Goldberg Brittney, pick one scene (Beowulf)

CGI/ICU? After watching the first and second fight scene In Beowulf, I was glad not to be epileptic. There was entirely too much going on, with crazy lighting, which detracted from the storyline, the ambiance, the detail, and amongst many other things, the emotional attachment to each character. Both fight scenes involving Grendel, his successful manslaughter vs. his slaughter, were killed by CGI. Why were these categories butchered?

For starters, the story line of Beowulf was changed. This alone would intensify the viewer’s critique of the film. This alteration brings up questions like: Why would they change the story line? Why is this character being presented as more important now than in the book Ect? When you change the storyline, you are already asking for attention. You are automatically implying that your have a new direction that you are taking the film, or there is a generally reason as to why. Change is turbulent, or radical if you will, and not always appreciated. So when CGI(Computer Generated Imagery), an experimental form of technology is applied to the film, on top of an altered story line, people are bound to judge harshly.

The Ambiance had an extremist vibe. Which could have been fine, if one direction was picked. The story line should either have stayed the same so that the CGI could have been viewed as obscure, but not too far from the truth or the meaning. It could have added a mythological feel if the feel itself hadn’t been entirely altered. Everything was way too dark. It is understandable to choose a low-key lighting, in hopes that the unrealistic CGI would be slightly masked by the darkness. In reality it was just difficult to see. The strobe light effect, which undoubtedly was supposed to allow sight without too much visibility of the unreal effects, was painful to say the least. It was difficultto focus on anything, let alone detail, importance, or even where the characters were moving about. It was also difficult to really get lost in the mythology of the story, when everything was surreal.

It is also difficult to form a bond with each character when it they are not alive. For some reason when CGI becomes reality, reality is easier to care less for. We know the characters are animations; so when one dies, we don’t care, they aren’t real. It’s a similar mindset to video games. It is ok to kill something that you can visibly tell isn’t human, or breathing. If it isn’t real, why care if it dies? It’s simulated, virtual, and should be disheartening, but disheartening implies there’s a heart involved.

Overall, this film was a like a strobe light. Too busy, very flashy, hard to follow, and disorienting. There were not too many positive attributesto the film, which is sad because there was so much room for interpretation and creativity. Unfortunately a technology, which has not been perfected yet, was chosen as the main style of the film, which depreciated the films overall value.