VFX Society Slams Oscar Jokes About ‘Cats,’ Says CGI ‘Will Not Compensate for a Story Told Badly

[Lifejumper]

Like Thor's computer-generated hammer raining down on his enemies, Hollywood's Visual Effects Society is speaking out against last night's Academy Awards telecast for making them the butt of a joke.

In a scathing statement, the group of more than 4,000 artisans expressed offense over the presentation of the Oscar for best visual effects — which featured "Cats" stars James Corden and Rebel Wilson decked out in fur suits, poking fun at their musical misfire on stage at the Dolby Theatre.

"Last night, in presenting the Academy Award for outstanding visual effects, the producers chose to make visual effects the punchline, and suggested that bad VFX were to blame for the poor performance of the movie 'Cats,'" the statement said. "The best visual effects in the world will not compensate for a story told badly. The Visual Effects Society is focused on recognizing, advancing and honoring visual effects as an art form — and ensuring that the men and women working in VFX are properly valued."

Click to shrink...

VFX Society Slams Oscar Jokes About ‘Cats,’ Says CGI ‘Will Not Compensate for a Story Told Badly’

Hollywood's Visual Effects Society is speaking out against last night's Academy Awards telecast for making them the butt of a joke.

www.google.com

Same VFX artist that worked on CATS also worked on 1917.

meow if old.

 

[Deleted member 17388]

They should have made a joke about Tom Hooper's bad management, VFX artists only did as directed.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Good - glad to see they've made a statement.

I think that having Corden and Wilson turn up on stage to take the piss out of their own film - and more specifically, the effects work they weren't responsible for - was absolutely disrespectful to the work of the VFX teams who were responsible for Cats. VFX teams can only do what they're requested to do, and what they have budget and time for, and for them to be turned into the butt of a joke after what appears to have been horrendous deadline issues (only reason I can think of for the post-launch "patch") is pathetic.

 

[lazygecko]

I don't agree that there should be some kind of stigma against criticising VFX because of the work put in. Ultimately, the blame lies with the direction and they were just delivering on the vision their client wanted. Same as the hideous/unsettling Sonic design.

 

[Deleted member 21411]

Figures the 2 worst parts of cats would be the ones to do this.

 

[plagiarize]

Even if the Cats were 100% photo realistic, this design would remain firmly in the uncanny valley. That's the issue. It's the design.

 

[Protome]

I for one am shocked that Corden and Wilson might do something so terribly unfunny.

 

[Grenchel]

Its insane how little respect VFX gets.

 

[Dennis8K]

VFX for Hollywood seems like such a thankless job.

"Thanks, our movie made 2 billion, you are fired"

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Those two can fuck right off.

 

[Deleted member 17388]

Another "great" Oscar moment:

 

[captainmal01]

I liked the cats' looks in the trailers, with great reviews on the writing, ditching Wilson and Corden, I probably would have gone and seen it.

 

[sirap]

Yeah Corden really needs to fuck off.

 

[Dan Thunder]

Remember seeing this at the time and thinking it's a shitty thing to do. Not only are you slating the people given a near impossible job thanks to the ridiculous way they went about the effects you're also criticising the people who did their best with the film. However it turned out I doubt anyone involved went in with the idea of making a terrible movie.

Really shitty thing for them to do and given that he wrote and starred in Horne & Corden who the fuck is James Corden to criticise anyone else's efforts?!

 

[CortexVortex]

The direction was the issue, not the VFX itself. It's sad to see that those people get mocked all the time.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Really shitty thing for them to do and given that he wrote and starred in Horne & Corden who the fuck is James Corden to criticise anyone else's efforts?!

Click to shrink...

Given his apparent attitude to the writers on his show, along with this and some other goss, I think Corden's reputation as a self-centred prick who takes no interest in the people who do the work on his stuff seems entirely deserved.

 

[Santerestil]

VFX for Hollywood is a thankless job.

Click to shrink...

Fixed.

 

[caliph95]

VFX for Hollywood seems like such a thankless job.

"Thanks, our movie made 2 billion, you are fired"

Click to shrink...

