CGI: An Innovative Technology

When watching an action or science fiction movie, it can be expected that CGI is being used to simulate the amazing visuals that everyone is watching on their screen. CGI stands for computer-generated imagery.

In 2009, James Cameron’s Avatar was one of the first movies to be digitally shot and go on to be majorly successful in the box office. The widespread use of realistic CGI paired with recent technological advancements was revolutionary.

Ryan Brown is an art student at Freedom High School that has a particular interest in CGI films.

“Avatar is beautiful. And that’s why I like the CGI in Avatar because it takes things that would be literally impossible to create physically, and then transfers it. Especially with the motion detection for the creatures themselves,” said Brown about the use of CGI in Avatar and how it aided to the development of the story itself.

“It was so good. It’s crazy how they do that. How they can just completely transform people into a whole other thing and it’s so beautiful,” said Becca Laub, a sophomore at FHS.

CGI has improved throughout the years, from animation to fantasy movies. However, now, CGI is sometimes used when not needed or just done poorly, in general. Cats was a movie that was released in 2019 that is notoriously recognized for the poor, rushed CGI of hybrid cat-humans. When CGI is used incorrectly or badly then some- times the credibility of the film can be tarnished.

Brown brings up Thor: Love and Thunder because of the “terrible” CGI effects in the movie regarding the specific hologram scene.

“The whole Marvel Cinematic Universe is definitely one of the most popular. And I feel like that’s a good example of having it devolving over time. Because I really, really liked early MCU movies, but then, by the time endgame rolls around, I feel like if you look up the behind the scenes footage of that. It’s kind of soulless, with a lot of green screens.” said Brown about how CGI can even affect actors in some ways.

Many different techniques are used to perfect the special effects in science fiction, action, and fantasy movies. The most common way that CGI is seen in films is the input of CGI generated images into raw footage of actors. In Jurassic World, all of the dinosaurs were CGI generated while the humans acting were still completely real.

Another set technique that is utilized in movies is stagecraft. Stage craft is a virtual production visual effects technology that uses a huge LED screen to feign the background of the movie so that actors can immerse themselves more into their characters.

“Something that I liked that’s been implemented recently is the use of stagecraft. Which is like a holographic set design piece. So the show, The Mandalori- an kind of pioneered it and then a bunch of movies have used it since,” said Brown when prompted about his favorite CGI technique.

Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Avengers: Endgame were few favorite CGI-revolving movies by Laub and Brown. All of these movies use CGI to further the story, but there are many instances where CGI was not needed or just not done well.

“I think that it’s really cool when it’s done right. I feel like it’s really difficult. It’s a very difficult thing to use with editing. And so when it is achieved, it’s really cool but then if it’s not, it looks weird. Faces are really hard,” said Laub.

CGI will continue to be revolutionary in the future. Further improvements and innovations will be used to create beautiful landscapes and worlds that watchers everywhere can sit down