The Pirates Trilogy Is Pure Bliss

[00:00] one of my favorite things to do in film

[00:02] criticism is to re-watch an old movie

[00:04] that I used to have very strong opinions

[00:06] about one way or another to see if I

[00:08] still feel the same way I've been

[00:09] meaning to do this with the Pirates of

[00:11] the Caribbean Trilogy the first three

[00:13] movies directed by Gore verbinski for a

[00:15] while now because those movies seem to

[00:16] have reputations that are set in stone

[00:19] everybody loves the first movie because

[00:21] it's a lean little action adventure

[00:22] movie with zero fat on it a perfect

[00:24] movie that doesn't require any work from

[00:26] the audience to enjoy it's got romance

[00:28] it's got action it's got comedy it's the

[00:31] ultimate throw it on when you're tired

[00:32] movie and you will be teleported two

[00:34] hours into the future completely

[00:36] refreshed and then there's the two

[00:37] sequels which are really one long movie

[00:39] that you need to set aside an entire

[00:41] evening to enjoy and which require you

[00:43] to bust out a notepad to keep track of

[00:44] all the characters but you know what I

[00:46] think we were spoiled in the 2000s in

[00:49] the 2000s we were getting big

[00:50] blockbuster movies directed by weird

[00:52] otour filmmakers that came out of

[00:54] nowhere literally every year movies that

[00:56] were wildly tonally different well made

[00:59] and memorable now I don't want to

[01:00] romanticize the past as if all the

[01:02] movies back then were great they weren't

[01:04] but when looking back at these two

[01:06] movies movies that have been widely

[01:07] derided for two decades watching them in

[01:10] the context of today's media landscape

[01:11] is a very different experience and

[01:14] actually I think if they had come out

[01:15] today they would be some of the most

[01:16] celebrated Blockbusters of the year I

[01:19] think the best way to address why people

[01:21] didn't connect with these movies as much

[01:22] as they did with the first one is by

[01:24] answering the question what do each of

[01:26] the main characters want in the first

[01:28] movie that question is really easy to

[01:30] answer will wants to save Elizabeth

[01:31] because he loves her what's his name

[01:33] also wants to save Elizabeth Elizabeth

[01:35] is just trying to survive but then wants

[01:36] to save will Barbosa wants to collect

[01:38] the Aztec gold so that he can eat an

[01:40] apple again and Jack Wants Revenge on

[01:42] Barbosa for initiating a mutiny against

[01:44] him pretty simple stuff okay now what do

[01:47] the characters want in the two sequels

[01:49] well Cutler Beckett wants will to steal

[01:51] Jack Sparrow's Compass so that he can

[01:53] use it to find Davy Jones's heart so he

[01:55] can use that to control Davey Jones

[01:56] himself which will give the East India

[01:58] Company total control of the seeds Jack

[02:00] Sparrow wants to escape the bargain he

[02:02] made with Davey Jones but fails to do it

[02:03] dies comes back to life and then wants

[02:05] to get Davey Jones's heart so that he

[02:07] can replace Jones as the captain of the

[02:09] Flying Dutchman and live forever we'll

[02:11] turn her again just wants to save

[02:12] Elizabeth at the start but then also

[02:14] wants to free his father from Davey

[02:15] Jones's crew which leads to him scheming

[02:17] to take control of the Black Pearl

[02:19] because it's the only ship faster than

[02:21] the Dutchman but when Matt fails he

[02:22] schemes with the bad guys to settle the

[02:24] Pirates on the promise of securing

[02:25] Elizabeth and his father's safety

[02:27] Elizabeth wants to save will at first

[02:28] but then she wants to get revenge on

[02:29] Cutler Beckett for killing her father

[02:31] leading her to push the Brethren Court

[02:33] of pirates to war with the East India

[02:35] Company what's his name wants to regain

[02:36] his position in the British Navy and

[02:38] does so by giving Beckett the heart but

[02:40] then regrets having done this and tries

[02:41] to redeem himself by helping Elizabeth

[02:43] Escape resulting in his death Davey

[02:45] Jones wants to maintain control over the

[02:47] chest that contains his heart because he

[02:48] dies if anybody stabs it and he also

