Focus Film's - Star Wars: A New hope (1977)
Blade Runner (1982)
Transformers (2007)

Title - How has CGi affected the Narrative of Film.

I will be looking at how Special Effects has developed how films are constructed and how the narrative has changed by looking at focus film's from 3 progressing times over the last 30-40 years. I want to look at how storytelling in films has changed with the advancement of Special Effects and how with Hollywood there is this emphasis on big budget explosive films with an abundance of Special Effects.

I want to look in depth at the decline of Hollywood or what some might consider the rise as views differ on the emphasis of bang over drama in Hollywood today. As studios keep revitalising franchises and starting new ones i want to ask, do the studios care about good narratives in films or is it all about the big blockbuster spectacle that will make them money.

I will compare three films as shown above to see how the narrative and storytelling has changed over time. I will look at how the use of special effects has changed over time as it has been brought to the front with transformers while with previous films such as Blade Runner the emphasis is on the storytelling.

i have chosen Star Wars: A New Hope as it was the first feature length film to use Special Effects, Blade Runner i have chosen because it used highly advanced Special Effects for its time of production and also it lies in the middle of my other two films. Finally i have chosen Transformers as it is a perfect example of modern Hollywood cinema.

I have chosen to do this as i am interested in the Special Effects area of cinema however in Hollywood today i feel that the narrative is taking a back seat to the explosions. I want to see a comparison of three films that are each separated by about 10 years to see the gradual effects on the narrative from the introduction of Special Effects.

Some sources i have used so far to determine what Focus films i am going to use and what my project is going to be on are Wikipedia, IMDB, Youtube and Animation (book).

Initial Ideas

I have been thinking about what to do my analysis on and have thought through a varied selection of subjects. So i have come down to an analysis of the impact cgi has brought to film making. It would involve an in depth look at the difference of film making before and after the introduction of cgi to find out how it has changed. This would also include doing some research into cgi itself and how it has evolved.

I will also want to look at different studios, mainly WETA digital as i have a particular interest in them and how as such a small company they have achieved so much, thats not to say i will limit my research. I would also want to look at the question of 'Is CGI a cheap imitation trick for lazy film makers or is it an art form in itself, enabling film to push boundries and go further and create more engaging and exciting films'.