The Dark Knight Cgi Thread

[Vengeance of Bane]

Good CGI in my opinion is when you don't realise that you are looking at CGI. A lot of movie directors especially first time directors on bigbudget movies tend to go overboard and fill their movies with things that they could have archieved in live action. Nolan is obviously a man who knows how to use it so that the movie benifits from it.

 

[BatmanFanatic]

I recall reading somewhere that there WERE a few real bats in that cave (which was of course a set built for the film). But most of them were indeed fake, and your basic points are on-target.

I double checked, you're right. Hey, but I just thought this bit was funny.... t:

=========

Question: Can you talk about the bat scene--about the scene with the bats? How was the scene done?

Christian Bale: The one with the bats swarming around?

Question: Mm-hm.

Christian Bale: Well, that particular scene--ummmm--if I remember correctly there were, uh, eh--absolutely no bats. (All laugh.)

 

[jtfaria]

[/I]
UNALTERED PHOTO

100% CGI Re-built in a computer! Looks more real than the first one!

Again, not to be picky but just to clarify. I think what you are actually seeing in the 'original' photo is the photo under a series of masks. The masks are designed to separate the foreground buildings from the middle-ground building (the one that was retouched) and from the background sky (which apparently was also altered). Those masks, which are important production tools (ask anyone who knows Photoshop), are why the original looks 'artificial' or 'fake'. The masks are used to direct the computer in placing certain effects, such as lighting, or insertions of stills or animation. (Note for example that in the final composited shot, the foreground buildings are dark, but the light coming through the windows look exactly like it does in the original photo - and note that the mask was not applied in those areas.)

 

[metalhead971]

I double checked, you're right. Hey, but I just thought this bit was funny.... t:

=========

Question: Can you talk about the bat scene--about the scene with the bats? How was the scene done?

Christian Bale: The one with the bats swarming around?

Question: Mm-hm.

Christian Bale: Well, that particular scene--ummmm--if I remember correctly there were, uh, eh--absolutely no bats. (All laugh.)

Dude, where the bad place do you find all these Bale interview excerpts?

 

[Mr. Socko]

There was quite a bit of CGI in Batman Begins, but nearly all of it was unnoticeable, and combined with practical effects and model work. That's always the best way to go.

 

[BatmanFanatic]

There was quite a bit of CGI in Batman Begins, but nearly all of it was unnoticeable, and combined with practical effects and model work. That's always the best way to go.

Three cheers for that! =)

 

[bkey]

There was quite a bit of CGI in Batman Begins, but nearly all of it was unnoticeable, and combined with practical effects and model work. That's always the best way to go.

I agree.

 

[BatmanFanatic]

Dude, where the bad place do you find all these Bale interview excerpts?

Well I am a big Bale fan =P Why else would I bother with the steroids thread... the discipline he puts into his work and changing his body for films is a big part of why I respect him so much.

 

[jtfaria]

I double checked, you're right. Hey, but I just thought this bit was funny.... t:

=========

Question: Can you talk about the bat scene--about the scene with the bats? How was the scene done?

Christian Bale: The one with the bats swarming around?

Question: Mm-hm.

Christian Bale: Well, that particular scene--ummmm--if I remember correctly there were, uh, eh--absolutely no bats. (All laugh.)

Bale does seem to love his inside jokes, doesn't he?

 

[metalhead971]

Well I am a big Bale fan =P Why else would I bother with the steroids thread... the discipline he puts into his work and changing his body for films is a big part of why I respect him so much.

I agree. They way he tackles his roles off screen makes him much more compelling on screen. I recently was surfing through the channels and came across a movie starring him called "All the Little Animals." I only caught it half way, and I couldn't bring myself to change the channel just cuz he's so freakin awesome. It's kinduva weird movie, but you should check it out if you haven't already.

 

[jsf]

Mr. Thau!

.... LOLOLOLOL




I like the fact that there will be little cgi used to create the film as opposed to enhanceing it. Im just stoked that there is only 6 more months

 

[BatmanFanatic]

I agree. They way he tackles his roles off screen makes him much more compelling on screen. I recently was surfing through the channels and came across a movie starring him called "All the Little Animals." I only caught it half way, and I couldn't bring myself to change the channel just cuz he's so freakin awesome. It's kinduva weird movie, but you should check it out if you haven't already.

