Ask HN: Why is CGI been so bad in the past 2 years?

2 points by dham 4y ago ↗ HN

I just got out of the new Dr Strange movie and the CGI is the worse I've ever seen. I just don't know or understand what is happening. Is it all related to Covid? Is complicated tools plaguing the movie industry like it is web development? As we progress further, websites are getting worse.

Spider Man No Way Home looked really bad in quite a few spots. Just simple things like a person on a green screen look bad. It's been taking me out of movies recently. It's like no one is on location anymore. I saw a trailer for the new Jurassic Park and it seems like where there in the desert just talking is on a green screen.

I rewatched the first Avengers (2012) movie just to make sure I'm not going crazy and it looks 100x better. I can't even tell it's CGI in some of the city scenes.

Can't wait for the new Top Gun to get out of this CGI hell that's happening.

4 comments

[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 18.0 ms ] thread

Geonode 4y ago ↗

I haven't seen those movies but there's an unprecedented amount of work happening and not enough artists. Deadlines stay the same, so getting it finished at any cost is what gets the check cut.

A majority of people will never notice as they throw back popcorn and slurp soda, unfortunately.

hindsightbias 4y ago ↗

The effects just follow the plot, dialog and character development. Since they are all crap, the effects should be the same.

Nolan took it to another level in Tenet for dialog/audio. Just make it unintelligble, and you don’t have to worry about a script.

uejfiweun 4y ago ↗

Haha. I've watched Tenet 3 separate times now and I STILL couldn't tell you what really happens in that movie. A car driving backwards on the highway? And other cars driving forwards but in the same direction at the same speed, but going back in time, and throwing briefcases to each other? Shit makes approximately zero sense to me.

uejfiweun 4y ago ↗

I've noticed this too. Recently rewatched the LOTR trilogy and it just looked so good, so realistic. Then I saw the trailer for the new Avatar movie, and holy shit, it straight up looked like video game graphics. I think this is part of the general phenomenon of just major degrades in quality across all industries during COVID. Hate to say it but my guess is it'll probably take a major recession to whip our society back into shape.