Picture Perfect

Animation and visual effects are the toast of the moment. And the rush is to make them more real. But this is what bugs me. Crazy? Wait until you get around my way of thinking.

For years, directors have been banging their heads on getting the visuals perfect and mind you, some of them are stunning (the visuals that is….) and producers have been spending the moolah. But is it worth the trouble? I had to do a lot of soul-searching before finally deciding to write, because I know this piece will open a Pandora’s Box. What I think is- you can’t perfect what you don’t know. Everybody knows that Super-Man flies, but nobody has SEEN him flying.

SO, should we stop visual-effects? Of course not. These guys do a great job and totally rock. I am a big fan of such movies as well. I know many would fancy kicking me at the moment but they have two reasons to do otherwise- (a) They should give the idea a second (and thorough) thought and (b) The internet shall not house physical-touch (or kick) technology until the second dot com revolution.

Coming back to point, it is neither the quantity nor the quality, but the entity that brings forth the true brilliance and vividness. So it is not the humongous force-fields or giant alien tin-nutcrackers kicking human butt, but little tweaks here and there that are etched in the memory forever. The 3-D Dumbledore card in first of the Harry Potter movie series is one of my personal favorites.

I would love to see a director make a movie which is full of such tweaks instead of larger than life sequences. It’s all about being within you and still trying to outdo yourself. It’s about stitching together a beautiful picture instead of buying one. I am sure it would be a huge hit.

It’s easier said than done, but it is surely worth a try. Isn’t it?

I would love to know what you think. (The ones who wish to kick may consider reading the piece again.)