I've been working in the graphics field for twenty years. When I started, it was going through a transformation where traditional processes were being replaced by computer processes. And people who had been working on their craft for 30 years were being replaced by kids fresh out of college who were more adept at learning new technology. One of the complaints of the old guard at that time was that while there were certainly economic efficiencies and artistic opportunities with the technology, it was being used by people with little appreciation of aesthetics. They were right. For the next ten years, god-awful looking print was everywhere. Ugly-ass fonts. Absolutely no attention paid to kerning, leading, line-breaks, ligatures, grey balance. Improvements in the software eventually helped to make some of that transparent, and the computer people (gradually) learned to do better. But there's a good chunk of time from the late 80's to the mid 90's that, for graphic design enthusiasts, is best left alone.

The movies have been going through their own awkward period for the past ten years. CGI has become so common-place, that everything is common-place. Where this is killing me is fantasy films. When I was a kid, I loved all of the old Science Fiction and Horror films - mostly because I wanted to figue out how they did that shit. Lon Chaney. The Universal Monsters. The Amazing Colossal and Incredible Shrinking Men.

We saw the utterly artless "Transformers" yesterday. Dreck. Hyper-busy. More edits per minute than you could process. The thing of it is -- yes, it looks believable. The CGI blends in to the other shots. But it's not memorable. It doesn't stick. And they don't even seem to be trying. If it's that easy to throw dollars and render anything you want, you get shit like this. Shit like, "The Mummy Returns", "Van Helsing", "Fantastic Four", "Spider-Man 3". People still marvel at the original "King Kong" almost 75 years after it first came out. Who is going to remember any of this shit?

Oh wait, my kids will. The "Transformers" movie, heavily advertised on Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel, with a kid-toy fast food tie-in, co-produced by Hasbro, had this charming kid-friendly bit of dialog (paraphrased):

When Mom and Dad try to get through teenage son's locked bedroom door Mom says "are you masturbating?" Then proceeds to continue to question him about it and says stuff like (paraphrasing) "What, you don't think I should say masturbating? Well, then how about Sam's happy time?"

Yeah. It was PG-13. My own fucking fault.

P.S. The City of Chicago is sponsoring another season of outdoor movies. I passed the poster on a bus shelter today. I'll try to take a picture of it the next time I go by. It's a silhouette of King Kong atop a tree, fending off kites. 1933 Kong. The one that people still recognize. Cute as hell.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 at 8:42 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.