In the summer of 1975, Steven Spielberg released his incredibly influential film “Jaws.” That movie is one of the rare instances where a film totally captures the minds of a generation. The titular shark haunted moviegoers long after they left the theater. “Jaws” became the most successful film of the year it came out and one of the most significant films of all time.
Spielberg heavily documented the process of creating the movie, most notably the immense problems they had with the mechanical shark made for the film. The shark was originally supposed to be much more visible throughout the film, but because of the failure of the shark, Spielberg had to adapt.
It is not the shark, but the absence of the shark that provides the most striking imagery in the film. The faults with the shark drove Spielberg to create scenes like the woman being pulled back and forth through the water and the point-of-view shots of the shark swimming under the people, which ended up being the most powerful parts of the film.
Computer-generated graphic effects are becoming one of the most popular aspects of modern film. Almost every movie released now has some degree of computer-generated imagery.
Special effects are any stunt or image made in the film after the filming has ended, and many argue the over-reliance on these effects is damaging the integrity of storytelling in cinema. Practical effects are the process of creating imagery during filming, and the long and influential history of these effects have made their abandonment all the more troubling.
One of the main problems with computer-generated graphics is time. If you watch the original “Star Wars” movies, they still look as good as they did when they came out. If you watch “Avatar,” which was heralded as the epitome of special effects in 2009, it is already apparent how much better current special effects are. Because the technology is constantly evolving, making a film predominantly using special effects effectively gives your film an expiration date.
The dawn of digital filmmaking has made creating films much simpler. Yet, it is becoming apparent that simpler does not necessarily mean films are getting better. Creative restraints and serendipity are two of the most crucial aspects of making art. Using computer-generated graphics potentially eliminates those aspects of the creative process.
When you create something on the screen, you remove the possibility of the image forming in the viewer’s mind. Spielberg was miserable during the filming of “Jaws,” but many of his troubles helped contribute to what made the movie so great. Now that technology is so much more approachable to a wider filmmaking audience, it becomes time for the directors of tomorrow to determine what is more important to them — the feature or the film.