If you've ever heard someone play an electric guitar totally unplugged, tasted raw cookie dough, or planted a seed, you know the feeling. There is potential there, but something is clearly missing. This is the exact feeling you get scrolling through the Tumblr blog 'Before VFX.' The title just about says it all, along with its brief self-description: "Blockbuster movies without visual effects." The core or basic element of a shot is there, for certain, but in each case, it's obvious there's plenty of additional magic and ingredients that must go into the shot before it can be called complete. Check out a few examples from Before VFX below.
Here are a few grabs from BeforeVFX Tumblr (Thanks to Matias for the tip-off):
From the about page (emphasis and link are my additions):
Is this blog a response to the Oscars, and the protest preceding it, and the VFX industry’s turmoil? Well sure, it did prompt its creation, I won’t deny that. The truth is this is blog has been in my head for a while but with all that’s happened in the last two days in the VFX world, I knew now was the time.
But I don’t want this site to be about the plight of the VFX industry.
My intention is to highlight the artistry of VFX by showing you the canvas. At a time when even Hollywood can’t seem tell the difference between Oscar-winning Visual Effects and Oscar-winning Cinematography, I think it needs to be made clear which is which. Without the fantastic VFX work by talented artists, Hollywood films would not be what they are today.
As filmmakers, we likely have a better understanding of what goes into the making of the final film more than most other audience members. Even for us, however, it is easy to forget just how detailed specialty work such as VFX can be once we've seen and become familiar with the end product. Before VFX is a very simple, straight-forward thematic blog (of which Tumblr, by the way, is a goldmine) but it reminds us just how important visual effects is to our industry and how much work is involved in order to create the fantastic imagery we see in the theater.
What do you guys think of Before VFX? Do you find the images enlightening, or too out-of-context to be useful to you? What other blogs like this do you guys know of?
Link: Before VFX -- Homepage
