by Kyle Kull
The Matrix (1999)
The Wachowski's in 1999 created a science fiction masterpiece, following a man in his discovery and revelation of reality in The Matrix (The Wachowski Brothers, 1999), whose digital special effects catapulted the film industry into the new millennium with a new brand of filmmaking focused around the ability to enhance each picture with layers of imagination.
Avatar (2009)
Ten years later, James Cameron produced the highest grossing cinematic epic of all time, an almost complete visual effects production using CGI (computer generated imagery) where humans compete for minerals on a distant planet with the local alien species called Avatar (James Cameron, 2009). Five years later, some of cinema's most dedicated artists have begun to admit defeat to this powerful and rapidly expanding change.
The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorcese, 2013)
One of the most popular films of 2013, The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorcese, 2013), is simply a biographical film about a man who invades the New York stock exchange, creating a fraudulent empire within the span of a few short years. Usually, a film such as this would prove to have been filmed at least partially on celluloid, especially being directed by such a traditional filmmaker such as Martin Scorcese. However, Scorcese decided to cave to the new film platform and created The Wolf of Wall Street entirely on digital. Even stranger; he shot the entire film on digital 2D, foregoing the opportunity to film in the recently popular 3D. While tactics like these have been used in other films before, where the producers for Wolf broke new ground was in the distribution. The Wolf of Wall Street became the first major film to be distributed completely on digital, rather than the celluloid which was still featured for theaters and others.
To add to these interesting choices by the producers and directors, VFX was extensively used in post-production. CGI was heavily favored, instead of choosing expansive set designs and on-location shooting. See below for a video of how the editors enhanced some of the shots in the film using CGI.
What does this say about the nature of filmmaking in the market today? Now that directors who used to be advocates of the traditional brand of filmmaking have begun to accept digital means of production, this digital revolution needs to be looked at in true seriousness. Given that Wolf used zero celluloid through the entire creation of the film, we see that the original form of filmmaking is actually becoming obsolete, transforming the state of the art into a more modern form. As loyal as filmmakers have been to the authenticity of their work and the past, directors such as Martin Scorcese have accepted cinema's fate, showing that the final bows for the first era of filmmaking have begun.
Scorcese's longtime editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, stated it best when she said, "It would appear that we've lost the battle. I think Marty just feels it's unfortunately over, and there's been no bigger champion of film than him.,
To add to these interesting choices by the producers and directors, VFX was extensively used in post-production. CGI was heavily favored, instead of choosing expansive set designs and on-location shooting. See below for a video of how the editors enhanced some of the shots in the film using CGI.
What does this say about the nature of filmmaking in the market today? Now that directors who used to be advocates of the traditional brand of filmmaking have begun to accept digital means of production, this digital revolution needs to be looked at in true seriousness. Given that Wolf used zero celluloid through the entire creation of the film, we see that the original form of filmmaking is actually becoming obsolete, transforming the state of the art into a more modern form. As loyal as filmmakers have been to the authenticity of their work and the past, directors such as Martin Scorcese have accepted cinema's fate, showing that the final bows for the first era of filmmaking have begun.
Scorcese's longtime editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, stated it best when she said, "It would appear that we've lost the battle. I think Marty just feels it's unfortunately over, and there's been no bigger champion of film than him.,
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