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Reply #90 posted 01/23/17 2:46pm

Ingela

EmmaMcG said:

Ingela said:




Did you not read the link above? Computer generated movies are the most popular today. They earn more money than traditional movies today. Why would they step back on THE MOST FINANCIALLY PROFITABLE mode of filmmaking today?
I do t think that's the problem at all. But I do agree with everyone that it's still all about who's hands it's in. The quality of the writing, the arch, the authenticity and how they put it together regardless of the media used.

But I do see people still have preconceived ideas and also question the aesthetic of the media. And people who just don't care for biopics altogether. It's all good. It's cool to see people's reactions.

I'm curious as to how this thread is seen ten years from now when it's been done and old hat. And the question passé. I'm pretty sure I know how. With a chuckle as to how naive some people were. But still, curious non the less.


Computer generated movies about talking toys and forgetful fish are among the most profitable movies. The reason for that is that they attract a wide audience of mostly children and their parents. Who is going to go see a Prince biopic? Animated or not. Considerably less people than would go to see something like Toy Story or Ice Age. Think about it. Who would go see it? Most people on the org probably would. But that's not enough to recoup a potential 150 - 200 million dollar budget. The sad truth is that most young people today would struggle to name 5 Prince songs so why would they go see a movie about someone they don't care about? The biggest budget you could expect for a Prince biopic would be at most 30 or 40 million. And you're not making a computer generated movie for that.

Like I said, it's a nice idea. But it's not financially feasible because the audience isn't there to warrant such a big budget.



The highest grossing movie of all time is still a computer generated movie in Avatar. It's not like that was a sure thing either. And as more films are made the technology pricing goes down.

And when Pirple Rain was released its not like he was anymore well-known as he is today. Actually far less well known. So money is not going to be the deterrent whatsoever. It would actually be cheaper to recreate th 80's, the
Rolling Stone concer and the SuperBowl extravaganza using CGI than any other media.

I personally think that the biggest constraints will not be technology or or finances, but as we've read on this thread. Older people's misplaced misconceptions or preconceptions of one art form to another based more on generational biases than anything else.
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Reply #91 posted 01/23/17 3:14pm

EmmaMcG

Ingela said:

EmmaMcG said:



Computer generated movies about talking toys and forgetful fish are among the most profitable movies. The reason for that is that they attract a wide audience of mostly children and their parents. Who is going to go see a Prince biopic? Animated or not. Considerably less people than would go to see something like Toy Story or Ice Age. Think about it. Who would go see it? Most people on the org probably would. But that's not enough to recoup a potential 150 - 200 million dollar budget. The sad truth is that most young people today would struggle to name 5 Prince songs so why would they go see a movie about someone they don't care about? The biggest budget you could expect for a Prince biopic would be at most 30 or 40 million. And you're not making a computer generated movie for that.

Like I said, it's a nice idea. But it's not financially feasible because the audience isn't there to warrant such a big budget.



The highest grossing movie of all time is still a computer generated movie in Avatar. It's not like that was a sure thing either. And as more films are made the technology pricing goes down.

And when Pirple Rain was released its not like he was anymore well-known as he is today. Actually far less well known. So money is not going to be the deterrent whatsoever. It would actually be cheaper to recreate th 80's, the
Rolling Stone concer and the SuperBowl extravaganza using CGI than any other media.

I personally think that the biggest constraints will not be technology or or finances, but as we've read on this thread. Older people's misplaced misconceptions or preconceptions of one art form to another based more on generational biases than anything else.


Avatar was a science fiction movie made by the guy who directed Aliens and The Terminator. Not only that but it came out at a time when 3D was being touted as the next big thing and Avatar was heavily promoted as one if the most important movies ever made for this reason. It was always guaranteed to be a massive success.

