The Hollywood industry has a long track from the first day that a silent
film aired, has had an incredible evolution in all aspects of film, visual
effects, sound effects, lighting, soundtrack composition, direction, script
complexity, etc. The film began to have its peaks in the 90’s, not only for the
appearance of improved special effects but
rather that great combination and balance between solid narrative storylines
and visual effects that helped to provide a better show on the big screen. However
the film industry has had a slight decrease in the XXI century, since the abuse
of special effects took over the screen and these unique and exciting plots
that we were used to see in the 90’s were now off the scenario. The films of
the 2000’s have become a routine in which the purpose of making movies is just
profit, and turning them into what we would call today "commercial films" or "consumer films."
Nevertheless, these critics are also mentioned for many films that have
script elements quite well crafted, and prejudgment has spread to the point that
whenever any movie with great visual effects is released the critics quickly dart
to criticize their "poor plots" without
even realizing that their frames hide very interesting elements that represent
an idea beyond what their blind eyes can appreciate. The same has happened on
television. For instance, The TV Series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand"
was criticized by referring only to the extreme violence and explicit sex in
addition to the excessive use of blood. Many who believe the "know" about
film say it it’s an empty set with no arguments. Someone who really understands
everything that involves filmmaking can realize that Spartacus is not about
violence, blood and sex; it’s a very good representation of roman society
during the times of the Republic, and its Executive Producer and creator Steven
S. DeKnight knew that very well. The sexual abuse of slaves, power games to
reach political positions, excessive violence, the Roman lust, all part of a
reality of the roman society at the time. In
addition, a remarkable achievement in battle choreography and costume design
was accomplished. Spartacus saga is certainly a very well made piece of work
and interesting to see if you get to capture its essence.
Another great example of remarkable work with some obvious-to-expect
reviews was “Transformers” (2007). Among some of the reviews, characters that
were not well connected to the action scenes, or that
the robots seemed to be “supporting characters”.
And of course some other typical ones came up: “just a movie with good visual
effects”. It is true in part that the movie has some unsatisfactory elements regarding
the characters and their veracity, especially the story with the two teenagers
Sam and Mikaela. However, the movie is a master piece from the production point
of view; from pre-production in the robots design though the post-production in
visual and sound effects. The dedication that Michael Bay (with the original
idea brought by Steven Spielberg) put in designing every single detail of the
robots, the metal pieces that formed part of their bodies, their heads, thorax,
abdomen and extremities. The eyes were designed to dilate and light up,
Bumblebee’s cheeks were made to simulate a
smile, and Ironhide’s guns were formed by 10 thousand parts, even the body
spins required several visible parts. According Bay, the visual effects were so
complex that required 38 hours approximately to get one frame motion.
