1. #11
    It is very subjective, GL2, and that's why I personally don't agree.

    You may be forgiving of poor special effects, and so will your young son. Neither of you I suspect, have high expectations of special effects IF the story is good.

    But when I watch a movie with my teenage kids and as soon as they see poor special effects then they just laugh out loud.

    Alien was on TV a few months ago. I remember the first time I watched it so many years ago, crapping myself from fright when the monster burst out of John Hurt's belly. Well, my kids were crapping themselves too, but out of laughter! Watch it again and you'll see how bad the effect is compared to what we are now used to in the blood and gore effects.

    Another example is 633 Squadron. The start of the movie is fantastic with real Mosquito's flying through the Glen's of Scotland. Sweet.

    It gets worse with the back screen projections, but still tolerable. But the final battle just completely killed any immersion when the really fake looking plastic models on wires went crashing into papier mache mountains. All the story and character building were completely lost, for me, at that point.
    Share this post

  2. #12
    GL2's Avatar Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Posts
    632


    Remember, I'm not saying good graphics/effects aren't important, I'm just ranking them behind story in terms of their overall importance. Good graphics and cinematography and editing are all very important to a movie. But story is the most important (in my book). Note I'm not saying a good story can save a film that is otherwise deficient in key areas. It's just one element (a very important element) of a film.

    In the instances you cited, Joe, I would submit that you and your kids wouldn't even have been watching those films if the story had sucked. I think all of us have turned off a movie or TV show before because the story didn't interest us. The cinematography and editing in those films were no doubt created by professionals who make films for a living. But if the story didn't appeal to us, we switched it off.

    On the other hand, as your example shows, there are plenty of movies we've watched from start to finish that were lacking in certain areas, such as special effects. Notwithstanding those weaknesses, we watched the film to the very end. In fact, I would bet most of us own on VHS and DVD a number of movies that would fall in that category.

    A film is good or great because it has enough good things going for it. "Things" encompasses an awful lot here. Story is the most important element in a film IMHO, but it's certainly not the only one that is important.
    Share this post

  3. #13
    I'm posting again in this thread for 2 reasons. First...el bumpo I think it is worth some of the newcomers to have a look at the list (if they havn't done so already).

    Second, I don't want to hijack THX's thread

    Nick Ryan, The director of the amazing CGI in Lonely Sky said:
    I tended to avoid moving the camera in any fashion that wouldn't be possible in the real world. With CGI, there is a tendency to fly cameras all over the place, because you can.
    This comes under the poor cinematography category, but merits emphasis.

    I keep seeing again and again, machinima movies where this is a real problem and just screams 'fake'. That's OK if you want a fake look for some reason....

    Otherwise, just keep saying to yourself 'could that shot be done in real life?'. If it couldn't, then don't!
    Share this post

  4. #14
    Heh... I have same specs kinda like Monty-Dan haves as he wroted them in some thread... Same craphics gard oops i mean graphics card and same processor but my RAM is lower than he's... i hope BoB runs smoothly on me, so i dont have to film in IL2 only.

    PS. Joe can you give me hint about new films coming I see you gaming tonight?
    Share this post

  5. #15
    This may be slightly off topic, but a few days ago, I was watching one of the acknowledged classics of IL2 films.

    I've had it for ages, I've watched it many many times ... and yet, suddenly I noticed - not-quite-cut-off-at-the-top-of-the-screen ... "Cheating has been detected".

    I can't believe I never saw that before. So a great film can suck you in so far that you don't even see the immersion killer

    Hat's off to all the movie makers !
    Share this post

  6. #16
    Originally posted by Sturm_Williger:
    This may be slightly off topic, but a few days ago, I was watching one of the acknowledged classics of IL2 films.

    I've had it for ages, I've watched it many many times ... and yet, suddenly I noticed - not-quite-cut-off-at-the-top-of-the-screen ... "Cheating has been detected".

    I can't believe I never saw that before. So a great film can suck you in so far that you don't even see the immersion killer

    Hat's off to all the movie makers !
    What's the name of that movie?
    Share this post

  7. #17
    Add to the list the Destroyed ground objects. You have the explosion then instantly the single frame black destroyed image of that object...always the same, and crappy looking.
    Share this post

  8. #18
    Doolittle81, I sent you a pm...
    Share this post

  9. #19
    Thinking you are limited to IL2 to make a great movie.I don"t make them but I vey much enjoy watching them.The talent here is fantastic!
    One movie that stands out is th one about Robert Johnson w/Half Pint.The INTERIOR view of the B-17 was fantastic!! It really made me feel like I was there,immersion!! Don"t get me wrong, I have seen some great IL2 movies.But I think that raised the bar for the inclusion of other sims to get the desired result.You guys are great and I hope you create many more.Keep raising that bar!!
    Craig
    Share this post

  10. #20
    O really! Cant wait for the first movies made in SoW
    Share this post