Jamie Lee Curtis recently Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Judgments like Curtis' overlook the many unique ways that computer-generated images can be used to enhance a scene.
A filmmaker's primary goal with all visual effects is for the audience to never even consider that what they're looking at isn't real, and CGI is no different. Many films over the years have been able to trick millions into thinking that they are practical pictures when they are in fact littered with computer effects.
Brokeback Mountain
Ang Lee's award-winning western is bursting with beauty in almost every shot, and CGI was used to create a lot of that splendor. He told the BBC that not only were some of the film's backgrounds filled in with a green screen, but digital animals, mountains, clouds, and trees were added to many scenes that were filmed on location.
The illusion is maintained not only by the high quality of the effects but by the fact that they are in the background of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal's dynamic performances that command a lot of attention.
Tag
Jeremy Renner gave his all to this somewhat forgettable comedy. While promoting the movie on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, he humorously tells how he broke both of his arms while filming stunts three days into Tag's production. This required filmmakers to digitally remove his casts from almost every scene in the movie.
Eagle-eyed viewers might be able to spot some scenes where Renner's arms are noticeably synthetic, and challenging friends to see who can spot the most fake-arm shots could lead to one of the more unique drinking games in cinema history.
Forrest Gump
Once one stops to think about it, it makes sense that Forrest's famous historical scenes. More surprising is that The AV Club uncovered a behind-the-scenes clip showing how filmmakers used digital trickery to cover up for leading man Tom Hanks' lack of ability on the ping-pong table.
Computer animators inserted a digital ball into all of Forrest's table tennis scenes, making it so Hanks only needed to blindly swing his paddle while shooting on set. If only it could be so easy in real life!
Les Misérables
Director Tom Hooper broke musical filmmaking conventions when he had his cast of Les Misérables perform their songs live as their scenes were being shot. He detailed to IndieWire how this required each actor to be outfitted with microphones and earpieces, which needed to be digitally removed from every scene in the movie.
The painstaking effort of the film's computer effects artists pays off, creating a grounded film that feels more authentic than musicals with actors lip-syncing pre-recorded songs.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 20th Anniversary Edition
Steven Spielberg couldn't help but tinker with his classic when he released a 20th Anniversary edition of E.T. with several small tweaks achieved through CGI. The most notable addition is at the end of the film: Elliot and E.T. are racing on their bike toward a group of police officers who have had their guns digitally replaced with walkie-talkies.
Talking to ScreenRant, Spielberg said that guns should not be used to stop children on bicycles and that he had been looking forward to the opportunity to correct this mistake.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The Cohen brothers' latest western is the perfect example of when modern filmmaking techniques like CGI are used to recreate classic effects. CNET uncovered before-and-after pictures that prove just how much of the film's vintage visuals were created in a computer.
This kind of old-meets-new approach was recently seen when Buster Scruggs, as this feels like a film that was released during a time when John Wayne still ruled the box office.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Tobey Maguire checks into this 90's cult classic for a quick cameo that caused a massive headache for the filmmakers. On the Criterion Collection DVD commentary, director Terry Gilliam bitterly tells how the crew gave Maguire a digital makeover when the actor refused to change his hairstyle for the role unless the production paid him $15,000.
For a movie almost 25 years old, Maguire's CGI locks look shockingly real - and it's surprising that it's the most expensive digital effect in a scene where the characters are on a drug binge.
Blood Diamond
For such a dark and serious film, Leo's character dying on the African plains.
A CGI tear falls down Connelly's face in a way that will distract anyone that knows about it going in from the intense emotions of this sentimental scene. What's worse, director Ed Zwick explained to The Times of London that Connelly did not even know about the addition to her scene until she watched the movie for the first time.
Fight Club
Fight Club's CGI has aged well and features digital elements like the falling Starbucks cup and exploding apartment. A Huffington Post profile reveals that computer effects are most extensively used in the graphic sex scene between Helena Bohnam-Carter and Brad Pitt.
Creating the scene this way not only allowed the actors to maintain their modesty on set, but it enchases the trippy, distorted reality the filmmakers sought to put to screen.
Zodiac
David Fincher recreates 1970s San Fransisco with so much painstaking detail one would swear he had access to a time machine. Zodiac to really nail its Bay Area setting in a way that does not distract from the story being told.
This is because the effects are both photo-realistic and understated, allowing the viewer to be transported to this terrifying time and place in American history.
