00:00CGI can be an incredible, immensely versatile tool in the hands of smart filmmakers who know
00:06when to use it. But as we've all seen countless times, it's all too often used as a crutch or
00:11an indulgence, where the results can prove extremely off-putting to audiences. And though
00:16literally hundreds of movies can be ripped to shreds for their embarrassingly cheap visual
00:21effects, we're looking specifically at movies that needlessly employed visual effects artists
00:26who work on scenes and shots that absolutely didn't need them. If nothing else, this is a
00:31testament to the thoughtless pervasiveness of CGI throughout Hollywood over the last two decades
00:36in particular, and that even enormously talented filmmakers aren't beyond overdoing it with the
00:41computerized flourishes and touch-ups. So I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here with the 10 most
00:46pointless CGI movie shots ever. Number 10. $5,000 dog poop, John Wick.
00:52John Wick is an incredible action film which makes extremely minimal use of visual effects,
00:57though the producers did stump up a princely sum to include a wildly unnecessary pile of dog crap
01:04during one early scene. Shortly after John has been gifted a puppy by his dead wife, the dog is seen
01:09leaving John's house to relieve itself, and the audience is treated to a shot of the healthy deposit
01:14the canine leaves behind. And while you probably assumed this was just a $2 plastic poop lobbed on the
01:20lawn, it was in fact a digital creation rendered to the tune of a mind-boggling $5,000, with the
01:26production unable to feed a laxative to their dog performer to get a breath, the social network.
01:31Though David Fincher's 2010 masterpiece carried out many feats of sheer VFX magic, some of the more
01:38subtle instances of CGI are a bit, well, pointless. During an early scene where Jesse Eisenberg and
01:45Andrew Garfield's characters are talking outside in the middle of a party, it's blindingly obvious
01:50that their cold breath has been digitally superimposed in post-production. Rather than warm
01:54moisture faintly escaping from their mouths when they speak, they look closer to Superman deploying
01:59his ice breath like the fate of the world depends on it. Though Fincher's commitment to the details is
02:04admirable, in this case the botched execution is distracting enough that he probably should have just
02:08ditched it entirely. It's not like the temperature of the scene contributes in any way to the character or
02:13story beats we're watching unfold. 8. Johnny Depp's Face – Public Enemies
02:18Michael Mann's Public Enemies largely focuses on good old-fashioned practical set pieces,
02:23so Mann's decision to include one especially noticeable CGI stunt proves all the more jarring
02:29as a result. During the focal bank robbery sequence, John Dillinger is seen vaulting over a bank desk and
02:35there's no two ways about it, it looks totally badass. Or it would if not for the fact that Depp's face
02:41is clearly just a crude digital mask pasted over that of a stuntman.
02:45Apparently, the notorious perfectionist man, during the focal bank robbery sequence, John Dillinger is
02:51seen vaulting over a bank desk and there's no two ways about it, it looks totally badass.
02:57Or it would if not for the fact that Depp's face is clearly just a crude digital mask pasted over that
03:02of a stuntman. Apparently, the notorious perfectionist man had a very specific idea of how the shot should look,
03:09and when Depp couldn't quite get it right, he brought in a stunt double to execute it with
03:13the correct physicality while fixing the face in post. The irony, of course, is that the entire
03:19shot is ruined by the distracting CGI, which resembles Depp only as though he were rendered
03:24in the cutscene of a mid-budget PS1 game. Given that the shot could have easily been captured
03:29from behind the stuntman and likely still looked just as cool, it's an utterly baffling act of
03:34stubbornness on man's part. 7. Green Screen Rooftop – The Room
03:39It's fair to say that Tommy Wiseau's The Room is a film rife with questionable creative calls,
03:44though nothing quite raises the eyebrows like his decision to use extensive and totally
03:49unconvincing green screen effects to shoot the film's rooftop scenes. These seep the scenes on,
03:54but for reasons that none of the film's crew members have ever been able to ascertain,
03:58the director opted for Gordie Cromerke instead. If James Franco's The Disaster Artist is to be
04:04believed, it's probably because Wiseau wanted to make a real Hollywood movie,
04:08and nothing says Hollywood like needlessly splashing cash on perfunctory CGI.
04:12Given that the film's budget somehow ballooned to an absurd $6 million, it's fair to assume that
04:18this sequence ended up accounting for a sizable chunk of that price tag.
04:226. Henry Cavill's Digital Shave – Justice League
04:26Now on the face of things, you might protest that Warner Bros spending roughly $3 million to
04:31digitally shave Henry Cavill's face for Justice League reshoots was absolutely necessary. After
04:37all, Cavill was contractually prevented from shaving his bushy tash until Mission Impossible
04:42Fallout had completed filming. But there were several options that Warner Bros had available to them
04:47instead, and pretty much all of them were better than just fixing it in post. Shutting down production
04:52for a few weeks was obviously the most sensible. Though it wouldn't have been cheap, it ultimately
04:57would have prevented the film from becoming a laughing stock and perhaps even helped its box
05:01office in the long run. Secondly, given how badass Cavill's facial hair actually was in Fallout,
05:06and that many fans expected to see a resurrected Superman with facial hair anyway, they could have
05:11leaned into it and reshot Cavill's entire role with a full, grizzled face of hair. When you've already
05:17sunk $300 million into a project, it really doesn't pay to skimp on the big picture stuff,
05:23and that's exactly what Warner Bros did by over-relying on VFX.
