While many immediately cringe at the mention of CG effects being used in a movie, it’s hard to find a movie these days that doesn’t use them one way or another. The best we can hope for is the use of both practical and digital effects hand-in-hand, with more of the former visibly noticeable.
But sometimes CG is simply unavoidable. One such example of this is MEG, which features a giant megalodon shark. If you’re even a little familiar with JAWS and how much trouble Steven Spielberg had working with a mechanical shark for that, you understand how insane it would be to build and film a practical shark the size of a freakin’ city bus or bigger. The movie has been in the works for many years, and is currently in the middle of another attempt at finally making its way to the big screen with the recent news that Cabin Fever and Hostel director Eli Roth was set to make the movie for Warner Brothers. Roth spoke recently about using CG for the movie, and you can see what he had to say below.
First Roth, speaking to Collider about his new movies The Green Inferno and Knock Knock, offered an update on where things stand on MEG:
“We just turned in the script to the studio and I’m designing the artwork now. I’m doing some character and creature designs. It’s so much fun. I cannot wait.”
He then touched on the use of CG, and how Ron Howard’s upcoming movie In the Heart of the Sea made him more comfortable with creating the digital shark:
“The thing is with Meg, the size of the creature, it sort of becomes impractical to do it practically, but I’ve seen how they’ve done the whale in In the Heart of the Sea. They showed me footage and they’re like, “˜Before you judge CG, take a look at this,’ and I was like, “˜Oh my god.’ The whale in In the Heart of the Sea looks so good. I was like, “˜All right, we’re good.’ I wouldn’t do the movie unless I believed the technology was there to do it and the great thing is with Warner Bros and the team that we’re doing [it] with, we’re gonna have the resources to do it right.”
The whale in In the Heart of the Sea does look good (you can check out trailers right here), and both projects being at Warner Bros. will help in the making of MEG. In addition to that movie, it most certainly wouldn’t hurt for Roth and his team to also keep in mind the Norwegian movie Kon-Tiki, which features some tremendous digital shark special effects.
Videos of those effects can be seen below, though you may want to avoid watching if you’ve not yet seen it (neither really spoils anything, but better to experience the movie first) and you definitely want to avoid the second video if you’re squeamish. But aside from all of that, imagine a much, MUCH bigger version of those white sharks! That’s something I could get excited about.
MEG is based on the book MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror by author Steve Alten. No release date has officially been set yet, and no cast is attached at the moment.
Videos
[Source: Collider]
I’ve used that Kon-tiki footage to demonstrate how effective CG can be. Cg is a tool and when used properly can produce incredible results.
This is a great commentary on CG effects.
Comment by Talos7 — September 26, 2015 @ 7:10 pm