"Also your studio is broke and closed good luck paying those bills and thanks for the crunches"

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

Can't believe Corden would do something as unfunny, direspectful and ungrateful as this. It just doesn't add up.

/s

 

[Pluto]

I don't agree that there should be some kind of stigma against criticising VFX because of the work put in.

Click to shrink...

Of course not, if effects are bad they're bad an can be criticized and the Cats effects have been criticized but maybe don't do it at the Oscars. Bad acting is criticized too but they don't announce Razzie nominees and winners on the Oscar stage and make fun of them.

 

[NekoNeko]

i don't think anyone blames the workers. at least not anybody sane.

 

[Mr.Awesome]

I thought they had to release a patch for the movie because the effects were so bad

 

[shnurgleton]

I don't agree that there should be some kind of stigma against criticising VFX because of the work put in. Ultimately, the blame lies with the direction and they were just delivering on the vision their client wanted. Same as the hideous/unsettling Sonic design.

Click to shrink...

Even if the Cats were 100% photo realistic, this design would remain firmly in the uncanny valley. That's the issue. It's the design.

Click to shrink...

Yeh. I did not see this as a criticism of the VFX team. More a jab at how essentially idiotic Cats is and this adaptation in particular, and that responsibility falls on the producer and director. Folks on Twitter have a compulsion to seek out a persecuted little guy to defend in all circumstances, especially if the purported attacker is someone widely reviled like James Corden

 

[DIE BART DIE]

Corden being dismissive of people who work behind the scenes?

Eternal cunt.

 

[Grenchel]

I thought they had to release a patch for the movie because the effects were so bad

Click to shrink...

I think it was more that some effects weren't complete.

 

[Santos]

Fuck off Corden

 

[GamePnoy74]

Didn't the comedian presenters mocked most of the technical awards at the Oscars last Sunday...? They were a hit or a miss, I guess.

 

[Zaph]

Overpaid gluttons enriched and protected by pre-existing unionised structure making fun of one of the most exploited, overworked and underpaid parts of the industry? Yeah, sounds like Hollywood.

 

[metsallica]

I was disgusted by that segment during the show and I'm glad somebody finally stood up for the hundreds of artists doing their jobs. The failure of Cats is on Tom Hooper; period.

 

[gutter_trash]

VFX Society are too overly defensive/

if nobody speaks up towards bad direction, aren't the artists complicit?

there was that Cartoon Brew article that called Sonic fans as "Bullies and Trolls" for complaining about Sonic's inititail desing,
99% of the comments section slammd the author of that Cartoon Brew article because LOL the ininitial Sonic design was totally horrible, the redesign may save the movie.

so, yeah on topic. you got to be able to admit when you artistic and direction choices go wrong.

I don't anybody of any walks of life who like the Cats' character designs.

Sonic fans might have actually saved the Sonic The Hedgehog movie due to the push back that forced the studio to redesign. Those 5 million dollars of re-animation and re-shoot will have saved Sonic

=
link to shitty Cartoon Brew article; comments section are not having it from the author

Commentary: What Is The True Creative Cost Of Redoing 'Sonic The Hedgehog'?

Online trolls forced "Sonic the Hedgehog" to be remade even while it was still being made.

www.cartoonbrew.com

 

[Kernel]

Cats doesn't even have a story to tell.

 

[Soap]

I can't say I agree. If the visuals were good and in a good film then I doubt these people would be complaining. You can't separate VFC from the overall experience if it is an essential part of that film (see the recent planet of the apes films).

 

[Dennis8K]

Fuck off Corden

Click to shrink...

 

[Twstr709]

A great story wouldn't have saved Cats from bombing. Those designs were horrible.

 

[KillstealWolf]

Obligatory "James Corden should stay in the dumpster" gif

I feel sorry for VFX teams, when they do a great job, no one even recognises it's a VFX Shot (See Parasite, that wasn't a real house, that was a set, see more here: https://blog.frame.io/2020/01/13/parasite-design-and-vfx/) they only ever get called out when the VFX is terrible. And 90 percent of the time, it's due to a higher up making a bad decision (See Sonic, someone higher up signed off that original design, they did a good job the second time around after everyone Complained how awful it was.)

