The arrival of Minority Report and a review by Roger Ebert have prompted me to discuss an issue of concern to the future of film, an issue that finds itself on perfect display this summer. No, it's not the issue of digital video vs. film, which is certainly an argument for another time (I still come down on the film side of that argument, at least for larger productions ... digital video has been an incredible avenue for more independent filmmakers to get their visions on screen for a far cheaper cost) ... no,
I want to discuss an issue which has concerned me for the past couple of years, and it really started with The Phantom Menace in 1999. And that's the issue of the continued emergence of computer enhanced images for films, and how they have moved out of the realm of just enhancing visual effects into the realm of actually replacing physical sets and actually creating digital characters in what would normally be a live action film.
In his review and discussions on Minority Report, film critic Roger Ebert mentioned that in an interview with Steven Spielberg, he mentioned one particular shot in the new film that he initially thought to do by computer, an overhead shot of a huge set. He instead stated that he decided to build the set, and commented later that there is something about an actual physical set with something for the actors to react to. And I think he has a good point.
The new hit Scooby-Doo shows how far we have come, where the entire main character of Scooby-Doo is a computer generated dog acting amongst real humans. George Lucas is probably the best example of the director who has taken the new technology to its absolute fullest ... the two new Star Wars films, Episode I and II, are more like animated films than live action films, as practically everything is computer generated, from the illogically humongous sets and hordes of stormtroopers to the characters of Watto, Jar Jar Binks, and almost every other creature that strolls across the screen. Even the puppet of Yoda is gone, as Episode II brought us a new all digital Yoda, taking one of the Star Wars trilogy's most endearing characters and making him a complete digital creation. If you see any of the behind the scenes materials on the making of these new Star Wars films, you see that the actors act almost entirely alone surrounded by blue screen. Is it possible that perhaps this new technology is taking something away from film?
