Hollywood’s obsession with CGI is slowly removing what makes movies feel human. CGI (which stands for a computer-generated image) has gone from a fascinating style of visual effects designed to push the boundaries for moviemaking to the crux of all big budget movies.
As technology has advanced, unfortunately CGI use has gotten worse. One of the best uses of CGI was in a film that’s nearly 20 years old. In 2006, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” introduced audiences to Davy Jones, a villain with a malformed cephalopod right hand, a giant crab claw for a left hand and a moving tentacle beard. Years later, Jones still looks more believable than the most recent CGI characters created by filmmakers with access to significantly more advanced technology. This is not because CGI has become worse over time, but rather, filmmakers are being pushed to incorporate more CGI and cut practical effects.
Originally, CGI was designed to enhance movies by creating effects that would be impossible to do in real life. It worked best when CGI was treated like a decorative coat of paint on top of a strong structure created through practical effects. Today, many studios use CGI to shortcut and replace those practical elements, which in turn creates movies that feel artificial and lack human emotion and ingenuity. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” does an excellent job of staying grounded through many practical effects and being filmed on actual ships and on real beaches. Davy Jones may be all CGI, but Bill Nighy, the actor who played him, was, like the world around him, completely real.
One of the consequences of the overuse of CGI is entering the “uncanny valley.” The concept describes the portrayal of humans in a way that feels off. Oftentimes, movies fall into the uncanny valley if they look too perfect or clean. For example, “The Polar Express” falls into the uncanny valley because everything is equally lit throughout nearly all of the movie, many objects lack in-depth shadows and no one has realistic skin.
Skin is one of the most complex things to animate through CGI. Our skin stretches, shrinks, moves and changes color; all of that needs to be individually animated for something as simple as waving your arm. According to the Los Angeles Film School, the best way to stay out of the uncanny valley is to not try to recreate humans through CGI and to instead hide as much skin as possible when creating characters by using CGI.
The creators of Davy Jones understood the dangers of CGI and the uncanny valley and applied this knowledge to Jones’s design. Our brains aren’t subconsciously telling us that Jones looks off because he does not look like a recreation of a human. He was a human, but now he’s damned to captain the Flying Dutchman for eternity and has been cursed by the sea. Above all, Jones is designed to look realistic, but in no way does he look real. Besides his slimy octopus beard and right hand, Jones’ skin is completely hidden under many layers of soggy jackets, seaweed and other clothes.
Compare this to Marvel CGI-filled ‘blockbusters’ such as “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania,” released in 2023. It feels like every guideline for how and when to use CGI was thrown out the window. From filming over 90% of the runtime in front of a green screen, to having a character like M.O.D.O.K., who is almost entirely skin and looks comically terrible, it is an extreme example of CGI overuse. The troubles with the production did not stop with CGI, perhaps pointing to a general lack of vision guiding the film. “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” was rushed and reshot, with the entire ending of the film changed, using CGI, mere months before release. Every bit of the movie displays exactly how to not use CGI in filmmaking.
Filmmakers, and the corporations that fund them, should stop treating CGI as a replacement for practical filmmaking. CGI shouldn’t be discarded; it should just be used wisely to enhance, and not generate movies.
