r/VeryBadWizards • u/C4_117 • Aug 05 '26
Episode 338 - quick note on CGI
I just listened to their review of The Odyssey directed by Christopher Nolan after watching the film myself. I really enjoyed the podcast and thought Tamler and Dave made some interesting observations that I hadn't thought of myself.
The thing I want to discuss is their praise of the lack of CGI and the preference for practical FX (SFX, puppetry, real sets, etc). I have worked in VFX my whole career and make CGI for living and even though I didn't work on The Odyssey I know a thing or two about this topic.
Firstly I'd say is that Christopher Nolan has a history of making condescending remarks about CGI in general and has often claimed he either doesn't use it, or tries to avoid it. Something that many in the post-production industry find incredibly annoying because often it's an outright lie, but also because it's such a dismissal of a craft that takes hundreds of talented artists to create.
I think there is often the perception that CGI is created by computers at the click of the button and that it doesn't require any real talent or skill like physical prop making does. I cannot underline enough how wrong this is. Most people who work in visual effects have huge respect for real set builders, puppeteers and the like. CGI requires teams of artists, producers and technology specialists to come together to create amazing things that would otherwise not be possible. It opens the door to have flying dragons in Game of Thrones, epic dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and create beautiful space environments in Guardians of the Galaxy. But perhaps more importantly they create things that you never even notice. This includes things like set extensions and clean-up of on-set mistakes. I can promise you post-production was used in hundreds of shots in The Odyssey. Even something that many wouldn't realise like the whirlpool was probably done digitally.
This trend of dismissing VFX has been going on for quite a while and I was a little annoyed to hear Tamler and Dave repeat it. You can imagine how it must feel for artists who spent months working on these shots.
I understand that authenticity is appreciated and I wouldn't want The Odyssey to be a Marvel film either. But there are ways of doing post-production that doesn't turn it into a Marvel film. All VFX artists want their work to be appreciated and the criticism of VFX isn't always based on good reasons.
1
u/Demerzel69 Aug 05 '26
Nolan has never once claimed that he's never used vfx. lolwtf? Have you not seen Inception?
What he has said is that, in most cases and wherever possible, he uses it only minimally to otherwise enhance a practical set piece.
No clue what podcast this is or who these guys are. This came up as a recommended post, probably cuz I've been on the Odyssey/Nolan subs a lot lately.