Visual Effects in Discovery

I just wish they'd turn off the dark.

 

Yeah. I preferred the older, more slowly paced battles where there was usually fewer ships involved and they were more like naval or submarine battles. You could actually follow what was happening and there was more tension.

 

I feel like a lot of the space combat shots unintentionally (with their close-in cropped shots and blur filters) create a "tilt-shift" effect, making it seem like the ships are tiny models rather than full-size.

 

At least none of it's as bad as the opening scene of the latest Star Wars film! Gravity bombs in space? Ships "sinking" after they're hit? I was grimacing through the whole thing...

 

and rolling backwards when they ran out of space-gas

 

Yeah, like I appreciate what they were trying to do but in execution i was kinda rough.

 

Or the wind shear in the opening space battle of Revenge of the Sith.

 

Not quite as bad in my opinion since they were in Coruscant's upper atmosphere.

 

I like technology for sure, it's right there part of my name
There are few things to consider (from purely technical point of view): 4k TVs (showing 4k content) are definitely more clear, even at normal viewing distances compared to HD TVs and content. Also things like HDR are a major leap in technology (just check this out for example) Some may argue HDR is more important than 4k, thought mostly they go together.

Is story being told more important than quality of the medium? Of course it is. But all things being equal, I'd like my story to be told with latest technology available.

 

I've been mostly underwhelmed by the effects.

 

just because you're a dude you have to like technology?

 

I'm pretty sure he means the IT part

 

oh...OH! all that time I read that as 'it', rather than I.T., well in that case I guess he's not a male it girl

 

I think the space effects have been pretty good for television, but not mind-blowingly great. DS9 and TNG always felt too bright and were lit like the ships were flying right between 7 white dwarf stars. DS9 was awesome, but the space battles remind me of an interstellar version of the AOTC Geonosis battle. "Let's see how much bullshit we can smear all over the screen!!"

DSC is dark and blurry. There's not as much "majesty" to the establishing shots, and the camera is never allowed to linger on anything for too long. That frustrates the hell out of me.

The one element of the franchise that got the "look" just right on the outer space stuff is, imho, the TOS films. FC is pretty badass as well. If DSC season 2 could adapt that look and style, it would be great.

 

Is it a good time to mention the awesome effects in Orville, or the decent stuff in Dark Matter? (The most recent thing to do the instant travel shtick that DSC adds odd spinner things to.)

 

IMO (and including 'The Expanse') all current shows are on about the same level as VFX go. Nothing done by "The Oville' VFX team stands out as above anything else, and hell, on occasion they've just had the ships 'hanging there' firing at each other (probably trying to ape the various Trek effects from the 1990ies as that is a style choice they seem to be going for.)

Nothing from any of these shows stands out to me as 'jaw dropping/amazing'. As long as the SFX are used to serve whatever story is being told, and complement said story. That's all I care about. YMMV.

 

I don't feel like this is the case for Discovery though. As others have noted, the shots are so brief and cut so fast I don't really feel like I have a clear idea of what is happening often by the time the shot is over. Generally speaking I think the episodes would be better with no external combat shots at all versus how they are depicted now.

 

Did you never watch RotJ?

 

For my money BSG effects are still very good (considering this is about 2004?)


Good mix of steady and shaky cam, zoom-in and zooming out

 

Discovery looks ok, it gets the job done, but it certainly doesn't stand out like Disco, Dark Matter looks pretty friggin good though.