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Re:Why did science fiction stop moving forward? by pixl97 on Monday September 25, 2017 @03:11PM (#15333143)
I would think that practical effects would cost even more due to inflation.

Also you may miss how much of the shows are CGI if you aren't looking hard. Watch a few shows from the 70s and 80s, ones with high production values, then watch the average show today and you'll see that audiences demand much more realistic sets and scenery. Just about everything in the background of a sci-fi show is CGI.

Re:Why did science fiction stop moving forward? by rm_-rf_slash on Monday September 25, 2017 @03:25PM (#15333272)
Yet in a way it looks shittier. For example, take the two first sets of Star Wars trilogies.

In the originals, the battle for the Death Star holds up.

In the prequels, you can see Jedi wildly waving their lightsabers at nothing because the CGI team forgot to animate in certain places.

In the originals, Yoda was a puppet, and his skin and clothing reflected light realistically. So what if his mouth movements had all of the nuance and subtlety of a novelty nutcracker? Imagination bridged the gap between what we saw and what we experienced.

In the prequels, Yoda was CGI, so he didn't have physical depth in the way the other actors did, and didn't reflect light in the same way as the physical cast, and it gave him an eerie, Photoshopped look.

CGI can make special effects look more realistic, but they also have a way of preventing things from actually looking real.

Re:Why did science fiction stop moving forward? by TeMPOraL on Monday September 25, 2017 @03:48PM (#15333471)
> Just about everything in the background of a sci-fi show is CGI.

Didn't realize how much this is true until I saw the video 'lfowles posted. That's a good point.