If you look at how much money the average biopic makes at the box office, it's not much. Ray is one of the biggest and that only made around 120 million. And that had a big star in the lead role. Get on Up just barely made its shooting budget back and when you factor in advertising and other expenses, it actually made a loss. If done well, and I'm talking about Oscar worthy quality and all the promotional buzz that would bring, a Prince biopic would be looking at a box office return of something in the region of 50 - 60 million. To try to make a CG movie on a budget where that would be a success would be near impossible. And you might say he's more well known now than he was when Purple Rain came out but the difference is that back then a movie would make its money on an extended run in cinemas. During the course of the movies run, the album came out and he became a mega star. These days if a movie doesn't have a great opening weekend it's considered a flop and cinemas pull it from their schedule to make room for whatever movie is out the following week. And sadly, Prince isn't here to release a promotional tie-in album to generate buzz for the movie. So unfortunately, the movie won't be the hit Purple Rain was. Hence, no studio will back such an ambitious project because there's no guarantee of a return on their investment.

Not to mention the fact that a movie about the life of someone who was as private as Prince would be nigh on impossible to write accurately so even if there was some billionaire out there willing to back it, the movie would probably be terrible anyway and would end up being a disaster.
[Edited 1/23/17 15:17pm]
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Reply #92 posted 01/23/17 3:29pm

EmmaMcG

To answer the original question, yes, I do think a CG biopic would be the best way to go about it. However, I don't think such a thing will actually happen for the reasons I've listed. But hypothetically speaking, it would be the best option. You would only need a soundalike rather than a lookalike, you would be free to go down a more surreal route if you wish for certain scenes. And it would be different. And that would be perfect for a Prince movie.
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Reply #93 posted 01/23/17 11:20pm

jaawwnn

Someone pitch what this biopic would be about, what part of his life? You'd never fit the whole thing into a full movie, not without it sucking, so pitch your CGI biopic. I could get behind it with a decent idea. Frankly, it'd have to be something pretty good because the Prince at his peak biopic was already made with Purple Rain and while that film might not be factually correct it captured Prince's essence which is more than most biopics manage.

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Reply #94 posted 01/24/17 6:12am

EmmaMcG

jaawwnn said:

Someone pitch what this biopic would be about, what part of his life? You'd never fit the whole thing into a full movie, not without it sucking, so pitch your CGI biopic. I could get behind it with a decent idea. Frankly, it'd have to be something pretty good because the Prince at his peak biopic was already made with Purple Rain and while that film might not be factually correct it captured Prince's essence which is more than most biopics manage.



For me, a Prince movie covering his split from WB, the name change and marriage/divorce, culminating in his early 21St century Renaissance would make for the best choice of setting. Open with a montage of his achievements up to Diamonds and Pearls, then the story starts in 1992 and runs to 2004 or so, ending on a positive note with the successful Musicology tour. There's great scope for drama there in the mid to late 90's, it would allow some of his more obscure 90's songs to reach an audience who only know him for Purple Rain and having it end on a positive note sends the people home happy. They could even show a section of a live show from the Musicology tour during the closing credits.
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Reply #95 posted 01/24/17 6:26am

iZsaZsa

avatar

EmmaMcG said:

jaawwnn said:

Someone pitch what this biopic would be about, what part of his life? You'd never fit the whole thing into a full movie, not without it sucking, so pitch your CGI biopic. I could get behind it with a decent idea. Frankly, it'd have to be something pretty good because the Prince at his peak biopic was already made with Purple Rain and while that film might not be factually correct it captured Prince's essence which is more than most biopics manage.



For me, a Prince movie covering his split from WB, the name change and marriage/divorce, culminating in his early 21St century Renaissance would make for the best choice of setting. Open with a montage of his achievements up to Diamonds and Pearls, then the story starts in 1992 and runs to 2004 or so, ending on a positive note with the successful Musicology tour. There's great scope for drama there in the mid to late 90's, it would allow some of his more obscure 90's songs to reach an audience who only know him for Purple Rain and having it end on a positive note sends the people home happy. They could even show a section of a live show from the Musicology tour during the closing credits.

headbang
What?
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Reply #96 posted 01/24/17 6:32am

Ingela

jaawwnn said:

Someone pitch what this biopic would be about, what part of his life? You'd never fit the whole thing into a full movie, not without it sucking, so pitch your CGI biopic. I could get behind it with a decent idea. Frankly, it'd have to be something pretty good because the Prince at his peak biopic was already made with Purple Rain and while that film might not be factually correct it captured Prince's essence which is more than most biopics manage.




