Go see Shrek 2 when it is released on May 19 – it is stunning.
I love movies and i often see them opening night. When given the opportunity, i love going to movie premiers. Of course, the only movie premiers that i’m ever invited to are the ones with computer graphics in them. This doesn’t bother me because i love an audience full of geeks and/or animators. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the geek premier of Shrek 2. I admit, i was a little worried because a sequel is often horrifying. But, omg, i was totally impressed.
Not only is the storyline better than the last round (deeper connections to fairie tales, more nuanced relationships, greater opportunity for multiple textual readings), but the graphics just took another leap forward. I’ve never seen hair look so good, the lighting in particular; it’s starting to look actually porous. Speaking of porous, the skin, oh the skin. It’s been nine years since the baby in Toy Story scared us all into thinking that CG and humans were not meant to go together. PDI really took that baton and the increased improvement in skin makes all the difference. The subtle details really come through. Take pupil dilation – there’s so much information in pupil dilation.
This is not to say that it’s perfect – there are definitely flaws and room for improvement. But i’m definitely impressed. Of course, i will never forget what Ed Catmull told me when i was starting to work in computer graphics, roughly: “The CG may be great, but without a good storyline, the CG doesn’t matter.” In Shrek 2, the graphics just fade into the background.
Anyhow, definitely go see it opening weekend. (Remember: opening weekend box office receipts are often what determines the duration of the movie and they’re a really important indicator of support to the creators.)
Hey,I’m 32 and not ashamed to admit-I liked Shrek! Funny and clever. If 2 is half as good as danah says it is I’m there!
I see what time it is
But am I bitter? Why yes, yes I am. Thank you for asking.
shrek 2 rocks da house
The fredshouse crew went over to PDI/DreamWorks tonight to see Shrek 2, and w00t, it rocked! You can go read the reviews if you like, they are mostly very positive, but take my advice and go see it this weekend….
Topic for a future post: how soon until the Production phase is dead?
For the last hundred years, people made movies by spending lots of time in preproduction (assembling all the logistics of making a movie: writing screenplay, signing actors, building sets, etc). The chief reason for this is that production–the actual filming of the movie–is prohibitively expensive; everything needs to be planned precisely before the cameras start rolling. Filmmakers frequently shoot coverage which during production may seem unnecessary (my favorite example: prolonged shots of people’s backs as they walk down corridors) because they know all too well that, in post-production, having some extra footage onto which they can slam a little dialogue may save them some IMMENSE cost and headaches.
But with the advent of CGI, is the production phase coming to be irrelevant? No sets need to be built, actors are needed only for voice work, and ANYthing can be changed in post-production. Obviously we’re not all the way there (to the best of my knowledge, “Final Fantasy” is the only CGI movie that really tried to look like live-action, with mixed results), but we’re getting closer.
Another link in the chain is that “Sky Commander” movie coming out this summer, in which no actual sets were built. If it’s successful, we’ll be one step closer. I think that, once a successful, “realistic” movie is made entirely using CGI, CGI production will rapidly become the standard because financially and logistically, it’s going to become an awful lot easier to deal with than traditional filmmaking.
Dear Danah;
I came across your URL, quite by accident, and glad that I did.
Your interest in general public’s adjustment to presentation of themselves, is perhaps amongst the oldest matters of contemplation.
I shall follow your work closely, as it reminds me so much of my days at oxford. It is a shame that we did not have access to “instant presentation of ourselves” on a global scale, then. This brings me to another point to contemplate upon, and that is;
“Our technological advances with its enormous socioeconomic impact, only started since the discovery of electrical energy, say 100 years or so, ago. Why didn’t the human race achieve such steep rate of advancement during, let’s say pervious 5000 years?”…It will help you, I hope, with your research.
Sleep tight, and keep away from those Tangerine drinks…
Best of luck.
Sia Manzarpour PhD.
Toronto, Canada
Dear Danah;
I came across your URL, quite by accident, and glad that I did.
Your interest in general public’s adjustment to presentation of themselves, is perhaps amongst the oldest matters of contemplation.
I shall follow your work closely, as it reminds me so much of my days at oxford. It is a shame that we did not have access to “instant presentation of ourselves” on a global scale, then. This brings me to another point to contemplate upon, and that is;
“Our technological advances with its enormous socioeconomic impact, only started since the discovery of electrical energy, say 100 years or so, ago. Why didn’t the human race achieve such steep rate of advancement during, let’s say pervious 5000 years?”…It will help you, I hope, with your research.
Sleep tight, and keep away from those Tangerine drinks…
Best of luck.
Sia Manzarpour PhD.
Toronto, Canada
If you thought the Toy Story baby was bad, check out the one in Pixar’s own Tin Toy… http://www.pixar.com/shorts/tt/
shrek 2 rocks da house
The fredshouse crew went over to PDI/DreamWorks tonight to see Shrek 2, and w00t, it rocked! You can go read the reviews if you like, they are mostly very positive, but take my advice and go see it this weekend….
thanks for this information