I'm watching Dante's Peak (1997), a volcano flick starring Pierce Brosnan.
The colours are just so wonderful -- it's like being outside in real nature.
Whereas with modern movies things seem really washed out. The filming is crisp, and the composition is usually good, but it feels like you're living in a claustrophobic world. Modern movies feel a lot like living in 1984.
Is this the difference between film/digital? Or are people choosing different colour palates?
Was watching some stuff about this the other night. And I think I agree. Modern CG got a lot better at things like lighting and texture mapping. But it losing the novelty and becoming overused meant that it wasn't getting the same love and autistic attention to detail in each shot.
If you gave the teams from some of those 90s the tools from today, they'd blow modern stuff out of the water. The limitations made them master the tools and innovate. Now it's just hammer and all of filmmaking looks a nail.
well, a big part of the problem is CGI works better in certain circumstances than it does in others. It's a specialized tool, but filmmakers often treat it like a swiss army knife.
Put it this way; if you wanted to dig a hole in your backyard to plant something, could you use an ax? Absolutely. Would it be easier than doing so by hand? Probably. Would I ever advise you to do so? Hell no, get a shovel and save your back. save the ax for chopping wood.
It's the same with CGI. It's absolutely fantastic under certain circumstances when it's used properly, but there are other circumstances where another tool would work much better. We call most of these other tools practical effects. Make up, prosthetics, animatronics, sugar glass, physical props, lighting, all work better under the right circumstances and are often cheaper than depending on CGI.
That's not to say CGI can't be front-row center under the right conditions, look at avatar, fantastically beautiful movie in no small part due to the CGI, and (even if you hate the story) the Green Lantern movie, where the CGI actually worked for the costumes and effects, but often times, CG just looks out of place, because it's the wrong tool for the job.
also, thank you for attending my Ted Talk, lmao.