Prosthetics and Computer Generated Imagery - Essay Example

Prosthetics and Computer Generated Imagery History of Prosthetics Prosthetics started off as a major development that the make up artists very badly needed. As in any of the free lancing industry, the secrets are normally kept too close to the discoverer or the inventor. So close, that not many people would know how it is done and some times the technology developed itself might be lost for posterity. However, the history of prosthetics started with a number of experiments that were done in US and in Europe for creating multiple images for the movies. The make up artists were badly need of a material that will be flexible and would reflect the feelings of the artist at the same time not be particularly obtrusive. In the beginning, the make up artists were only using colors to bring out the features and the feelings of the artist that is required at the specific point in time1. In order to realize this, a number of materials were tried. To take into consideration the face or the specific body part and the way it emotes. These were then tried out by the make up artists independently though not recorded or shared between them. Initially the movie prosthetics was more of a mask over the face that emoted the emotions of the artist better and avoided being too tough on the person. The initial masks were hard and did not meet the requirements but for the fact that they were a part of the mask which could not take into account the flexibility needed for it to serve at a flexible part like the face. Over a period of time, the materials tried out include: plastics, polyurethane, foamed vinyal, baked silicon among many others. The success came through foamed latex which was soft and ductile and bent to the sizes and shapes that the artist required. It was also mould able and the artists seem to gain immensely out of this new material. This was employed in all the movies that involved facial transformation starting from Frankenstein and Wizard of Oz. The techniques were bettered as more and more movies got being done. Some of the leading make up artists include, Rick Baker, Charlie Parker, Stan Winston and others. Some of the movies that became a roaring success because of their efforts include apart from the ones already mentioned, 2001 - the space odyssey, American WereWolf in London, KRULL, the Terminator and many others. All these employed movie prosthetics extensively and realized the benefit. In the technology front, the foam latex had a number of shortfalls including the chemical characteristics of the make up that could react with the number of material in common use and could not be held up in rain or water or even exposure to air. Stabilizing compounds were brought in and more work is still going on to get at the better make up chemical that could be used for movie prosthetics. A combination of various chemicals is used in order to ensure that the right kind of image is obtained. For this purpose, the make up artists make use of Fiber reinforced plastic moulds and other such materials to enhance speed of production. There are also other materials that add up to the problems faced during usage. The material normally does not with stand water and reacts happily with it. In order to take a shoot in the rain, it is important that the prosthetics withstand water. Some times the shoot has to be underwater, flowing water and on other such different media which might require specifically different kind of material to be used and adopted for the purpose. History of Computer Generated Imagery In the mean time, the competition for movie prosthetics came from Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). This was an animation proposition and made use of computer generated images in place of some one wearing a prosthetics and acting it out. This meant people could overlap an existing acted image of an artist with a CGI image that would fit on to his face and try and make it as natural as possible. The history of the CGI2 started with the multi media revolution that happened in the computers and the high speed of operation that these could get. There is a very thin line of separation that runs between Special Effects (SFX) and CGI, which have been both growing together for most part of the period under consideration. The first CGI as a 2D image was employed in 1973's WestWorld and the first 3D imagery was used in its sequel, 'Future World'(1976). But then, the some of the movies made with lots of investments on CGI like Tron (1982) and the Last Starfighter (1984) were largely commercial failures which relegated the CGI into a secondary skill something that has to see the light of day in the future. CGI was selectively employed wherever the images are expected to appear as something that has come out of the computers. In those cases, these were employed more effectively. However, we still find the usage of CGI in specific instances and there are also full length movies that get done using this technology where the images need not be realistic and very well can be computer generated. Full Motion Video (FMV)s were also made using this technology. Typical examples would include, the Toy Story (1995). Using CGI in place of traditional animation has slowly crept into the films and there are more and more studios that employ digital animation to produce movies and specific instances on the movies for the use. In addition to these, the special effects studios also add to the charm produced out of the Computer generated imagery. One of the other applications that the CGI is commonly employed for is what is called the Digital Grading. This tries to make sure that the color on the face of an actor is in line with the expectation if not alter it without going in for a reshoot or reprocess. This would optimize the production costs. All these are becoming digital processing techniques commonly employed in digital CGI. Computer Generated Imagery has taken up different forms; in the form of animated images and in the form of computer generated objects where it is not even possible to produce an image of that kind. It has been a combination of image out of actual shoot with computer imagery that would help to produce a realistic image. There are cases were an artist draws a realistic image or portrait which gets animated or filled with colors. This is true in case of backgrounds, settings typically when there is a need to fill with a multitude of people, etc., The computer imagery will full the entire screen with a large crowd of people or warriors or animals that would just otherwise is impossible to even conceive. This makes CGI an one way solution with no other option to do. A similar issue is faced when there are objects to be produced. In earlier versions, a miniature would be done and the same would then be shot and accordingly reproduced. But now, that is not really needed, with animated images and CGI, the images are produced on the computer and animated to get the desired result. CGI has an immense list of advantages that cannot be realized elsewhere. At the same time, it also has certain disadvantages which technology needs to overpower over a period of time. Disadvantages of Computer Generated Imagery Computer Generated Imagery shows off as a computer generated imagery. That is possibly the biggest handicap it has. It is easy to identify when an image is generated out of the computer and it lacks the realism that is so vital in a convincing image. This makes CGI a less of a choice when compared to movie prosthetics that has been very effectively used in a number of movies so far3. There are also other handicaps that has been working against using CGI in movies extensively. Some of these are listed below: 1. The limited resolution is a major cause of concern in the early days. Today though it is not a major concern it is still one and it needs to be enhanced as the usage goes up. 2. The other major concern is the image clarity and closeness to the realistic creations. It has been found repeatedly found that the images do not match up to the actual ones experienced. 