This video is freaking great. Made by the team at RocketJump Film School, it makes a strong argument that while people love to crap on computer graphics in movies, those people don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.
Called “Why CG Sucks (Except It Doesn’t),” the video features strong examples of films and sequences where CG is used seamlessly, as well as times it’s really bad in really good movies. Both instances come to the conclusion that story telling and character are way more responsible for a movie “sucking” than below par visual effects.
“We believe that the reason we think all CG looks bad, is because we only see ‘bad’ CG,” says the YouTube description of the video. “Fantastic, beautiful, and wonderfully executed CG is everywhere—you just don’t know it. Truly great visual effects serve story and character—and in doing so are, by their very definition, invisible.”
This video is not invisible though. It’s entertaining and eye-opening.