[02:50] wants to get back his ex-girlfriend the

[02:52] literal personification of the ocean

[02:53] Calypso Calypso also known as tiodama

[02:56] wants to get herself freed by the

[02:57] Brethren Court which cast Magic on her

[02:59] that found her to a human form so she

[03:01] needs the Brethren Court to get together

[03:03] declare war and then burn all the little

[03:05] items that they use to bind her so that

[03:07] she can be free again when she learns

[03:08] that Davey Jones was the one behind her

[03:10] imprisonment She Wants Revenge on him

[03:12] creating a Maelstrom that eventually

[03:13] consumes him Barbosa has been returned

[03:15] from the dead and kinda has to do what

[03:17] Calypso says so his goals are

[03:18] essentially just an extension of hers

[03:21] so you've got a pair of extremely

[03:24] hyperactive movies that have twice as

[03:26] many significant characters and almost

[03:28] all of them have their Central

[03:29] motivations and loyalties change

[03:31] completely over the course of the story

[03:32] which is just a lot for an audience to

[03:35] keep track of but in the context of

[03:37] today's media landscape where we have 20

[03:39] movies existing in the same universe

[03:41] where multiple monocultural franchises

[03:44] require audiences to be familiar with

[03:46] literally hundreds of characters the

[03:48] pirate sequels are damn near basic oh

[03:50] they're too long how dare you say that

[03:52] after your 13-hour stranger things binge

[03:55] foreign

[03:59] foreign

[04:06] Trends in the film industry over the

[04:08] last 10 years or so is the death of

[04:10] comedy films you know once upon a time a

[04:12] bunch of comedians would get together

[04:13] and make comedies or romantic comedies

[04:15] and they would be some of the most

[04:16] successful movies of the year do you

[04:18] remember that there's a lot of reasons

[04:20] for this decline though generally

[04:21] comedies are mid-budget and mid-budget

[04:23] movies as a whole have declined the last

[04:26] time a pure comedy movie cracked the top

[04:28] 10 highest grossing movies of the Year

[04:30] domestically was 2009 with the hangover

[04:33] yeah it's been more than a decade since

[04:36] a regular old comedy movie has been able

[04:37] to compete with the big noise action

[04:40] genre mashup roller coasters so most

[04:42] movies are now either made for five

[04:43] dollars in a dream or cost more than the

[04:45] GDP of some countries mid-budget movies

[04:47] on the other hand often made a lot of

[04:49] the revenue on DVD or Blu-ray sales

[04:51] which have dried up as a result of the

[04:53] rise of streaming at the same time the

[04:55] only companies that seem interested in

[04:56] pumping out comedy movies are those very

[04:59] same streaming services that killed them

[05:00] in the first place but to quote Quentin

[05:02] Tarantino on this Ryan Reynolds has made

[05:05] 50 million on this movie and 50 million

[05:07] dollars on that movie and 50 million

[05:09] dollars on the next movie for them I

[05:10] don't know what any of those movies are

[05:12] I've never seen them have you those

[05:14] movies don't exist in the Zeitgeist it's

[05:16] almost like they don't even exist but

[05:17] it's not just all of the factors I've

[05:19] listed out so far that's caused this

[05:20] it's that big noise movies are usually

[05:22] comedies too at least ostensibly

[05:25] Americans only go to the theaters a few

[05:27] times a year so I can't really fault

[05:28] them for choosing the movies where they

[05:30] get both jokes and explosions instead of

[05:32] just jokes the dominant player here is

[05:34] of course Marvel and I think the mcu's

[05:37] specific kind of humor is also partially

[05:39] responsible for killing even the lowest

[05:41] of low budget comedies parody movies in

[05:44] the 2000s we used to have this whole

[05:45] little industry of films that mocked

[05:47] whatever was popular at the box office

[05:49] they weren't that good but at least they

[05:51] existed like how could you ever make one

[05:53] today when the thing that is the most

[05:55] popular at the box office is the Marvel

[05:57] Cinematic Universe how could David

[05:58] Zucker ever make fun of this when it

[06:01] already looks like a David Zucker movie

[06:02] the point is every year while comedy

