I totally agree with the first paragraph and the idea behind the second, but here's where I differ and what it made me think about. So, okay, it could be better, some might say. Conversely, I listed my reasons earlier for why I think it avoided the pitfalls that plague most de-aging effects. Those reasons are practical (lighting, shot selection, dialogue delivery), so while I'm at, let me state the reason I think it will age just fine. Yes, I know it's 2017 and certain (flawed) technology is available, but I think the way it looks is actually very classical, somehow very much in line with Lynch's aesthetic as well as that of the original series. Had modern technology not been available, Lynch simply would have trotted out Sheryl Lee in a wig and makeup without any CG enhancement, and it would have still gotten the message across and aged perfectly fine, as various primitive effects have throughout the first century of film, including that superimposed face in Lost Highway. The way it was done looks more "realistic" than simple wigs and makeup, at the very least, without heading completely into the realm of digital fakery, which as I've said in a previous post was still not perfect in 2017. I can still see and feel the real Laura, rather than a completely digital facsimile, and I think that's great. Now, would it be cool or more uncanny if she was this perfect, digital creation? Yes, of course I'm open to that, and it may even fit in line with the idea that one can never go back, that she can only be conjured through completely digital means. That would work on that intellectual, thematic level, but then again it still does by having an aged Sheryl Lee attempt to portray her younger self. It's very human and haunting and strange and beautiful to me.Rainwater wrote:I love (very nearly all) the special effects and their aesthetic. Especially everything to do with the Lodge/the supernatural, which is what most of the discussion usually revolves around, as I understand. There was never any "adjustment period" for me either, I just thought they were very cool visuals, and frequently beautiful, and fit into the work perfectly. (Well okay, I was jarred slightly by the look of Ruth's corpse at first, but that's pretty much it)
I never got, and I think I never will get, where the people who are calling them "bad" are coming from at all. At least no sooner than they'll be able to explain what's bad about them, exactly.
The only times when the effects bother me a little is when realism is actually something they're striving for. I agree with Mr. Reindeer about the Laura in the woods scene, one of the rare times I wished some more work had been put into it, or that it had been done differently. Of course it doesn't really ruin anything, but yeah. I think it won't age too well, unlike all the surreal stuff, which is pretty much timeless.
It's interesting that people are split on this. I thought it looked incredible and uncanny on first viewing, and others thought it was actual footage, while others were taken out of the moment by it and wish it was better. Interestingly, I know one person who didn't even realize any de-aging was applied, which I believe speaks to the subtlety of the effect, which is what I like about it.