CGI has changed the way that we watch and enjoy movies, that's for certain. From rolling, raging fireballs to magnificent, unfolding Transformers, from the magnificent bluescreen antics of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow to the acres of ships and fields of men in Troy, our cinematic worlds have been transformed into rolling moments of awe and wonder. No longer would we have to sit through moments of questionable doubt when matte work, planes on string and miniature ships in a tub substituted for "the real thing". Now we have space ships, mythological creatures and unsqibbed violence enhanced and pixelated in ways that exceed even the most outlandish child's imagination. It is a fantastic universe out there now, nothing like the world has ever seen, and doubtly, ever will.
But I have to admit that while I enjoy those wild, awe inspiring popcorn fueled computer generated thrills, I really enjoy watching the old school antics of people, vast numbers of people, populating the screen in epics that required "casts of thousands". Why did we need to see all those people up on the screen back in the day, when now, apparently, we don't need to see them at all? Was it just that we were more in tune to the masses of humanity because we were out and about in them? Were we more connected, more fascinated by what those poor souls had "live" through in those movies because, for want of better word, if not for the grace of God go I? Those stand-ins, those extras, those masses of humanity milling about in market places, charging the walls, being wiped out in the thousands by earthquakes, tidal waves and radioactive dinosaurs, all took the heat for us. In the big house, on the big screen, we saw ourselves up there, part of the faceless masses, just another sizzling body on the beach, just another nameless man or woman going about our business. We were part of that Cast of Thousands. We were uncredited players as much as they were, and through them, for a moment, we could live in that movie, too.
I watched The Pride and the Passion this morning, another one of Stanley Kramer's magnificent artifacts out of Old Hollywood. The story was literary and solid, based on the old Forester novel The Gun. The key actors, Cary Grant as the naval captain, Frank Sinatra at the Spanish resistance leader (!) and Sophia Loren as the love interest were fun to watch and easy on the eyes. But it was the large set pieces, the ones that pitted the cast against the wide screen, that were special. It wasn't enough for a small band of warriors and misfits to drag a giant cannon across all of Spain, they had to do it with dozens and dozens of extras. And then, just when you thought the screen was padded out just so, they threw in a siege of a castle city and imported thousands more to take the walls. I can only imagine the thrill of that scene on the big screen, five or so rows back, cannons roaring, explosions going off, people by the hundreds streaming for the breech in the wall. It would have been overwhelming, a real "You are There" moment.
I love my computer generated imagery like the next film head, but when I really want to connect with humanity I'll drag out some old piece of Hollywood. I can't imagine the barroom brawl in Destry Rides Again done on computer any more than I could the earthquake scene in Clark Gable's San Francisco. Sometimes we need to know that somewhere out there an extra did his duty for us, lived our lives for a moment on some field in merry olde England or on some unnamed tropical isle or in some faceless city, before all hell broke loose. Better him than me, jack. Yeah, I have and will continue to be happy to pay a nickle to see that.
Action!
Nice story about the cannon, the real star of the film!
http://www.shivakalpa.org/johnp/cannons/
But I have to admit that while I enjoy those wild, awe inspiring popcorn fueled computer generated thrills, I really enjoy watching the old school antics of people, vast numbers of people, populating the screen in epics that required "casts of thousands". Why did we need to see all those people up on the screen back in the day, when now, apparently, we don't need to see them at all? Was it just that we were more in tune to the masses of humanity because we were out and about in them? Were we more connected, more fascinated by what those poor souls had "live" through in those movies because, for want of better word, if not for the grace of God go I? Those stand-ins, those extras, those masses of humanity milling about in market places, charging the walls, being wiped out in the thousands by earthquakes, tidal waves and radioactive dinosaurs, all took the heat for us. In the big house, on the big screen, we saw ourselves up there, part of the faceless masses, just another sizzling body on the beach, just another nameless man or woman going about our business. We were part of that Cast of Thousands. We were uncredited players as much as they were, and through them, for a moment, we could live in that movie, too.
I watched The Pride and the Passion this morning, another one of Stanley Kramer's magnificent artifacts out of Old Hollywood. The story was literary and solid, based on the old Forester novel The Gun. The key actors, Cary Grant as the naval captain, Frank Sinatra at the Spanish resistance leader (!) and Sophia Loren as the love interest were fun to watch and easy on the eyes. But it was the large set pieces, the ones that pitted the cast against the wide screen, that were special. It wasn't enough for a small band of warriors and misfits to drag a giant cannon across all of Spain, they had to do it with dozens and dozens of extras. And then, just when you thought the screen was padded out just so, they threw in a siege of a castle city and imported thousands more to take the walls. I can only imagine the thrill of that scene on the big screen, five or so rows back, cannons roaring, explosions going off, people by the hundreds streaming for the breech in the wall. It would have been overwhelming, a real "You are There" moment.
I love my computer generated imagery like the next film head, but when I really want to connect with humanity I'll drag out some old piece of Hollywood. I can't imagine the barroom brawl in Destry Rides Again done on computer any more than I could the earthquake scene in Clark Gable's San Francisco. Sometimes we need to know that somewhere out there an extra did his duty for us, lived our lives for a moment on some field in merry olde England or on some unnamed tropical isle or in some faceless city, before all hell broke loose. Better him than me, jack. Yeah, I have and will continue to be happy to pay a nickle to see that.
Action!
Nice story about the cannon, the real star of the film!
http://www.shivakalpa.org/johnp/cannons/
Total popcorn flick: review of The Pride and the Passion:
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