It's a huge story and I agree that one biopic could not possibly cover everything. I once said it shout either be in three parts, or a mini series.

..and there's also many many different tones a filmmaker can tell it. So I don't think there could be ONE definitive biopic.
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Reply #97 posted 01/24/17 6:38am

daKotaGeNesis

Ingela said:

^
Lol three people's opinions is all we need to know. You have an opinion cool. Somehow you think that's that. The definitive opinion by you end of story.

Glad to hear your opinion though. Very informative.

If it just an opinion then why are you getting so upsettingly emotional about it?
Chill and enjoy life chica!
[Edited 1/24/17 6:39am]
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Reply #98 posted 01/24/17 7:08am

Ingela

daKotaGeNesis said:

Ingela said:

^
Lol three people's opinions is all we need to know. You have an opinion cool. Somehow you think that's that. The definitive opinion by you end of story.

Glad to hear your opinion though. Very informative.

If it just an opinion then why are you getting so upsettingly emotional about it?
Chill and enjoy life chica!
[Edited 1/24/17 6:39am]



Me?? It's some of you. Act like you dictate and speak for EVERYONE.

Take you own advice.
lol
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Reply #99 posted 01/25/17 6:17am

thesoulbrother

avatar

Fuck. No.

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Reply #100 posted 01/25/17 11:18am

daKotaGeNesis

Ingela said:

daKotaGeNesis said:


If it just an opinion then why are you getting so upsettingly emotional about it?
Chill and enjoy life chica!
[Edited 1/24/17 6:39am]



Me?? It's some of you. Act like you dictate and speak for EVERYONE.

Take you own advice.
lol

How do you know I don't take my own advice? I only can tell you what I see on here.
I'm in a happy and loving mood.
It's just all the talks about a biopic of every celebrity bores me to death. It is like you guys ran out of a creative way to entertain an audience.
In my opinion, I would sleep through a biopic that has a poor quality, a poor plot and is done on something we all know about.
As a member of the audience, I want to be entertained. I would not spend money on something that doesn't move me. Just saying!
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Reply #101 posted 01/25/17 3:03pm

ldmendes

avatar

Nope no no no!

b15871a3e1f33bf7901a6765284de8a1.jpg

[Edited 1/25/17 15:27pm]

..Hello, who is it?
Yes, this is a prettyman, Princey!
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Reply #102 posted 01/25/17 5:31pm

alandail

EmmaMcG said:

Marrk said:

No matter how good CGI people get, you'll always have the 'Uncanny Valley' effect. Your brain will know it's not quite right, as you'll know that person is dead. Especially if you're a fan of said person, it'll never work for fans.

That being said, I've heard of people not realising Peter Cushing was CGI in Rogue One.

Yeah, Rogue One is the best example of that technology. Peter Cushing looked great in it. I wouldn't say it was perfect but it's as good as can be achieved. The thing is, he was a minor character with 5 minutes screen time. And it cost a fortune. So, doing a movie where the lead character is done that way would be far too expensive, even IF the technology was available to make it look perfect.

The technology is only going to get better and cheaper.

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Reply #103 posted 01/28/17 5:07pm

GustavoRibas

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It would suck

And very few people would be able to do a real good biopic with actors.

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Reply #104 posted 01/31/17 3:36pm

Telecaster5

avatar

No way.

I can only wish for a really nice documentary with real footage as they did with Janis, Amy and Nina Simone. No actors, no impersonators, no CGIs.

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Reply #105 posted 01/31/17 7:39pm

Namelessfan

I say no; absolutely not. I'm sure that you could make a quality product but I would have no interest in viewing it. I'd rather see the real videos even if they are blurry because...they are real. I don't think you could improve on that.

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Reply #106 posted 01/31/17 8:18pm

Ugot2shakesumt
hin

GustavoRibas said:

It would suck


And very few people would be able to do a real good biopic with actors.



