I’ve been watching the best parts of GB1 and GB2 recently…obviously the parts when the proton packs are being used. I’ve thought of this before but is it me or does the stream from GB1 look waaay better than GB2?? Which is surprising because of the difference in time period of special effects. I love both movies but sequels seem to fall short of the original and even the stream seems to disappoint :sigh:
I always thought the proton stream in GB1 looked better than GB2. The streams in the sequel don’t seem to have as much detail and seem more cartoony than the originals. They also seemed to have a lower frame rate than the originals.
Yeah, the GB2 streams remind me a bit of intentional marker-scribbles.
GB1 seems to have more flare and force
Some people just don’t get it
Absolutely the GB1 streams look better. It also seems to me that the streams in GB1 appear to illuminate the people and objects they pass near, while the GB2 streams look laid on with little regard to lighting effects. The GB1 streams “wiggled” erratically but also with a purpose— usually the result of the recoil when the wand fires and the wand wavering up or down which then causes a wave-like disturbance through the whole stream, very elegant. The GB2 streams flail around with no rhyme or reason, conveniently shooting out of control when the script calls for the character to have bad aim, but other times flowing in mostly a straight line when it’s time to trap the ghost.
If a future movie is made, I hope they use GB1 as a reference for the streams moreso than GB2.
yeah, what kevin said!
Clap Clap Clap couldnt have said it better.
They had more dynamic shots of the streams in the first movie as well. I loved the shot of them shooting at Gozer towards the camera. Or even how they animated the streams destroying the dining room at the Sedgewick, they way you see the stream eating away at the bar when Egon is doing his Tex impersonation.
This is a great topic, glad others have noticed. When I was younger I too noticed there seemed to be a lack of detail on the GB II streams but not by much. The blue lighting/electricity that wraps around the orange stream seems less abundant when compared to the GB I stream which has it wrapping around in different configurations. Also on the GB II stream there are white oval-shaped particles that travel along the stream in pairs, something the GB I stream didn’t feature or at least not as noticeable.
In terms of how the streams themselves moved, I think its dependent on the script but for the most part they wiggled and wobbled the same. There was more of a lasso effect in GB II, mostly when Nunzio Scolari gets caught by Peter. The stream tangles the ghosts rather than creates a bubble of knots the ghosts are trapped in as seen in GB: TVG. In fact I think the streams in the game are more like those in GB II. They are color correct, right movement and less blue lightening.
I will admit that in some scenes in GB II the stream lacked and this could be attributed to the various SFX artists working on them. For example, when they fire upon the museum slime shell. In the shots where we see all four GB’s facing the camera the streams look flat and the only illumination given off by them is the flash bulb in the muzzle and set lighting. The rays of white light emanating from the muzzle also flicker on and off in that sequence. However when they first fire in the courtroom the streams glow and have a sharpness to them that really helps the eye believe they are physically in the shot rather than a layer on top.
The only time the stream looked really bad in GB I was the shot right after Ray’s stream hits the wall when Slimer is eating from the food cart. The explosion and scorch line were practical effects but when Ray’s stream ‘traces along’ the scorch it looks very red and cartoony as apposed to the prior shots.
I remember what was written in the CineFX magazine for GB II. The artists said they had to come up with something new for the streams and left their overall look unchanged but gave them more character, like the lasso effect seen on the Scolari Brothers. Let’s face it, key special effects in the 80’s never looked exactly the same in the sequels. In Back to the Future the time warp/arcs of energy that surrounded the DeLorean where blue and white then in parts II and III they introduced yellow and orange. Different artists, different ideas is what it comes down too. At least they stayed cool looking overall, what counts I believe.
All in all GB 1 was a better movie in terms of production, effects and story. So I’d have to agree along with the points others have made that the streams in the first ghostbusters were better.
When I started doing the effects tests for Spilled Milk I consciously wanted to emulate the first movie’s streams as much as I could. I noticed a lot of fan films went for the GB2 look, and I can’t blame them. I mean, The damn videogame from 2008 seemed to gun for the GB2 proton stream look too.
I think, for some reason or another, that a lot of the material that has followed in the franchise since GB2 has gone for the GB2 proton stream due to the iconic, red and blue look. I think GB2’s streams stick out more, but I think GB1’s are just cooler looking.
It’s just too bad that modern effects are almost completely done on computers now. No matter how good CGI gets, it still looks fake to me. Nothing beats the “soul” given to an effect when it’s done by the human hand. The proton streams in both movies had life to them because they were animated frame by frame by an effects animator. If and when they do Ghostbusters III, I would be totally stoked if they did the proton streams old school, by hand.
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As cool as that sounds for GB3, I doubt it. CGI IMO would take over the effects department of the movie. I hope that GB3 (if it happens) stays true to the comedy of the actors instead of the effects playing a large role in the comedy. I think that is what GB1 is great for in comparison to GB2. I believe that’s how Bill Murray feels in a statement I heard from him.
I think you guys are all nuts.
GB2 streams are vastly superior to GB1 streams.
We just don’t get to see them as much.
Hmmm… I dont know if I like the comparison shot. You should compare the “door swings both ways” shot of the proton stream to the “i hate jello” proton stream shot
Because it doesn’t support your opinion? lol
No. Just a weak comparison shot.
Go on.