05:275. The Rat – Daredevil
05:29The Ben Affleck-starring 2003 Daredevil movie is a baffling production for many reasons,
05:35not least its general excess of frivolous, often unconvincing CGI. And this much is made clear in the
05:40movie's very first shot, as a digital rat is shown scampering through the streets of Hell's Kitchen,
05:46before being blasted by a steam grate. Director Mark Steven Johnson originally intended to use a
05:52real rat for the shot, but when it didn't move across the scene as intended, the decision was
05:56made to move on and pass it off to the CGI artists. The actual rendering of the rat isn't too bad,
06:02aided by the scene being extremely dark, but given the utter lack of storytelling necessity for the
06:07rat to even appear in the movie, it just feels like a daft, unnecessary indulgence.
06:12But in the very least, it's emblematic of the film's entire misguided fascination with CGI,
06:17and lets audiences know early on what they're in for.
06:214. Replacing Practical Effects with Digital – The Thing 2011
06:26Now, this one really hurts. While the 2011 The Thing was far from a good movie,
06:32it was at least shot with an emphasis on practical creature effects in tribute to John Carpenter's 1982
06:38original, which remains one of the best-crafted creature features of all time. And despite the
06:43film largely being shot with animatronics during post-production, the studio increasingly mandated
06:49use of CGI, ultimately replacing most of the original practical effects digitally through reshoots
06:55and literally tracing over the original in-camera work. Footage of the practical effects have since
07:00been found online, and considering how great they looked, fans were left outraged by the utterly
07:05charmless nature of the final digital result. There have even been calls for Universal to release a
07:11practical effects cut of the film, though with the film's practical effects artists confirming that
07:16no such cut exists, it would require Paramount going back into the editing room and assembling it.
07:21For a film that bombed at the box office and also reviewed badly, that doesn't seem very likely.
07:273. Digital Tire Smoke – Ronin
07:30John Frankenheimer's Ronin is a ludicrously entertaining action thriller that boasts some
07:35of the most impressive car chases ever put to film, and Frankenheimer himself even boasted that the
07:41chases were all achieved in-camera. Quote, not in green screens, not with computer tricks.
07:46Well, that is ultimately about 99.7% true, because while cars really were filmed hurtling through the
07:53streets of France, the legendary filmmaker strangely decided to inject some wildly unnecessary CGI into a
07:59Paris chase sequence. As Sam and Vincent burn rubber while making their escape, a ton of repulsive CGI
08:06smoke is layered over the top of the vehicle, intended to imply an extremely severe tire burnout.
08:12Unfortunately, it looks laughably ugly and slightly undermines a sequence that's otherwise an epic
08:17triumph of technical filmmaking. 2. Michael Myers' Mask – Halloween H20 – 20 Years Later
08:24The seventh Halloween movie was actually a pretty decent return to form for the series,
08:29for the most part. And given how little the franchise has relied on VFX over its tenure,
08:34few expected to see noticeable CGI in it. Surprisingly, the filmmakers were still tinkering
08:39around with the new design of the Michael Myers' mask even during shooting, and once post-production
08:44had been completed, a total of four masks had been used. If you keep your eyes peeled, you can even pick
08:50out shots where earlier iterations of the mask appear, while most of them were replaced in reshoots.
08:55And there's one especially obnoxious moment that occurs when poor Charlie comes face to face with
09:00Myers. Because the production wasn't able to reshoot the scene with the final mask design,
09:05a CGI model was instead pasted on top of the rejected practical one, the results of which are
09:10absolutely hideous. Though the shot lasts just a merciful second or two, was this method of problem
09:15solving really preferable to just sticking to the over-the-shoulder shot of Michael and avoiding
09:20all that fan outrage? Number 1 – The Prairie Dogs – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
09:27The fourth Indiana Jones gets a ton of flack from fans for a number of reasons, and though nothing will
09:33ever quite top the nuke the fridge controversy, many were dismayed by the film's excessive reliance on
09:39low-rent visual effects. Just like Daredevil, this is made apparent in the film's very first shot,
09:44and again, like Daredevil, it involves a totally unconvincing and pointless digital rodent.
09:50The film's opening shot shows a rough CGI prairie dog emerging from its mound,
09:55surveying the area and quickly scurrying off before a car runs over the mound. And perhaps if this were
09:59a one-off, it might have been easy enough to tolerate. However, the awful digital abomination
10:04reappears during the infamous fridge-nuking scene, popping out of its hole to stare gormlessly at Indy for
10:09a moment before diving back in. And there you have it, that's our list.
10:12If you think we've missed something, then do let us know in the comments down below,
10:16and while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
10:20Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various
10:23social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with WhatCulture,
10:27I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real soon.
Comments