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seraiWatching the Superman Returns trailer, I've finally pinpointed something that bugs me about the CGI work I've been seeing over the last few years. There's an unreality to it that goes past simply knowing that it's fake, something about the form itself. I've figured it out.
It's the light. Most CGI movies have settled into this icy greyish light that is frankly unnatural. Sunlight does not look like that. Sunlight is vibrant and aggressive; it clearly gives life. This CGI light is cool and chilly; it seems to sap life, or at least overlay it with frost. It's strange, because the goal so clearly seems to be convincing the audience that the scene is real, and yet the lighting makes that impossible, since no day looks like that. It looks more like what moonlight would be like, were it much much stronger. (There is one moment in the trailer where Superman is in the sky in the midst of a sunset, and the light that strikes his hand has some of the hot power of real sunlight. This serves to contrast sharply with that other, more rarified light.)
I first saw this light in the trailers for Sky Captain in the World of Tomorrow, a film that boasted being the first ever not to have any sets at all, a completely greenscreen film. And it looked extremely unreal, albeit on purpose. It shows up in Return of the King, where the idea seemed to be that we are watching scenes that are faded by time, much like old frescoes.
Thus the look is interesting in films that treat with mythic themes, films that are creating imaginary worlds. And yet in a movie like Superman, I'd like to feel as if I'm really there, and that strange silvery lighting keeps me at a step removed. I'm not saying I won't be engaged by the film, but just that I wonder if CGI artists will push towards more realistic lighting techniques, or whether they'll opt to have their own look which distinguishes their work from footage shot in real light. It'll be interesting to see where that goes.
/ranbling
It's the light. Most CGI movies have settled into this icy greyish light that is frankly unnatural. Sunlight does not look like that. Sunlight is vibrant and aggressive; it clearly gives life. This CGI light is cool and chilly; it seems to sap life, or at least overlay it with frost. It's strange, because the goal so clearly seems to be convincing the audience that the scene is real, and yet the lighting makes that impossible, since no day looks like that. It looks more like what moonlight would be like, were it much much stronger. (There is one moment in the trailer where Superman is in the sky in the midst of a sunset, and the light that strikes his hand has some of the hot power of real sunlight. This serves to contrast sharply with that other, more rarified light.)
I first saw this light in the trailers for Sky Captain in the World of Tomorrow, a film that boasted being the first ever not to have any sets at all, a completely greenscreen film. And it looked extremely unreal, albeit on purpose. It shows up in Return of the King, where the idea seemed to be that we are watching scenes that are faded by time, much like old frescoes.
Thus the look is interesting in films that treat with mythic themes, films that are creating imaginary worlds. And yet in a movie like Superman, I'd like to feel as if I'm really there, and that strange silvery lighting keeps me at a step removed. I'm not saying I won't be engaged by the film, but just that I wonder if CGI artists will push towards more realistic lighting techniques, or whether they'll opt to have their own look which distinguishes their work from footage shot in real light. It'll be interesting to see where that goes.
/ranbling
