Interview with Nicotero...

[bassman]

using cgi for thousands of zombies walking in the city is needed and I will agree with you there....totally! But The worst cgi that was ever used in my opinion in any of Romero's was "Land" when the priest zombie with his head hanging off the body just being connected by a strand of artery. It then lunges foward so this way it's head flies through the air from behind it's body to the front of it's body to make an attack bite??? WTF was that all about??? It was extremely comical and cheesey, did not come off well at all. That is cgi that I don't and never want to see in a Romero flick ever again! Can anyone else think of any other bad cgi moments in George's Zombie epics? Thank god Romero doesn't like cgi too much either. "Land" was the first of Romero's dead films to use CGI. The effect that you're referring to was attempted with practical, on-set effects but it came off even worse than the CGI you see in the final film. Therefore, because it was needed to bite whats-his-face they did it with CGI.

[joeharley666]

I did read that also, but it does not take a rocket scientist to know that cgi scene looked awful when on film. I'm a little bewildered that the scene didn't end up on the editing room floor. I am not a filmmaker but am a movie buff, but those are the things I look at and dissect while watching films. I am always pointing out the flaws and thinking how it can be done better. Again, I am not an expert by no means but scenes like that just don't work and should be caught by the "experts" while editing the film. And I am really blown away they George ended up using that scene anyway because he really despises most cgi work.

[bassman]

It's just a ten second scene. Not that big of a deal. If they had cut it out, you would be wondering why the hell slack shot the guy. I see what you're saying. SOME CGI should not have been used in Land, but there are many good ones. You also have to consider that the production on Land was rushed and that's why some of the head shots, etc. are CGI. With Diary, this hopefully won't be the case.

[MinionZombie]

Indeed, if that gore effect had been cut out (I liked it, yes you can tell it's CGI, but I've seen far, far, far worse CGI effects) then the scene wouldn't have made any sense. Also, the idea is what's impressive, rather than focussing on execution (excuse the pun), which in all honesty is a rather short scene as you say. There are moments where I'd have preferred CGI not to be used, my main pet pieve was CGI blood spray, I wanted "real blood", but I can understand why they chose not to - time constraints and to help keep the budget down. Those two reasons will have dictated several moments of CGI. Also, some CGI simply had to be used, filming in Canada (again due to budgetary reasons) meant he had to make it look like PA. In fact, I was rather impressed by the CGI in Land, much of it I didn't notice whatsoever until I watched the featurette on the DVD, and I was shocked at how much there was - or more likely, how much of it I didn't realise was CGI - the one that really impressed me was Riley and Charlie climbing the steps and exiting the subway - the whole shot (except the actors) was green screen, but the actors and the background blend perfectly to make it utterly seemless. One thing with CGI in general, when not done correctly, that pisses me off is the colours are all out - those on the palette of the CGI layer are totally different to the palette of the actual filmed footage, so it just looks like computerised collage, rather than one cohesive image. Land has a few CGI effects that are like this and therefore aren't sh*t-hot, but they're pretty good nonetheless, and fit the sillyness of the gags (something which Romero is known for) - and the Priest zombie is the representative of that fact. Then of course, like I've said, the CGI that is friggin' awesome - the stuff you don't notice, the background bits, the touch ups, the small additions (gunfire and blood spurts on that long shot of Dead Reckoning driving down the road in Union Town for example). *and breathe*

[bassman]

In fact, I was rather impressed by the CGI in Land, much of it I didn't notice whatsoever until I watched the featurette on the DVD, and I was shocked at how much there was - or more likely, how much of it I didn't realise was CGI - the one that really impressed me was Riley and Charlie climbing the steps and exiting the subway - the whole shot (except the actors) was green screen, but the actors and the background blend perfectly to make it utterly seemless. I agree. The subway scene was nice. Probably my favorite CGI shots in Land are the really high angles looking down on characters in the streets of the city. I know there is one with Charlie and Riley walking that looks GREAT, and then there are also several other high shots with the zombies scattering about. Hopefully, these will be the sorts of CG used in Diary rather than the blood splatters and things like that. Either way.....I doubt Diary will disappoint many people.....

[MinionZombie]

It'd be funny if a bunch of people bitch and moan and Diary and then hold Land up to be a fantastic film, having previously spent all their time kicking it in the nuts. Or, it'd be weird if the Land haters loved Diary and the Land lovers hated Diary ... although that's a highly unlikely occurrence, most likely the first one I said...