
There has also been an increase in the production of “historical” films such as Titanic (James Cameron, 1997) and “epic” films genres such as Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000), where CGI and computer animation are used to recreate the past on a grand scale.
Digital animation has also resulted in the development of special effects such as “bullet time” and “flo-mo”, (or flow motion) , extending the range of possibilities available to filmmakers.
The work of 'acting has been significantly altered, with performers now often working in blue or green screen environments, and with “location”, "raise-en-scene”, “costume”, and so on added in post-production.
Hybrid characters, played by actors but with later addition of computer-animated elements - as with Andy Serkis/Golem in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Peter Jackson, 2001-03) - have given rise to the term Synthespian.
Gladiator is also noteworthy for the digital resurrection of Oliver Reed, who died during production but appears as a digital avatar in a scene filmed after his death (a tactic also deployed by the producers of The Crow (Alex Proyas, 1994), after actor Brandon Lee was killed during production.
CGI is also increasingly a feature of non-US film production, as, for example, in Anzelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France, 2001), El laberinto del fauno/Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, Spain/Mexico, 2006), and Melancholia (Lars von Trier, Denmark/France/Sweden/Germany, 2011).
It is also now relatively straightforward to make amendments to earlier films, with George Lucas adding computer-animated elements to the Star Wars trilogy, and Steven Spielberg removing elements from ET.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982, re-released in 2002).
CGI and computer animation are now an integral element of 'high concept, 'blockbuster film productions such as Avatar (James Cameron, 2009), and the technology is used for a range of effects that were previously manufactured on set: explosions, bullet hits, smoke, fire, and even underwater photography can now be produced digitally in post-production.
Even films with middle-range or low budgets can now consider using digital effects: Monsters (Gareth Edwards, UK, 2010), for example, uses a restrained and careful deployment of CGI and computer animation in a number of key scenes.
[*] A. Kuhn & G. Westwell, (2012), Oxford Dictionary of Film Studies, Oxford University Press.
