The VFX of Smallville (CG Phantoms)

[Joss]

Hmm, the phantom is pretty cool-looking. I missed this episode, so what did the creature end up being?

[erilaz]

This sort of stuff always impresses me far more than any film effects could, due to the broadcast-level timeframe and budget they have.

[kmest]

here the TV dont show these shows so im watching it on DVD and curently on second season but yeah,hopefully i see this new season soon....the CG effects in these tv series are somehow more exiting than Movies,,,,the episod when the twisters were destroying everything was realy great....

and im watching Battlestar galactica as well on DVD...and damn,that show is realy amazing...congrats to everyone who work on both these series

[cookepuss]

This sort of stuff always impresses me far more than any film effects could, due to the broadcast-level timeframe and budget they have.
Agreed. Just look at the quality of the VFX put out on a weekly basis by the Star Trek or Buffy franchises. The Buffy finale alone was pretty inspired, with its CG assisted LOTR-like demon horde in the climax.

Smallville's use of effects is usually ill conceived though, imho. I've never been particularly impressed with its use of CG. From the cheesy super hearing inner ear zoom in to the rippling bullet-time warps, Smallville's use of CG has often seemed out of place in the context of the scene.

With a show like Buffy, the CG always seemed appropriate within the scene, even if it wasn't always realistic. A vampire was staked and he dusted. Willow went evil and she shot out CG lightning. It always made sense within the scene and within that show's overall design sensibilities. With Smallville, it always seems gratuitous.

To me, it's like comparing the use of wire work in the "Matrix" to the wire work in "Charlie's Angels". Okay. You can do it, but why? Sometimes, you can do more with less, a lesson never really mastered by those running Smallville. While the use of CG phantoms seems contextually appropriate, the execution left me cold.

[digitalshaman]

really good point cookepuss.

just to emphasise ur point, in smallville when there's some cg coming its like... 'and here's the vfx scene', and then snaps back to the usual repetitive crappy teen stuff.

i do however think they do a good job with the money and time, its just the direction is extremely bad (not solely the vfx company's).

[inguatu]

never watched SV... I do like Supernatural though. :)

[cookepuss]

really good point cookepuss.

just to emphasise ur point, in smallville when there's some cg coming its like... 'and here's the vfx scene', and then snaps back to the usual repetitive crappy teen stuff.

The best VFX scene is the one you never think about. Anything that pulls you out of the moment is, as you said, either the product of bad writing/direction or bad technical execution.

This isn't anything new though. It's not even localized to TV. It's a problem with even the biggest summer movies. The main difference is that moviegoers expect the whole package, good writing AND good VFX. With TV, we're not quite as unrealistically demanding.

TV viewers are a lot more forgiving of lower budget technical execution than they are of bad writing/direction. Where TV is concerned, we often expect lower budgets to bring certain compromises. So, we turn off our critical eye and accept the occasionally fake looking giant CG serpent or glossy space dog fight. It's something that tends to come with the medium. We believe it because we want to. We accept it because it serves a greater power, the story.

What we won't forgive so easily is the use of VFX as filler. Sometimes, watching Smallville's VFX scenes is like attending a recipe for animation. Anticipation. Action. Follow through. Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. Like I said, the best VFX is the one you don't notice - mainly because its part of a larger, continuous stream of action and events.

Anyway, don't wanna sould like I'm harping or anything. Visually, Smallville does what it does well. For TV, it pushes the technical boundaries every now and then. They should be commended for that at least. Although, it wouldn't hurt if they occasionally considered tying the writers/directors to some hunks of Kryptonite now and then. ;)

I do like Supernatural though.
I could take it or leave it. I've seen a couple of eps, but I rather preferred Jensen Ackles work on Dark Angel.

[GingerDave]

The past few seasons of smallville have reached a good level for effects, when you consider that its superman, they have alot to contend with. Meteor showers all the bullet time stuff superspeed etc etc.


Personally i think that Heroes has the best and most diverse visual effects of any tv show at the present time.
lost is good also but that smoke monster just dosent work for me.

[ExKArt]

The best VFX scene is the one you never think about. Anything that pulls you out of the moment is, as you said, either the product of bad writing/direction or bad technical execution.

This isn't anything new though. It's not even localized to TV. It's a problem with even the biggest summer movies. The main difference is that moviegoers expect the whole package, good writing AND good VFX. With TV, we're not quite as unrealistically demanding.

TV viewers are a lot more forgiving of lower budget technical execution than they are of bad writing/direction. Where TV is concerned, we often expect lower budgets to bring certain compromises. So, we turn off our critical eye and accept the occasionally fake looking giant CG serpent or glossy space dog fight. It's something that tends to come with the medium. We believe it because we want to. We accept it because it serves a greater power, the story.

What we won't forgive so easily is the use of VFX as filler. Sometimes, watching Smallville's VFX scenes is like attending a recipe for animation. Anticipation. Action. Follow through. Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. Like I said, the best VFX is the one you don't notice - mainly because its part of a larger, continuous stream of action and events.

Anyway, don't wanna sould like I'm harping or anything. Visually, Smallville does what it does well. For TV, it pushes the technical boundaries every now and then. They should be commended for that at least. Although, it wouldn't hurt if they occasionally considered tying the writers/directors to some hunks of Kryptonite now and then. ;)


I could take it or leave it. I've seen a couple of eps, but I rather preferred Jensen Ackles work on Dark Angel.

yeah I too thought he was goo din DA

[MikeRhone]

The guys at Entity do some pretty top notch stuff very impressive, especially for TV.

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