Bored Panda:
We all know that movie and TV producers use VFX (short for visual effects), but you’ll be surprised to learn just how extensively they’re used to create movie magic! These photos reveal just how much your favorite shows and movies rely on the magic of VFX.
These effects shots always fascinate me. I’m a sucker for any DVD that includes “here’s how we do it” extras.
As a long-time sf fan, I’ve always been of two minds about visual effects in movies and tv. Their effectiveness at conveying a story had almost nothing to do with my interest in how they were accomplished.
I was much more into reading about VFX back before everything was created with CG models and composited digitally. For decades, it was painfully easy to spot matte paintings or miniatures for what they were, and that would take me right out of the story. Some of the technology in use now gets good enough results that I can often only tell a shot isn’t fully real by the fact that it’s either physically impossible to create on location or way beyond the show’s likely budget.
It’s good you should point that out. When I read about people/reviewer crabbing about the “gloss” of too many pixels, or some other derogatory remark about CGI, that’s the only indicator (as you put it, a physically impossible shot) that it could be CGI. Otherwise, CG mattes are (if done right) completely impossible to distinguish from real photography.
The only other telltale sign of an FX shot is the composition or isolation of characters.
The best thing about CG is that it can be a perfect matte painting. But I still miss seeing some of the beautiful paintings by Matthew Yuricich or his father.