The Official PROMETHEUS Griping Thread!

[RoaryUK]

Just out of interest, where is it shown the Prometheus ship is all CGI, even if it is I still think it's a damn good design, but they still use models in films today anyhow?

[Cvalda]

Just out of interest, where is it shown the Prometheus ship is all CGI, even if it is I still think it's a damn good design, but they still use models in films today anyhow?

Where is it shown? Every shot featuring the thing. No way in hell is this blatant video game-level graphic a model:


And no, for the most part, they do not use models in film anymore, especially genre film. It's pretty sad.

[Deuterium]

Uh, no. Films in the 70's and 80's were shot on what films have always been shot with: film. ALIEN and ALIENS were both shot on film, not tape, and film actually has a higher "resolution" than 4K digital video, which is what PROMETHEUS was shot on. So technically, the original 35mm negatives of both ALIEN and ALIENS have higher definition than the 4K master of PROMETHEUS.

Oh Douglas Trumbull, where art thou ??  Is it only Terrence Malick that remembers your genius??

[Eva]

ALIEN and ALIENS were both shot on film, not tape, and film actually has a higher "resolution" than 4K digital video, which is what PROMETHEUS was shot on. So technically, the original 35mm negatives of both ALIEN and ALIENS have higher definition than the 4K master of PROMETHEUS.

Allow me to mention that Cameron shot Aliens on a film stock that didn't exactly save it for the best presentation that the film media can offer, so it will always have a somewhat underwhelming picture quality by direct comparison. Alien on the other hand looks gorgous and always will. 

Ohhh... space tapir RIP   

[Cvalda]

Oh Douglas Trumbull, where art thou ??  Is it only Terrence Malick that remembers your genius??

"Doug Trumbull once said to me, if you can do it live, do it live...it is not less expensive to do digital." - Ridley Scott, 2011
Too bad Ridley didn't take those words to heart this time around.

And apparently neither did Malick and Trumbull himself, because the CGI in Tree of Life was terrible.

[ThisBethesdaSea]

Cvalda, your actually wrong. The F65 can shoot in either Rec.709 or F65 Gamut, which actually exceeds the SMPTE specification for color negative film in every direction.

What we're seeing is CRYSTAL clarity in terms of digital cinematography, it's unprecedented. Our eyes don't really know what to do with information and if often times looks a bit unreal in its perception.

[Cvalda]

Allow me to mention that Cameron shot Aliens on a film stock that didn't exactly save it for the best presentation that the film media can offer, so it will always have a somewhat underwhelming picture quality by direct comparison. Alien on the other hand looks gorgous and always will. 

ALIENS looks damn gorgeous itself on Blu-ray. Cameron did a fantastic job remastering it.

Ohhh... space tapir RIP   

Spoiler

Space Tapir will rise again someday soon!!!

[close]

Cvalda, your actually wrong. The F65 can shoot in either Rec.709 or F65 Gamut, which actually exceeds the SMPTE specification for color negative film in every direction.

That is relevant how? PROMETHEUS wasn't shot with that camera, it was shot using the Red Epic at 4K. 35mm negatives can be scanned at up to 8K. Blow PROMETHEUS up to that size and you can watch the image quality start dropping like a stone.

[Deuterium]

"Doug Trumbull once said to me, if you can do it live, do it live...it is not less expensive to do digital." - Ridley Scott, 2011
Too bad Ridley didn't take those words to heart this time around.

And apparently neither did Malick and Trumbull himself, because the CGI in Tree of Life was terrible.

Cvalda, I am pretty sure that the only "CGI" was the dinosaur scene.  Everything else was accomplished with practical camera effects, and liberal use of creative photogaphic techiniques capturing the mesmerizing behavior of fluid dynamics.

[Cvalda]

Cvalda, I am pretty sure that the only "CGI" was the dinosaur scene.  Everything else was accomplished with practical camera effects, and liberal use of creative photogaphic techiniques capturing the mesmerizing behavior of fluid dynamics.

The shots of DNA chains replicating certainly weren't photographic effects--100% crappy CGI, like those dinosaurs that weren't even up to the level of Walking with Dinosaurs from 1999.
And for all the much-touted "return of Douglas Trumbull" stuff, it all just looked like half-baked leftovers from 2001's Star Gate sequence that Kubrick decided to toss in the rubbish bin.

MELANCHOLIA, on the other hand, used CGI to genius effect, crafting stunning new images that are strikingly original, and it had less than half the budget of TREE OF LIFE.

[ThisBethesdaSea]

"With EPIC, the possibilities for what the future holds are limitless. Offering 5K resolution, or an image over five thousand pixels across, the processed image is still measured at over 4K, significantly more than 35mm motion picture film. RED's recent developments in extending dynamic range with HDRx™, a remarkable tool as significant as REDCODE itself, have allowed exposure latitude as great as 18 stops, again, bettering film."

And for the record, Cvalda, you're nuts, the CG work in The Tree of Life is flawless. But, go on, you can think its crappy, it's okay.

[Cvalda]

"With EPIC, the possibilities for what the future holds are limitless. Offering 5K resolution, or an image over five thousand pixels across, the processed image is still measured at over 4K, significantly more than 35mm motion picture film. RED's recent developments in extending dynamic range with HDRx™, a remarkable tool as significant as REDCODE itself, have allowed exposure latitude as great as 18 stops, again, bettering film."

You're quoting a sales pitch? You really are on a mission to prove PROMETHEUS is the ultimate in everything and that to criticize any aspect of it is madness! Fine, let us say that the people trying to sell a digital camera against their film competitors are right. It does technically "best" film in a few technical areas. Doesn't change the fact that film still wipes the floor with digital from an aesthetic perspective, providing comparable -- if not usually superior -- image resolution depending on the stock used, coupled with the actual rich, pleasing look of film itself.

And for the record, Cvalda, you're nuts, the CG work in The Tree of Life is flawless. But, go on, you can think its crappy, it's okay.

Yeah, because this looks spectacular:

Spoiler

[close]

[Eva]

Spoiler

Space Tapir will rise again someday soon!!!

[close]

Well, in that case I will prepare something for its glorious return... 

Regarding practical effects in newer films - have any of you seen The Fountain? That looked pretty spectacular and they did the visual effects with chemicals and other old tricks I believe.

[Deuterium]

Yeah, I also have to respectfully disagree, Cvalda.  First of all, IMHO the dinosaur scene in "The Tree of Life" is fantastic, and no way on the same level as "Walking with Dinosaurs".  And the rest of the imagery (either practical or CGI) is of a similarly high standard.  It never once took me "out of the movie" like so many other current films have.

[ThisBethesdaSea]

Prometheus could end up being dog shit.....but I'll judge it WHEN I SEE IT.

[Cvalda]

Yeah, I also have to respectfully disagree, Cvalda.  First of all, IMHO the dinosaur scene in "The Tree of Life" is fantastic, and no way on the same level as "Walking with Dinosaurs".

And I guess I'll have to respectfully disagree with your point of respectful disagreement
The dinosaur scene made me laugh, not because of the bad CGI, but because of the ludicrous premise that a pea-brained animal would pass up perfectly good eatin' because it somehow "thought better of it." OMG, it's the way of "Grace" versus the way of "Nature!"
Rubbish.

Prometheus could end up being dog shit.....but I'll judge it WHEN I SEE IT.

We aren't judging it. We're judging aspects of it. Which is the point of this thread you seem to be missing.