[06:04] movies don't make the the top 10 earning

[06:06] movies of the Year action comedies

[06:09] always do because when you break it down

[06:11] the biggest movies of the year are genre

[06:12] mashups but they usually only wear the

[06:14] clothes of other genres so to speak and

[06:17] this is why I want to get to the Pirates

[06:18] movies because while modern films have

[06:20] action scenes and they have comedy

[06:22] scenes they don't often have action

[06:25] comedy scenes what do I mean by that I

[06:27] mean scenes where the premise of the

[06:29] action is comedic where the comedy

[06:32] escalates over the course of the action

[06:34] scene where the comedy isn't just coming

[06:35] from characters making quippy one-liners

[06:38] over one another but where the visual

[06:39] presentation of the action is inherently

[06:42] funny itself so for the sake of this

[06:44] video I endured the two hour runtime of

[06:47] Ant-Man quantumania in one of the scenes

[06:49] you have two people with technology that

[06:51] can shrink or expand things fighting

[06:53] against Bill Murray at an alien bar and

[06:55] to get away they make a weird octopus

[06:57] turn really big and it eats Bill Murray

[06:59] this should be the funniest scene in the

[07:01] movie this should be the funniest scene

[07:02] of the year but the images are somehow

[07:04] so black land that they pass without

[07:06] leaving any impression whatsoever it

[07:08] just sort of happens and then they move

[07:10] on to the next thing the camera doesn't

[07:11] frame the action in a way that's comedic

[07:13] the scene doesn't mind the premise for

[07:15] every possible joke it could it's just

[07:18] there but the pattern this movie falls

[07:20] into that almost all of the Marvel

[07:21] movies not directed by James Gunn fall

[07:24] into is having the characters make jokes

[07:26] then have a beat of action then the

[07:28] characters make jokes about the action

[07:29] but the action isn't funny itself but

[07:32] the Pirates movies Peak action comedy

[07:36] [Applause]

[07:42] now despite the fact that the first

[07:44] movie is the one that pretty much

[07:45] everyone agrees is the best of the

[07:47] franchise going back and watching it now

[07:49] made me realize that the extremely

[07:51] kinetic action that the franchise is

[07:53] often remembered for didn't really

[07:55] originate in that movie it's Dead Man's

[07:57] Chest in at World's End where the

[07:59] Pirates films hit their action comedy

[08:01] Apex so let's establish a few things

[08:04] that good action comedy does the way the

[08:07] images are framed by the camera is the

[08:09] most essential part of this there are

[08:11] some kinds of shots that are just

[08:12] reliably funny I don't want to say

[08:14] inherently funny because comedy is

[08:16] subjective but if you have watched

[08:18] enough movies you will recognize them as

[08:20] moments where the filmmakers are trying

[08:22] to make you laugh for instance have

[08:24] something in the background of a shot

[08:25] undermine what is happening in the

[08:27] foreground gorbinski does this

[08:28] constantly in his movies in this shot in

[08:30] the Mexican for instance people steal

[08:32] Brad Pitt's car in the background while

[08:34] he is on the phone in the foreground in

[08:35] The Lone Ranger an intense fight in the

[08:37] foreground is undermined by Tonto

[08:39] climbing a ladder in the background in

[08:41] Dead Man's Chest Jack pulls himself out

[08:43] of an open grave in the foreground while

[08:45] a giant wheel rolls toward him in the

[08:47] background this is basically about

[08:49] putting the setup and the payoff of a

[08:51] joke in the same image and creating

[08:53] anticipation in the audience for it

[08:55] here's another instance of it in the

[08:56] same sequence while Elizabeth is in

[08:58] danger in the foreground the silly

[09:00] three-way fight on the big wheel Rolls

[09:02] by in the background which is another

[09:04] point about framing whenever things

[09:06] unexpectedly or quickly enter or leave

[09:09] the frame the audience interprets it as

[09:11] a joke this actually happens twice in

[09:13] that Elizabeth's scene first with the

[09:15] big wheel and then with the

[09:19] here's another example of it in another

[09:21] Gore verbinsky movie Rango

[09:23] [Music]

