Weekend Diversion: The new unreality

I saw this “Virtual Backlot Reel” over at Joe.My.God. and was amazed at what they’re able to do with special effects nowadays. Tonight I watched a segment about Weta Digital and the making of “Avatar” on TV One’s “Sunday” programme. They showed how digital effects had progressed from “Lord of the Rings” to “King Kong” and on to “Avatar”, and how medical imaging research played a role.

As I said, what they can now do is truly amazing. No doubt there’ll be all sorts of new and exciting things in the future.

However, it also means that movies and TV shows can be almost entirely fake—shot with special effects and green screen rather than on location. I’m not saying that’s all bad, but maybe some of the immediacy of film may be lost if real locations aren’t used. Yeah, I know none of it’s really “real”, but still.

One thing I thought was particularly interesting in the “Sunday” segment was that as the technology has progressed, the need for actors to perform has increased. Film makers are no longer just creating digital lookalikes of the actors, they’re capturing the actors' actual expressions and gestures. So, even if real places stop being used, real actors are still needed—for now.

It's an amazing world, real or otherwise.