Some things just need to be yelled from the top of a mountain top, or perhaps you could just connect a loudspeaker to the top of a minivan and drive around your neighborhood, letting everyone know the truth that way. One of these things to assert is that computer-generated images (CGI) are changing the film industry for the better. Here are 5 key reasons why we believe this is true.
#1 Bring Favorite Characters Back to Life
One of the main reasons we’re so in love with CGI is because it gives us the ability to bring some of our favorite characters back to life. A prime example of this is the CGI resurrection of Peter Cushing’s General Tarkin character in Star Wars Rogue One. Unfortunately, Cushing passed away more than 20 years ago, but thanks to the magic of CGI he had a large part to play in the latest Star Wars movie, and that character helped to create a strong connection between this new movie and the originals. This resurrection certainly had its critics, but we think it was a great decision by director Gareth Edwards to include it.
#2 Create Scenes that Would Otherwise Be Impossible
CGI has been used in movies for a few decades now, but in the past these techniques were only used in the odd scene, and were more of a curiosity than anything else. It wasn’t until Toy Story in 1995 that CGI took center stage. This was the first movie to use CGI for the entire movie, and what a wonderful world the creators of this movie were able to produce. They brought toys to life, reminding us of our childhood and rooting for the characters every step of the way. It may have been a kid’s movie, but every adult I know fell in love with it as well.
#3 Blurring the Lines with Reality
After Toy Story, we started to see major advances in CGI technology, which culminated in one of the greatest cinematic special-effects masterpieces in the history of film, the movie Avatar. James Cameron’s movie spectacle was more than just a curiosity - it brought to life an entire new world and left more than a few movie goers believing in the possibility of life on other worlds. It really did blur the lines between reality and CGI, and it showed us a glimpse of just what we could accomplish with this technology.
#4 Bringing History to Life
In between Toy Story and Avatar there were a few other CGI success stories; one of those was the use of this technology in the movie Pearl Harbor. Most of the amazing battle scenes in this move were created using CGI, but you wouldn’t know it. Until relatively recently, I wasn’t aware of the high-profile role that computer imaging technology played in this movie, but after having the opportunity to watch the movie again I’m even more impressed than I was when I first discovered this fact. Being able to bring great moments in history to life using this technology is something that future movie-going audiences should look forward to with enthusiasm.
#5 They Simply Make Special Effects Better
Finally, the truth is that CGI simply makes special effects better. We can create new worlds, bring old worlds back to life, and make computer-based characters believable. There’s a whole world of possibilities available to creative film makers using CGI technology, and it will be interesting to see what twists and turns they have in store for us next.