[09:26] oh no Elizabeth is in trouble again

[09:32] these kinds of jokes are enhanced by a

[09:35] particular kind of shot that often has

[09:36] very little camera movement and where

[09:38] the camera is held level to the ground

[09:40] this creates a kind of play-like look

[09:42] where things are able to come on or off

[09:44] stage comedy shots also often pull back

[09:46] to make the protagonists look small and

[09:48] when things are small our brains seem to

[09:50] think that that's funny like when will

[09:51] and what's his face are fighting here

[09:52] and the camera is pointing up at them

[09:54] they look awesome when it's a flat shot

[09:57] and they're far away it looks funny

[10:01] I often think about this shot from Dead

[10:03] Man's Chest where six men fall to their

[10:05] deaths you could film that scene in a

[10:07] hundred different ways to a hundred

[10:08] different effects like imagine if the

[10:10] camera showed us the POV of the people

[10:11] inside the cage in their final moments

[10:14] that would be horrifying but because we

[10:16] have an overhead shot it reads as a joke

[10:18] because look at them get small suckers

[10:22] all of these techniques and more are on

[10:25] constant display during both the major

[10:27] action comedy scenes of the sequels the

[10:29] rolling ball scene and the rolling wheel

[10:31] scene is there something just inherently

[10:32] funny about things rolling I mean I

[10:34] don't need to do any analysis to say

[10:36] that this shot is awesome another big

[10:37] part of this is the union between music

[10:39] and editing the Pirates movies have one

[10:41] of the liveliest soundtracks out there

[10:48] [Music]

[10:57] but it isn't just that the music is good

[11:00] it's that the music is used with a

[11:02] purpose and the movie is edited to the

[11:04] beat here Jack Sparrow swings up to the

[11:06] sails of a ship and the horns come in

[11:08] right when his feet touch the wood

[11:13] foreign

[11:14] [Applause]

[11:16] I know that this sounds like the most

[11:18] basic thing in the world but I actually

[11:19] think it is a hugely underrated reason

[11:21] for why people did not connect with the

[11:23] later Pirates movies that weren't helmed

[11:25] by verbinski the music in those movies

[11:27] does not as reliably capture the tone of

[11:30] the action and will often repurpose old

[11:32] themes without much care for what that

[11:33] music originally meant

[11:48] like the fourth movie opens with what

[11:50] should be a fanciful little Escape scene

[11:52] but the music has an unearned intensity

[11:54] to it

[12:02] but the original trilogy is Flawless on

[12:04] this note I can't describe it any other

[12:06] way than that when the music plays and

[12:07] I'm watching people swing swords I want

[12:09] to be swinging a sword too

[12:13] [Music]

[12:18] everything that I've described in this

[12:19] section though takes a lot of time

[12:21] planning and coordination to pull off

[12:23] and these are things that a lot of

[12:25] modern Productions struggle with for

[12:26] instance it's no surprise the action and

[12:28] The Comedy of a Marvel movie don't feel

[12:30] like they overlap because from a

[12:31] production perspective they pretty much

[12:33] never did Marvel often has second unit

[12:35] directors who handle the action while

[12:37] the credited directors work on the rest

[12:38] of the movie there's still many great

[12:40] examples of modern action comedy though

[12:42] particularly in animated features and

[12:45] last year's Best Picture Winner

[12:46] everything everywhere all at once was

[12:48] masterful at marrying action in comedy

[12:50] but I do think it's something that we're

[12:52] seeing less of in the Pirates Trilogy

[12:54] particularly Dead Man's Chest did it in

[12:56] ways that are still memorable and unique

[12:58] whatever qualms I have about the writing

[13:00] of these two movies are usually silenced

[13:02] when I'm watching three dudes fight on a

[13:05] giant wheel

[13:07] foreign

[13:07] [Music]

