The Undead Zone - Why realistic graphics make humans look creepy. By Clive?Thompson

The Undead Zone - Why realistic graphics make humans look creepy. By Clive?Thompson

I've been thinking about this a bit lately. I think this effect is what destroyed Final Fantasy, the movie, though it did a fine job on it's on just on plot.

As you may have guessed, I'm not thinking of this on the robot level, but on the computer graphic side of it. Right now, computer animated films are taking the place of traditional cartoon films (and to be honest, almost all animated films for the last several years, even TV shows, have had computer help). But none of the ones that worked had close to human characters. Shrek 2 comes close, but even they put a cartoon twist on very human looking faces.

I would like to think this would be a permenate problem, but I don't think it is. Computer graphic history is full of impossible tasks, each one beaten down by creativity and tech. And the human 'twinkle' that tells us that there is a real human there will be, at some point, redused to a menu option in a 3D animation program.

I look on this as sad, but to be honest, both good and bad things will result in this. As I've been negative here, let me leave you with a postive concept...

Just think what a young Steven Spielberg could have done with the ability to fully control a totally real looking movie with human looking actors when he was 16, right next to his Play Station 10.