 

[formasymphonic]

Its insane how little respect VFX gets.

Click to shrink...

VFX for Hollywood seems like such a thankless job.

"Thanks, our movie made 2 billion, you are fired"

Click to shrink...

Absolutely these, which is crazy given how dependant on it the industry is, even for things that you wouldn't think need any vfx at all.

 

[Soj]

 

[The Boat]

Wait... that video in the tweet is the whole thing? I dislike Corden and Wilson, but am I missing something? I don't see how that little bit is even remotely about VFX. Surely there's something else.
Edit: Ah I read the quote in the article. Maybe put that in the OP?

 

[Kthulhu]

They should have made a joke about Tom Hooper's bad management, VFX artists only did as directed.

Click to shrink...

Is there more to this clip? I this didn't seem that bad.

 

[Deleted member 8852]

I feel bad for the people who worked on it, but the result looked horrifying and definitely wasn't worth working 80 hour workweeks on. (but then, nothing really is)

 

[Sagroth]

I never watch the Oscars (as a rule I avoid ads in my media as much as possible, so why willingly watch one that lasts hours?), but Corden and Wilson's segments were the worst parts of Cats by a rather sizeable margin, so they should probably shut the fuck up.

 

[Deleted member 44371]

I saw James Codron at a grocery store in Los Angeles yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn't want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, "Oh, like you're doing now?"
I was taken aback, and all I could say was "Huh?" but he kept cutting me off and going "huh? huh? huh?" and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like "Sir, you need to pay for those first." At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.
When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually "to prevent any electrical infetterence," and then turned around and winked at me. I don't even think that's a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

They should have made a joke about Tom Hooper's bad management, VFX artists only did as directed.

Click to shrink...

The same James Corden who advocated for his writers on the Late Show to get paid less?
Say it isn't so.

 

[LewieP]

The amount of work that went into something does not defend it from criticism.

The buck stops with the director, I'm sure there are many hardworking and talented artists who worked on that trainwreck of a movie. It is still a trainwreck of a movie, and it should be described as such.

"You just had to work on it. We had to watch it" applies here.

I still advocate for improved workers rights and protections, and would encourage unionisation efforts. Doesn't make Cats a movie I won't poke fun at.

To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing
Edit: Obviously James Cordon is a talentless pillock.

 

[Zaph]

The amount of work that went into something does not defend it from criticism.

The buck stops with the director, I'm sure there are many hardworking and talented artists who worked on that trainwreck of a movie. It is still a trainwreck of a movie, and it should be described as such.

"You just had to work on it. We had to watch it" applies here.

I still advocate for improved workers rights and protections, and would encourage unionisation efforts. Doesn't make Cats a movie I won't poke fun at.

To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.

Click to shrink...

Yeah all art is fair game, but they're not having the two walking punchlines dress up and present best director/score/screenplay. They're putting the stench of that film on the award given to the very bottom of the hollywood foodchain.

 

[Addleburg]

I think you can make fun of the vfx in a film without necessarily making fun of the team.

Although it shouldn't be, the vfx is synonymous with the look or art direction here, which was indeed baffling. I don't think anyone who isn't an asshole literally blames the overworked VFX team for the look and design of a star studded film helmed by an Oscar winning director.

 

[Border]

Is there more to this clip? I this didn't seem that bad.

Click to shrink...

When they walk out they say, "As cast members of the movie Cats, nobody understands more than us the importance of good visual effects." It's said and emphasized in way that sarcastically implies Cats had bad visual effects.

For the VFX Society to whine about this just makes them seem over-sensitive and defensive though. While the ceremony isn't exactly the roast-fest that the Golden Globes have become, presenters traditionally do crack jokes about some of the year's biggest turkeys.

 

[gaogaogao]

I dont think theres a way to make that look good imo

 

[LukeOP]

Avatar says otherwise.

But jokes aside, the party involved should apologize at the very least.

 

[Bear]

Not the VFX folks' faults that James Corden sucks shit.