Ridley Scott Warns About What CGI Can Take Away
Ridley Scott has spent decades building worlds that feel solid under your feet. He is still working at a pace most filmmakers would envy. Along the way he has picked up a reputation for speaking plainly about what he thinks cinema is doing well and what it is getting wrong.
That mix of craft and candor is why his thoughts on movie visuals keep surfacing. Audiences have grown used to spectacles that bend reality in every direction. Scott has used every tool available over the years. He has also kept a close eye on how those tools can change the way a story feels.
When he talks about computer imagery, he often focuses on how it affects emotion. In a conversation that has been widely revisited, he put it this way. “Today, I think with digital effects, you can do anything it’s pretty easy, pretty straightforward, and I think that, in itself, becomes a danger because I think by getting a sense that it’s not real, that it’s digital, I think very often takes the fear factor out of it”.
He continued the thought with a simple test that comes from experience on set. “I haven’t seen a really scary movie in a long time where maybe the explosions are too big for someone to actually survive. When it’s actually shot real, there’s a sense of that”. The point is not a nostalgic wish to turn back the clock. It is a reminder that the more tactile something feels, the more your stomach flips.
Scott does not call CGI the enemy. He calls poor planning the real problem. In a recent interview he underlined that view with a blunt warning. “The idea of visual effects is a marvelous tool. It’s a tool. It should not be a repair bill for a badly made movie. And that’s where your budget shoots [up]–when you haven’t got it right in-camera. Visual effects are an enhancement and should be where you are saving money, rather than having to spend more money to repair a badly planned movie. And the problem is, the tendency of that is happening more often.” That is the heart of his caution about today’s workflows.
You can see how this lands in his own films. He is known for building large portions of sets so actors have something to touch and navigate. The digital work then extends what is already there. That balance keeps performers grounded and helps editors cut scenes that feel immediate rather than floaty.
The lesson for anyone making movies is straightforward. Use the computer to reinforce what the camera already captured. Treat the shot you get on the day as the spine. If something must be invented later, make sure the choice serves feeling first. That way the elaborate image still carries weight.
Scott’s warning is easy to summarize. The danger is not the software. The danger is forgetting that audiences can sense when something is real enough to hurt. When a film keeps that truth in mind, the fear and wonder both land where they should.