"It's impossible for the eye to calculate how many orcs are on screen" -- a fascinating article from the CBC on using special effects to make a movie look cool, instead of real. It's such an interesting question -- why is it that some elaborate computer generated scenes are so flat and uninspiring, when the most obvious fakery can be beautiful, or hilarious? This also made me think of Quentin Tarantino's amazing use of fake stunts, animation, and cinema verite to convey violent imagery in different ways in Kill Bill -- a movie where the most fake parts become funny and the least fake parts are uncomfortably realistic. Hmmmmm...