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LMC: How do you feel about CGI and how it is used?

CW:  It is great with directors like Guillermo who know how to mix CGI and Creature FX. They are keeping the creature FX alive because he isn't just doing CGI, he is using it where it make sense. Using it to enhance the physical FX. We have noticed that a few other directors are going this route which is a great trend, but they aren't always the final say. Sometimes the producer will decide to just handle it in post using CGI for budget reasons. Plus people are getting used to seeing bad CGI, so it is more easily accepted. It's a similar dilemma back when creature FX was growing. There was good FX and not so good ones, but people liked it because it was an effect and not really for the quality. Similar with CGI. People just want to see it done and are watching the movies that do it poorly. We are hoping that the marriage of the two will stay this way for a long while.

LMC: What about as digital FX improves to where it looks just as good?

CW: Think back to Jurassic Park, that was about 10 years ago and at that time alot of us thought we'd be gone really soon, but that isn't the case. There's always going to be shows like 'the Grinch' where it makes sense to use physical makeup, and CGI hasn't just taken over, that certain doom alot of us felt back when JP came out.

MR:  Take Hellboy, it had to be a makeup. It just wouldn't have been practical to do that in CGI. It would have taken away the soul of the character, plus it didn't make sense to do it in CGI

CW: It worked great on Hellboy. There was alot of mutual respect between the digital and the physical FX work. We worked really well together. We would be stressing about some wrinkle in the suit that didn't flex right and the digital guys would be like, oh no problem, we'll just clean that up in post. Alot of the creatures were done by Spectral Motion and enhanced with digital to add features to it. Same with DDT and the amazing work they did. This movie really showed the perfect marriage between the 2.

LMC: Is there a notion to take on both the digital and physical in one shop, similar to what Captive Audience decided to do with 'the Passion of the Christ'?

MR: I've heard a few shops going that route like Stan's shop. At Rick's we never did anything like that except using the computer for design work. I actually prefer to have it separate myself. Connected, but not on site.

CW: I can see it could cause conflict as to the route to go, with the each group saying it would be best to use their medium, while if you are strictly an FX shop, there is no doubt how it will go. I'm sure it is more practical for shops that they have digital people to pick up the slack when makeup FX isn't as popular. A number of guys are moving from makeup FX work to digital which is great because typically a digital guy is more technical than artistic. They come from a tech background, but having someone transition over, they bring that knowledge from the physical world and that can only enhance CGI, adding weight, physics, real world elements to it.

LMC: Thanks alot guys for the chance to catch up with some of your amazing work. 

MR, CW: Thanks