3. Computer generated imagery works better with inanimate objects, specifically the ones made by man. For instance, if an animated air crash is shown to people it is as good as the real. However, the crash itself, the burning of a fire or any such natural occurrence is simply not in line with what happens during a natural occurrence. This is because of the lack of technological prowess at the software end and due to lack of hardware capability. Both these need to be strengthened in order to ensure that the world of animation and computer generated imagery is fully used. 4. The Computer Generated Imagery, has been going up in cost since its modest beginnings. Though in the earlier days it was the cost of the computer and the software that was deciding on the price of the animation, now it is the animation artist who takes the lion's share in the price. This is happening since the amount of time he is engaged in the job is pretty high and the cost of his time is the one that hurts the pricing policies of the CGI. If this has to be reduced then reworking on existing images and optimizing the amount of time spent through extended software and faster machines are the only solutions. But then if what we need is better animation, even the creation and rendering of such images themselves will devour most of the machine speed and time and also development in the software as well. 5. More and more developments are happening in the algorithms that are in vogue. More is to be done to ensure that the work is more apt and is providing the needed results. These major handicaps need to be addressed in the case of CGI to make it more acceptable for movie rendering and production. Disadvantages of Prosthetics The Prosthetics in make up have their own disadvantages though they seem to produce reasonably comfortable image while viewing. The major disadvantages faced while using prosthetics for imagery are: 1. One of the major handicaps in using prosthetics is that the expressions that the actors show in their faces are not reflected beyond the mask that they are wearing. This makes the acting of the actors redundant or meaningless. This also makes the mask a suppressant of emotions making the viewers experience no emotional feedback from the actor4. 2. Prosthetics eats out lots of time every day prior to the setting up and after that to get in and out of the mask. In addition, it also was found to need lots of breaks for the actor even while he is on the shoot. This makes prosthetics a time consuming exercise for everybody in the team including technicians and the actor himself. This could result in much higher costs. 3. Prosthetics also needs expert make up artists who might turn out to be costlier and could add up to the cost of the film on the whole. 4. Prosthetics makes use of some of the chemicals that are an health hazard and there are instances where the user has had complications because of the fumes that he inhaled. But it mostly affects the technicians behind the screen and yet it is damaging enough to be a major deterrent to its continued use. Prosthetics in its part has its disadvantages. There are advantages and disadvantages which need to be weighed in based on the requirements that one has and accordingly make a choice. Differences and Similarities The prosthetics and the CGI have many working similarities and dissimilarities that help in working out the best and least important ones which would help choose the right approach for a requirement. The table below provides the comparison chart. S No Prosthetics Computer Generated Imagery 1 Prosthetics is time consuming and costlier in doing it. An artist is required yet his face or specific body parts are not seen. This is also time consuming depending on the requirement. Here additional skill in terms of computer skills are required though there may not be any need for an artist to act out. 2 Prosthetics is required to be redone every day and undone before and after the shoot and might have a limitation on the amount of time that they could be used. CGI is an animated or digitally produced image and depends entirely on the skill of the multi media technologist rather than on any other factor. 3 Chemicals used in prosthetics are sometimes dangerous to human life. This has to be carefully employed and has to take specific federal clearances in some cases. This is not the case with digital since this reduces the post process drastically and also uses of any special purpose chemicals. As a matter of fact, one set of people required for the movie industry, the make up artists are completely eliminated for that movie. 4 Cost of a make up artist who does prosthetics is comparatively lesser. However, the filming would require not just the make up artist. It would require an actor who wears the make up and the entire crew to film it. In case of a digital generated image, there is no need to have so many artists. But however, the amount of effort that is required is equally heavy in judging and planning for the entire job. The cost involved could be higher than prosthetics in most cases because of the lesser number of people involved and a number of associate expenses are avoided. 5 Most of the images done on the camera come with great accuracy since this involves filming on an analog or a digital system that supports high pixel capability. This would be aiding better visualization and possibly better picturing. The accuracy of the image is constrained by the level of pixels that the image can handle. Most of the software that works on graphics has limitation. Limitations are higher with the display devices, processing computers and many other gadgets. All these factors reflect on the accuracy of the image and on the clarity. It also reflects on the extent to which the images match the original or actual object. 6 Understanding and recreating the continuous movie in this case is much more easier than in the case of CGI. In case of CGI for all the improvements in algorithms and in the software that we employ, the results obtained are not in line with the natural occurrence and invariably the viewer is able to realize the difference between the original image and the generated imagery. 7 Applying prosthetics on such things as abnormal objects may not be as easy. For instance, prosthetics to create a four legged animal or a multi legged, multi armed animal is difficult or almost impossible in some cases. In case of CGI, this is more apt for un common images. Also, because of this, it is also true when no body knows how that animal moves or behaves, whatever is generated on the computer makes more convincing an image. Conclusion Based on the discussions presented in the earlier sections, we can draw the following conclusions: 1. While prosthetics has certain advantages in terms of providing life like objects for filming and producing movies, CGI has specific advantages to produce matching, if not, exactly the natural behavior of animate objects. 2. Prosthetics has been successfully used by various film makers as much as CGI was. However, there are also movies that used CGI extensively or rather wholly, to find that CGI was not as impressive as it was made out to be. 3. Therefore, there are locations where CGI can be used effectively and there are also specific locations where Prosthetics can be used effectively. However, the choice of this lies with the film maker and discretion is required at his level to choose the appropriate one. Read More