[13:15] that has permeated major Hollywood

[13:17] Blockbusters is an aversion to sex and

[13:20] sex appeal apart from the obligatory

[13:22] topless shot they put in the trailers

[13:23] that tricks women into thinking every

[13:25] action movie will somehow feel like

[13:26] Magic Mike big Blockbusters have become

[13:28] pretty sterile on this front this trend

[13:30] exists alongside an audience backlash

[13:33] against any depiction of sex in this

[13:35] kind of entertainment if you've glanced

[13:36] at Twitter in the last year or two

[13:38] you've almost certainly seen one viral

[13:40] tweet or another to crying the need for

[13:42] sex scenes in any movies whatsoever the

[13:44] typical reason given for this is that

[13:46] sex scenes are indulgent and they don't

[13:48] push the plot forward but I think those

[13:50] are overly General claims yes sex scenes

[13:53] can be indulgent but so can literally

[13:55] any other kind of scene we don't need to

[13:57] see John Wick kill every single henchman

[14:00] in every single John Wick movie but

[14:02] isn't that why you came if all that

[14:04] mattered to an audience was moving the

[14:07] plot forward then reading a Wikipedia

[14:08] summary of a movie would be the same as

[14:10] watching it and while sex scenes may not

[14:12] always push the plot forward it's

[14:14] obviously possible to write them in ways

[14:16] that do in ways that show us more about

[14:18] the characters sex is a fundamental part

[14:20] of our humanity and denying it a place

[14:22] in our stories makes them less authentic

[14:24] experiences but what's funniest to me

[14:26] about all this howling against sex

[14:28] scenes is that again it's happening at a

[14:31] time when those kinds of scenes are

[14:33] already largely absent according to a

[14:35] 2019 report in Playboy using IMDb data

[14:38] sex and Cinema in the 2010s was at its

[14:40] lowest point since the 1960s while sex

[14:43] scenes are more common in TV series

[14:44] they've disappeared from bigger

[14:46] Hollywood movies for a few reasons one

[14:48] of which is the same reason why there

[14:49] are fewer comedies now the death of the

[14:51] mid-budget movie mid-budget dramas were

[14:53] typically where this kind of scene lived

[14:55] and those have been dried out of the

[14:56] industry since tentpole films are made

[14:59] for all audiences all ages and all

[15:01] International markets sex and sex appeal

[15:03] have often been the first things that

[15:05] are tamped down on in order to broaden

[15:07] that appeal and then there's the Pirates

[15:09] movies so horny they need to be locked

[15:12] in a labyrinth what

[15:14] service

[15:15] this may I know yeah

[15:18] though this isn't without its drawbacks

[15:20] the one moment I genuinely despise from

[15:22] these movies is when Elizabeth gets

[15:24] upskirted at the start of the third film

[15:25] a throwaway joke that undermines her

[15:27] otherwise strong characterization I

[15:29] don't think I'm overstating things to

[15:31] say that Elizabeth Swann is a genre

[15:33] defining character what all action

[15:35] adventure heroines aspire to be just to

[15:37] give you an idea of how significant she

[15:39] is on the Wikipedia page for

[15:41] swashbucklers they give a list of 76

[15:43] examples of the archetype and while this

[15:44] is by no means a definitive list only

[15:47] six of the examples are women characters

[15:49] like Elizabeth are rare and when they

[15:51] are attempted they are rarely as well

[15:52] drawn as her she transcends all of the

[15:54] negative tropes typically associated

[15:56] with women in swashbucklers she might

[15:58] begin as the traditional Noble lady who

[16:01] the hero aspires to court but that is

[16:03] far from her only purpose in the story

[16:04] and while she can scheme just as well as

[16:06] the other Pirates she's not a lying

[16:08] Femme Fatale Elizabeth could also just