No that's the point of having it CGI. No actor can do him justice. And you can take it further creatively and artistically than an actor pretending to be Prince. He's way too iconic to have someone pretending to be him. Have you seen how bad all the Prince impersonators are?

I think it just has to be a work of art in its own right. I think it can be an artistic gem done right. Like a Fantasia.

Anyone see the Beatles in cartoon form
In Yellow Submarine? I just mean it can take his colors and his style and just make
It pop.
[Edited 1/31/17 20:24pm]
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Reply #107 posted 01/31/17 8:27pm

Ugot2shakesumt
hin

Namelessfan said:

I say no; absolutely not. I'm sure that you could make a quality product but I would have no interest in viewing it. I'd rather see the real videos even if they are blurry because...they are real. I don't think you could improve on that.




Well I think it would be more for the general audience that knows just a little about his life. It would be an introduction to a lot of people especially now with a new generation that doesn't know him like you do.
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Reply #108 posted 02/01/17 1:14pm

jaawwnn

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

GustavoRibas said:

It would suck

And very few people would be able to do a real good biopic with actors.

No that's the point of having it CGI. No actor can do him justice. And you can take it further creatively and artistically than an actor pretending to be Prince. He's way too iconic to have someone pretending to be him. Have you seen how bad all the Prince impersonators are? I think it just has to be a work of art in its own right. I think it can be an artistic gem done right. Like a Fantasia. Anyone see the Beatles in cartoon form In Yellow Submarine? I just mean it can take his colors and his style and just make It pop. [Edited 1/31/17 20:24pm]

But you're missing the point of acting. It's an actor doing a version of Prince, it's not a documentary with an impersonator trying to pass it off as real. It's a film, the audience know it's a film. They still make films about Elvis and the Beatles.

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Reply #109 posted 02/02/17 10:08am

Ingela

jaawwnn said:



Ugot2shakesumthin said:


GustavoRibas said:

It would suck


And very few people would be able to do a real good biopic with actors.



No that's the point of having it CGI. No actor can do him justice. And you can take it further creatively and artistically than an actor pretending to be Prince. He's way too iconic to have someone pretending to be him. Have you seen how bad all the Prince impersonators are? I think it just has to be a work of art in its own right. I think it can be an artistic gem done right. Like a Fantasia. Anyone see the Beatles in cartoon form In Yellow Submarine? I just mean it can take his colors and his style and just make It pop. [Edited 1/31/17 20:24pm]

But you're missing the point of acting. It's an actor doing a version of Prince, it's not a documentary with an impersonator trying to pass it off as real. It's a film, the audience know it's a film. They still make films about Elvis and the Beatles.



Still those are always pretty freaking bad. Always freaks me out seeing actors pretending to be people we know and love I. A serious way. Far freakier than I. A skit, comedy or as a piece of art in itself. That's why I think CGI is the way to go.

I do see that some people have a limited grasp as to what the medium can do or have preconceived notions as to what it is. The reality is that it's a nascent art form that's just learning to walk and this upcoming generation will come up with a lot of interesting things it can do with it. And I can't wait to see what people do with it.
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Reply #110 posted 02/02/17 10:30am

DarkKnight1

avatar

Hell. F'n. No.

(Insert something clever here)
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Reply #111 posted 02/02/17 10:43am

ForeverPaisley

hmph!

Dance where y'are, just groove y'all.
canada
Commemorative Guitar Picks, Buttons & Magnets - check Marketplace 4 info
wave thumbs up!
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Reply #112 posted 02/02/17 10:59am

Ingela

Lol
You guys remind me of who people reacted when electric guitars and synthesizers first popped up on records. The artists lived them, but old timers and purists howled and raised their noses!

Let's remember Prince made a name for himself early on by embracing technology. Embracing drum machines and synthesizers and electric guitars.

The Beatles were some of the first to take advantage of the studio and all the new technologies available. All of the revolutionary artist did as well.
lol
[Edited 2/2/17 11:02am]
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Reply #113 posted 02/02/17 11:02am

morningsong

Distant lowers the creepiness factor. If there's a CGI biopic to be made do Liberace, it's been over 30 years and I think he'd be interesting to an audience that didn't know him. I say that because there is already plans to CGI him. I don't even think people would be ready for a CGI version of Sammy Davis or Frank Sinatra, not enough emotional distance.