Thanks I will!

 

[ChickenScratch]

I love the use of CG in BB and hope it's kept up in the new one. Effects should be done in camera where possible and with minatures where possible too. CGI should be a last resort or help enhance what was already done. Batman, Bourne, Bond, Indiana Jones, old school 80's action movies, that's hwo I love my effects.

 

[jtfaria]

That's actually part of my argument for why I respect what Tim Burton did so much. He didn't have CGI... so yah, a lot of stuff looked completely weird like Batmans wings springing out with actual springs in Returns...

Yeah, I remember when those 'batwings' sprung out and kind of bounced around for a sec like the rubber fakey things they were. He was supposed to look prepared for anything but mostly he looked a little goofy. And then, when he hit the ground and rolled, they just vanished like they were never there. (As if!) But of course it's true, that's what Burton, or any filmmaker, had to work with at that time.

I'll tell you though, take a look sometime at how Blade Runner achieved its effects, well before CGI. Those effects were nothing less than revolutionary in their time, and they mostly still hold up today. Ridley Scott was just not taking 'it can't be done' for an answer.

 

[BatmanFanatic]

Yeah, I remember when those 'batwings' sprung out and kind of bounced around for a sec like the rubber fakey things they were. He was supposed to look prepared for anything but mostly he looked a little goofy. And then, when he hit the ground and rolled, they just vanished like they were never there. (As if!) But of course it's true, that's what Burton, or any filmmaker, had to work with at that time.

I'll tell you though, take a look sometime at how Blade Runner achieved its effects, well before CGI. Those effects were nothing less than revolutionary in their time, and they mostly still hold up today. Ridley Scott was just not taking 'it can't be done' for an answer.

Have I ever mentioned I think of Ridley Scott as a complete film genius? Oh I havent? Now I have =)

 

[Jonathan Crane]

Batman, Bourne, Bond, Indiana Jones, old school 80's action movies, that's hwo I love my effects.

http://www.dneg.com/projects/the_bourne_ultimatum_65.html

 

[jtfaria]

Have I ever mentioned I think of Ridley Scott as a complete film genius? Oh I havent? Now I have =)

Oh yes, he has got to be one of the top half dozen greatest directors who ever lived. I do not feel he has ever been properly recognized as such. He's one of those guys, like Spielberg and Welles and Hitchcock, that others study and copy. A standard setter. Every sci-fi film after Blade Runner owes something to that film. Alien was copied in other horror films for years. He sets standards in all aspects of his films, from look-and-feel to his framing of the stories he tells, and he completely captures the viewer.

 

[escobar2248]

WIth CGI, it all depends on the artists. I Am Legend's CGI was absolutely horrible.

I thought that they pulled off Transformers flawlessly. One thing I have noticed is that the higher quality the disk (Blu-Ray) the easier it is to tell the CGI.

Question: Is green screen considered CGI?

 

[Cowleen]

I want to have someone go through this thread and count how many times Mr Thau is mentioned.

 

[bkey]

Question: Is green screen considered CGI?

I believe so

 

[strikezone89]

well just think guys if we get loads of cgi we could get that great look transformers had

 

[BatmanFanatic]

Question: Is green screen considered CGI?

CGI stands for Computer Generated ... so I guess it depends what your using the green screen for. A green screen is removed in editing and something else is placed in... but if you're placing in a location built from models where the green screen used to be I would not call that CGI. They did that back in the original Star Wars. But if you are replacing the green part with a computer generated city (in Batman Begins everything you see out the windows of the subway while Ra and Bats fight is CGI...those windows were greened out durring filming) then yah, that would be a CGI effect.

 

[BatmanFanatic]

well just think guys if we get loads of cgi we could get that great look transformers had

You mean in TDK?

 

[escobar2248]

well just think guys if we get loads of cgi we could get that great look transformers had

Grow up. I'm not a film graphics expert by anymeans, but considering what they had to do with all of the intricate parts of the robots, I thought that they pulled it off and it was done considerably well compared to the crap that was in I Am Legend.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

well just think guys if we get loads of cgi we could get that great look transformers had

or the great plot, btw