CGI: Creating Limitless Possibilities in Film
By Rachel Powell, Undeclared, 2022
This article was originally published as part of Issue 40: Wonder.
Responsible for realistic yet extraordinary landscapes, characters, and special effects that frequently populate films of the 21st century, computer-generated imagery, or CGI, has experienced significant technological advancement in the last two decades. The first use of 2D CGI in film can be seen in the movie “Westworld,” which was released in 1973. In 1995, “Toy Story” became the first feature-length film to be completely computer-animated. Today, CGI has become increasingly commonplace in film.
“The major software, hardware, and production breakthroughs over the last five to 10 years have to do with lighting, camerawork and really sophisticated rendering programs that are all physically based,” said Jason Donati, a visiting associate teaching professor at Northeastern University’s College of Arts, Media, and Design and an award winning animator. “They are based on realistic, real-life attributes that traditional cinematographers would use.”
A study presented at the 2015 Multimedia, Interaction, Design and Innovation Conference found that animated characters and human actors in movie excerpts were both perceived as believable by an audience, and Donati attributes this to effective collaboration.
“A director or writer is not hindered like they used to be 20 years ago, where they had an idea but it would be too expensive or way too impossible to create.”
CGI production is a collaborative effort between specialists in animating, modeling, rigging, lighting, particles, and other aspects of the process. Donati said during the filming of a movie, effects artists are “there at the same time as the principal photography, making sure that they understand all the real life technical aspects that are going on,” such as the location of the cameras, the size of the space and light exposure, so they can later recreate them. Overall, this process helps the animated effects fit seamlessly into the scene and the context of the film.
Advancements in CGI production technology and methods have allowed directors and writers to indulge their creativity. The availability of sophisticated, physics-based rendering engines has revolutionized the CGI industry and allowed for the realistic visual effects seen in movies today.
“A director or writer is not hindered like they used to be 20 years ago, where they had an idea but it would be too expensive or way too impossible to create,” Donati said. “Now, the gloves are off, and you don’t have to worry about those things anymore, so it just comes down to good stories and good imagination.”
Multimedia, Interaction, Design and Innovation Conference (2015). DOI: 10.1145/2814464.2814478