Five Favorite CGI Visual Worlds

Computers are now more important in cinema than celluloid, and binary code is replacing real sets, some films eschew sets all together and use actors in front of a green screen preferring to create the visuals of the film in a computer, i don't resent this change, and i think it brings a fun visual flair to modern movies that used to be missing. Films made in this way are often visually stunning, eccentric and artistic. I am here listing my five favorite CGI environments, excluding animated films, because that's a post for another time.

• Gravity: This is a film which was created almost entirely in a computer, and yet it is almost impossible to believe that this film wasn't actually shot in space, the film's vision of outer space is so complete and detailed, and the CGI environment matches so perfectly to the lighting and cinematography used on the film, that the film is a seamless blend of live action and a visual environment. Gravity is a film created as much in a computer as on a sound stage, and the film is visually striking and highly detailed.

• 300: Another adaptation of a Frank Miller classic, this film was again shot on a digital backlot, and the film goes so far as to replicate various cells from the comic book frame for frame, the film creates a visual world that is highly defined, the geography of the battle field is strongly located, and the film is stronger because of this. The film uses a highly unique colour processing and the color red is used as a marker in the film, 300 is a film which is visually highly unique and which has inspired many other Hollywood productions.
  

• Mary Poppins: true, this is a film which is significantly older than the others on this list, and it is the only to use the sodium screen technique, Disney was a pioneer in this method, and this was one of the first films to use any kind of superimposition, and the film allows the characters to jump into Bert's street paintings, and for the characters to interact with the environment, the scene is iconic, and differs from the other selections shown here in that it was created without the use of a computer, and in that it's use was pioneering.
  

• Alice in Wonderland: This film differs significantly from the others on this list, as it incorporates the films characters into the environment, the film features some characters who are entirely animated, and others who are live action, but altered or colored with CGI. The film is visually a treat, and the production used sets covered with green screen, allowing the characters to interact with their environments. The environments used in this film are dark yet colorful, and the film uses the CGI to it's full extent, and created a world impossible without the use of a computer.
  

• The Matrix: The Wachowski's invented a CGI technique called bullet time, using cameras mounted 360° round the performer able to capture from any angle, over a green screen, so that a digital environment can be superimposed onto the action, and the performance can be sped up or slowed down as needed, this technique has been much imitated and copied in the years that have followed, however the technique is best seen in it's original form, and here the effect is used to show the nature of time in this stimulated reality.