Practical Verus CGI

I love a good sic-fi film like the Alien series, The Thing, Predator, and Star Wars just to name a few. What viewers may not realize in most of these films that the special effects are a mix of practical effects and CGI. This video by CRACKED interviewed Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis of Amalgamated Dynamics.  They touch on the debate on CGI vrs. practical. I prefer a combination of both but at times practical can look better, for instance Jurassic Park that was primarily puppets and had very little CGI. Aliens 3 on the other hand was very CGI heavy and as a result the reviews were not favorable. AVP though, returned to a more practical filming of the Aliens and Predator fighting and that was personally a better film. Woodruff and Gillis also touched on how studios are pushing for more CGI effects and less practical. The video takes a good look in the debate and industry perspective.  

After Effects? What about good ol' Practical Effects?

 

What did we do before the wonders of After Effects and post production possibilities? Directors and film-makers alike used what's known as Practical Effects! Practical effects are basically special effects done in real life. So what that means is, if you want a head to explode, you need to find a way to make something look like a head, stuff it with blood and guts, and actually explode it in front of a camera.

It takes a certain amount of creativity and know-how to get some of these special effects done, but when they're done, man do they look good. There's something about practical effects that just leaves viewers with a lasting impression. After watching the stomach teeth scene from The Thing (#1 in the top 10 video above), I don't think it would look as disgusting and horrifying if it were done in post-production. While practical effects are becoming less and less common, I think they should still have a place in movies today.

Stan Winston Interview

Just a really short interview with the VFX master Stan Winston. He designed the creatures in films such as Jurassic Park (1993), Terminator 2 (1991), Aliens (1986), Predator (1987), The Thing (1982), and the list literally goes on and on. He used traditional puppets and animatronics as opposed to CGI which wasn't available at the time. I still think his work looks exponentially better than anything that's put out today. He also won four academy awards. Booyah.

Below is an example of his work from The Thing. Oh it's too good.