Re: Lockout
You can usually blame bad CGI on a number of things, usually in this order:
<span style="font-weight: bold">1. Not enough budget.</span> Visual Effects (VFX) are expensive because it requires tremendous overhead and time. There are always budget pressures on movies and sometimes they decide to go with the low bidder on VFX in the hopes of shifting the money into other production areas (sets, costumes, etc). This is often how a CG team gets in over their head, trying to accomplish something for a low budget that they don't have the resources or infrastructure to even attempt.
<span style="font-weight: bold">2. Indecisive Director/Producers/Studio.</span> Computer Graphics (CG) has revolutionized visual effects in films, making the production process non-linear and allowing directors and producers (and ultimately the studio) change their mind at any point in the process. Some of these people are more adept than others when working with CG and understand the limitations or consequences of changes. Others are not and when they are indecisive about this, often not knowing what they want in the first place, the CG team find itself trying to hit a moving target, initially starting with a shot they expected would take the team 4 weeks to do but has now dragged out to 4 months. In the end this is partly why VFX is an extremely low-margin (if any) business and often why bad quality work makes it into the final film.
<span style="font-weight: bold">3.VFX Supervisor not on the same page as Director.</span> This one drives me crazy, because the CG team will be working crazy hours to meet deadlines only to find that the work they are doing is not at all in the direction the director ultimately wants. It's one thing when the director is indecisive, but when the VFX Supervisor, who acts as the gateway between the director and the CG teams, guides the CG team away from what the Director wants, ultimately the CG team ends up having to scrap much of their work and quickly change direction with little or no time left. The number one reason this particular problem happens is because the VFX Supervisor actually wants to be a Director.
The best VFX work you'll see often is the result of matching the right CG team to a realistic budget and guided by a VFX Supervisor who is clear about what the Director wants. Even better, a VFX Supervisor who knows when to use CG and when to shoot practically.