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Reply #114 posted 02/02/17 11:12am

Ingela

morningsong said:

Distant lowers the creepiness factor. If there's a CGI biopic to be made do Liberace, it's been over 30 years and I think he'd be interesting to an audience that didn't know him. I say that because there is already plans to CGI him. I don't even think people would be ready for a CGI version of Sammy Davis or Frank Sinatra, not enough emotional distance.




Perhaps.
But I have a really good feeling, that as the artists in this medium develop, the technologies develop, that this will be [u]THE medium[/] for biopics exactly for that distancing effect. The same exact reason one man plays are done.
Not saying they're all gonna be good, we know there all far more hacks in any art than amazing ones, but I have a feeling that this will become the defecto way a lot of artists and historical figures will be realized.
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Reply #115 posted 02/02/17 11:23am

Ingela

Here is a trailer for a 2017 animated Vincen Van Gogh biopic. Tell me you wouldn't see this or not think it looks cool.


[Edited 2/2/17 11:27am]
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Reply #116 posted 02/02/17 1:18pm

MD431Madcat

avatar

confused NO

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Reply #117 posted 02/02/17 1:25pm

paisleypark4

avatar

Ingela said:

PeteSilas said:

nothing could be better than a well done documentary. Biopics are usually lame, great for the dilletante fans but awful for the people who've followed a figure for years.

Yeah but they are two different audiences. A narrow minority vs a mass audience. Even while he was alive there's been skits on tv about him, his likeness in magazines and culture have been everywhere so it's a little myopic to say that's all it could/should be. It's about entertainment, that's the business he was in. Heck Purple Rain was in some ways a biopic so that question is moot. There's been biopics and cartoons and skits and books and plays for Mozart, Beethoven, Lincoln hunting vampires, Evita and so on.. so it's happening, end of story. Period. My thing is that this relatively new media could create something really entertaining and in a way far more authentically. I think it could be breathtaking.

I can see that. Before Charlie murphy came out on the Prince tea we really had no idea any of that even happened (even though it was made in a comedic fashion). Still to this day we are seeing and reading about things from people who were around him that we never knew before.

I think given it was a four hour piece put together they can really get a thing going, because when it comes to Prince, you really cant leave anything out. It would have to be extremely detailed and put together with the highest regard.

Straight Jacket Funk Affair
Album plays and love for vinyl records.
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Reply #118 posted 02/02/17 1:26pm

paisleypark4

avatar

Ingela said:

Here is a trailer for a 2017 animated Vincen Van Gogh biopic. Tell me you wouldn't see this or not think it looks cool. [Edited 2/2/17 11:27am]

Wow this looks beautifully put together

Straight Jacket Funk Affair
Album plays and love for vinyl records.
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Reply #119 posted 02/02/17 2:34pm

jaawwnn

Ingela said:

jaawwnn said:

But you're missing the point of acting. It's an actor doing a version of Prince, it's not a documentary with an impersonator trying to pass it off as real. It's a film, the audience know it's a film. They still make films about Elvis and the Beatles.

Still those are always pretty freaking bad. Always freaks me out seeing actors pretending to be people we know and love I. A serious way. Far freakier than I. A skit, comedy or as a piece of art in itself. That's why I think CGI is the way to go. I do see that some people have a limited grasp as to what the medium can do or have preconceived notions as to what it is. The reality is that it's a nascent art form that's just learning to walk and this upcoming generation will come up with a lot of interesting things it can do with it. And I can't wait to see what people do with it.

Off the top of my head, Nowhere Boy was excellent and Elvis and Nixon was great fun.

Ingela said:

Here is a trailer for a 2017 animated Vincen Van Gogh biopic. Tell me you wouldn't see this or not think it looks cool. [Edited 2/2/17 11:27am]

If you can get the estate to agree to someone with a risky vision like that i'd be all for it.

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