The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[mickEblu]

Star Wars died. Marvel will die. What's the next big trend?

Speaking of Marvel, saw Infinity War for the the first time last night on Netflix. Well half, the first half I saw on Sunday night. I actually enjoyed it despite not knowing a lot of the back stories. It was fun and had a good pace to it. I found the action sequences enjoyable unlike the 45 minute explosion after explosion that you get in other action movies like the last few Transformers. Now I need to rent End Game.

 

[mickEblu]

Also some of those villains are really damn cool/scary looking. The dude who looks like Skeletor/ Grim reaper, the evil looking Navi warrior lady, and the frog/fish looking Alien who freezes to death in Space at the hands of Iron Man and Spider-Man are all designed very well.

 

[TROR]

Also some of those villains are really damn cool/scary looking. The dude who looks like Skeletor/ Grim reaper, the evil looking Navi warrior lady, and the frog/fish looking Alien who freezes to death in Space at the hands of Iron Man and Spider-Man are all designed very well.

Agreed. I only wish the characters were accomplished with make up and prosthetics instead of CGI.

 

[mickEblu]

And dare say I enjoyed it more as a whole than every Star Wars movie made by Disney not named Force Awakens.

 

[mickEblu]

Agreed. I only wish the characters were accomplished with make up and prosthetics instead of CGI.

True but it’s some pretty damn good CGI.

 

[socalifornian]

Well half, the first half I saw on Sunday night.

Perfectly balanced, as all things should be

 

[Disney Irish]

Agreed. I only wish the characters were accomplished with make up and prosthetics instead of CGI.

Its hard to do a lot of that with makeup and prosthetics and make it look that realistic without 6+ hours in a makeup chair.

Also no director (or actor for that matter) wants to have their actors sitting in a makeup chair for 6 or more hours wasting valuable shooting time.

I know people in the industry that create a lot of the masks that get used on these type of films. Its not easy and not cheap.

 

[Disney Irish]

Perfectly balanced, as all things should be

Where did the rest of your post go, I was about to comment on it...

 

[TROR]

Its hard to do a lot of that with makeup and prosthetics and make it look that realistic without 6+ hours in a makeup chair.

Also no director (or actor for that matter) wants to have their actors sitting in a makeup chair for 6 or more hours wasting valuable shooting time.

I know people in the industry that create a lot of the masks that get used on these type of films. Its not easy and not cheap.

Movies aren't supposed to be easy and cheap.

 

[socalifornian]

Where did the rest of your post go, I was about to comment on it...

It was old and I didn’t want it

 

[Disney Irish]

It was old and I didn’t want it

Well it was an interesting thought. I wish Disney would purchase the WarnerMedia catalog of old Miller-Boyett shows.

 

[Disney Irish]

Movies aren't supposed to be easy and cheap.

Interesting, we complain because of their ever expanding budgets, but yet you want them to spend more. And then wonder why ticket prices go up.

 

[Mac Tonight]

Speaking of Marvel, saw Infinity War for the the first time last night on Netflix. Well half, the first half I saw on Sunday night. I actually enjoyed it despite not knowing a lot of the back stories. It was fun and had a good pace to it. I found the action sequences enjoyable unlike the 45 minute explosion after explosion that you get in other action movies like the last few Transformers. Now I need to rent End Game.

Told you!

I'm wracking my brain to think of a scene in recent cinema that's more epic than Thor's arrival in Wakanda.

 

[socalifornian]

Well it was an interesting thought. I wish Disney would purchase the WarnerMedia catalog of old Miller-Boyett shows.

Oh, thanks! Yours is interesting too. Hollywood has been going through a push for ownership of the content they air

 

[TROR]

Interesting, we complain because of their ever expanding budgets, but yet you want them to spend more. And then wonder why ticket prices go up.

Fair point, but I'll counter by saying Infinity War is a massive blockbuster that was destined for success. No need to try to cut costs. A smaller film or something that's not a sure hit? Yeah, cut costs. There's no reason for something like Alita to have cost $200 million to make. If studios made more smaller movies, like with $25 to $50 million budgets, they could take more risks and would be more likely to get a return on investment. Putting all your eggs in one basket that doesn't have a guaranteed success is bad business.

 

[mickEblu]

Perfectly balanced, as all things should be

I thought Thanos was deeper than he looks. I expected someone much more 2 dimensional.

 

[TROR]

I thought Thanos was deeper than he looks. I expected someone much more 2 dimensional.

Just wait till Endgame.

 

[mickEblu]

Just wait till Endgame.

Now I want them to hurry up and make that Avengers Coaster. Not sure what the hold up is. They need to stop overthinking it. Just make it a launch coaster. Blast some music, have the thing go fast, and put legitimate show scenes in the beginning, middle and end with some screens and projections throughout. Why do they need to reinvent the wheel?

Even what I described would separate it from any other Disney coaster. What coaster has 3 legit show scenes with multiple AAs and elaborate sets?

 

[Disney Irish]

Fair point, but I'll counter by saying Infinity War is a massive blockbuster that was destined for success. No need to try to cut costs. A smaller film or something that's not a sure hit? Yeah, cut costs. There's no reason for something like Alita to have cost $200 million to make. If studios made more smaller movies, like with $25 to $50 million budgets, they could take more risks and would be more likely to get a return on investment. Putting all your eggs in one basket that doesn't have a guaranteed success is bad business.

Alita was a James Cameron film, the man who likes to push the technological envelope. The reason why Avatar took so long to go from Cameron's head to film was because the technology didn't exist yet. And he got tired of waiting so he built a lot of it himself, all the 3D stuff is because of him. Similar things on why Avatar sequels have taken so long.

The problem with the $25-50M budgets (or less), is they are risky. And there is no guarantee, you have too many flops like that and well Wall Street will let you know it.

So studios rather stake their collective futures on more sure fire films that are more guaranteed to make money. However that doesn't mean budgets are infinite. The largest cost of a film like Infinity War or Endgame is labor cost, the sheer number of people needed to make a film like that is astounding. Its the reason why end credits take 10 mins, there are literally thousands of people needed to make a film like that. So studios will save money by doing more CGI because it saves in production time and in labor costs.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Movies aren't supposed to be easy and cheap.

Of course not. But if you have fully realized CGI characters like Thanos and Hulk in a film, which could never be convincing with prosthetics, it wouldn't make sense to use prosthetics and make up for some minor characters. Especially since modern CGI and motion capture looks way better than 99% of prosthetic and make up use.

Seriously. Going back and watching old puppet based and prosthetic based characters, it's very rare that they're at all convincing.