Make-up and other special effects have become an integral part of movies. Even films that seem to have no effects and clean-faced actors will use digital touching-up and hours of applying make-up to the actors to make them look perfect.
Despite what cynics may say, traditional prosthetic make-up is still extremely common in movies. It is the most realistic way to add blood, grit, scars, or simply change the texture of the skin since it is a physical, temporary alteration to an actor. It is also still used to create monstrous or unusual features that still leave most of the face human, such as in Hellboy or Captain America’s Red Skull. Time-wise, even the seemingly simplest and most ‘every day’ looking movie make-up without prosthetics will require at least an hour of application, and with a prosthetic it can take between two and four hours minimum.
CGI has lifted many of the restrictions that were held formerly in place by the limits of make-up, the capabilities of the human body, and physics. It also allows for filming scenes that would otherwise require waiting for perfect conditions of weather or a large amount of camera trickery. It is also often used with make-up to touch up edges, or give it a finishing touch. If not used directly to the make-up and actors, it can be used to apply filters and lighting effects after filming that can easily be removed, reversed, or changed. CGI also allows for stunts to be performed without potentially endangering actors or ruining props.
Make-up is often much cheaper than cgi, however with the rise of HD, mistakes or simple tricks that used to appear realistic will appear cheesy and fake. It is also limited by the proportions and physical capabilities of the actors it is being filmed on, not to mention that large body prosthetics and suits can be heavy and bulky and severely restrict the movement of an actor leading to compromise between the ideal result and what is possible. Some people prefer the look of prosthetics to CGI believing it to look more natural or ‘right’ next to ‘normal’ human actors and the portion of the audience that is turned-off by CGI is a part of the cost of heavily using it. A CGI model takes a long time to make, but doesn’t need to be re-made each day and filming can occur without the model being completed since it is often added in after the fact. The end result would look more consistent since it wouldn’t have variations in the painting and application between scenes filmed on different days.
The positive and negative incentives of both make-up and CGI seem to cancel each-other out for the most part, and which should be used depends on the situation and what is attempting to be accomplished. Often times the best choice that would minimize the cons of each while taking advantage of the strengths of both involves a combination of the two. Both fields are constantly improving techniques, technology, and working together to create even more life-like and realistic effects.
How has the cost of special effects changed?
http://humberjournalism.com/finecut/2011/03/31/cgi-or-makeup-the-evolving-art-of-making-movies/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_effect#Live_special_effects
http://humberjournalism.com/finecut/2011/03/31/cgi-or-makeup-the-evolving-art-of-making-movies/
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