How CGI Can Convert People To Silent Films

It was towards the end of Aquaman (2019), where a stunning underwater battle full of glowing aquatic kingdoms and zapping weapons and vast crab armies and armored sharks ended with the superhero commanding the most enormous sea beastie ever while standing triumphantly on its head (seriously, the only thing missing was him whipping out an electric guitar), when it occurred to me that CGI had entered its Baroque period.

I mean, dang.

Generally speaking, we live in a remarkable era of special effects, don’t we? Anything we can imagine, no matter how epic or “out there,” can be brought to life onscreen. Mythical creatures, gorgeous landscapes, alien cities, giant robots, ancient gods, dinosaurs…the sky’s the limit if you have the right team of artists and animators. It’s no exaggeration to say that the scope of our creative abilities is something unprecedented in human history.

Image credit: Screen Crush

So naturally, while being faced with jaw-dropping visions the likes of which no human eye hast heretofore seen, we complain about how there’s too much CGI. If we comment on it at all, that is–it’s not a given the way it used to be.

Thoughts Of A Twenty-Something, 21st Century Silent Film Fan

It’s a great time to be a silent film fan.

What director or star from the ’10s and ’20s imagined that one day, we’d be able to share their movies with people across the globe in seconds–and that we could even watch them on mobile devices whenever we wanted?  Who from back then thought their films would even last that long?

It’s an amazing thing–to share rare photos, rare info, rare research, and to form rare friendships with those rare silent fans, all so quickly and with ease.  To learn there are other people out there who love the same films and people as you.  To see that new fans are being made every day.

Still…for someone like me, once you step away from the computer or the TV screen, it all seems to vanish.