[16:10] have been a damsel in distress but

[16:12] instead she always gets herself out of

[16:14] trouble and then saves the men who are

[16:16] there to rescue her but in a way where

[16:17] the anti-woke Brigade never

[16:19] even realized it was subverting that

[16:20] Trend in the first place she enters the

[16:22] world of piracy in the most vulnerable

[16:24] of positions captured and made to wear

[16:27] flimsy dresses but then she gets free

[16:28] put some pants on and becomes the pirate

[16:31] king what an arc and sex is an essential

[16:33] part of her development and why her

[16:35] character resonated with audiences the

[16:37] question of Elizabeth's sexual Awakening

[16:39] is actually Central to the entire plot

[16:41] of the trilogy remember these movies

[16:42] start when Elizabeth falls off a cliff

[16:44] into the sea and the Aztec coin sends a

[16:47] message to Barbosa that leads to the

[16:49] sack of Port Royal and everything to

[16:51] follow but why does Elizabeth fall off a

[16:52] cliff well because she was feeling faint

[16:54] when Admiral Lutz's face proposed to her

[16:56] and because she was wearing a corset

[16:58] that was too tight the demands of

[16:59] femininity and Womanhood are literally

[17:01] strangling her and so it's at Sea that

[17:04] Elizabeth finds identity and agency the

[17:06] second movie starts with her wedding

[17:07] being interrupted by Will's arrest so

[17:10] the question of how Elizabeth will grow

[17:11] up into a woman is constantly at the

[17:13] center of the narrative the real Stakes

[17:15] of the films there isn't an explicit sex

[17:17] scene in the Pirates trilogy but sex

[17:19] permeates all three films in ways that

[17:21] movies of this budget simply don't

[17:23] anymore there are three movies of build

[17:25] up to Elizabeth having sex but when she

[17:27] finally does have sex it's her pleasure

[17:29] that is the focus at World's End is the

[17:31] only Disney movie that ends with the

[17:33] implication that the main character is

[17:35] getting head how can you hate these

[17:37] movies on top of all that I am genuinely

[17:39] in awe of how seriously the Pirates

[17:41] movies take the romance in this Trilogy

[17:43] like sure they can be fun and silly

[17:45] genre trash in other places but when

[17:47] will and Elizabeth are looking at each

[17:48] other Han Zimmer scores it like he's

[17:50] making War and Peace

[18:00] years since at World's M came out and I

[18:02] don't know if there's another

[18:03] Blockbuster film that achieves the kind

[18:05] of breathless yearning like these movies

[18:08] did

[18:17] the Pirates Trilogy are some of the best

[18:20] looking Blockbuster films of all time

[18:21] they are right up there with the Lord of

[18:23] the Rings at the top of the mountain the

[18:25] fight choreography is great the stunts

[18:26] are great the locations are eye-popping

[18:28] and just look at the color saturation in

[18:30] these images the movies have greens that

[18:32] are greener than the money I get to

[18:34] explain this stuff to you and blues that

[18:36] are Bluer Than the other money I get

[18:38] paid to explain this stuff to you I'm

[18:39] Canadian my money is all different

[18:41] colors I know this might be a weird

[18:42] thing to comment on since even an

[18:44] episode of Survivor can point a camera

[18:45] at an island and crank the color

[18:47] saturation up but the point is that most

[18:49] big movies don't do this and constantly

[18:51] go for this desaturated gray blue look

[18:54] watch 10 movies that came out in the

[18:56] last year and then watch a scene from

[18:57] the Pirates movies and it will feel like

[18:59] the freshest breath of air your eyeball

[19:01] lungs have ever breathed on top of that

[19:03] let's talk about the CGI and motion

[19:05] capture in this movie to date I still

[19:07] think Davey Jones is the most convincing

[19:09] computer generated character ever put to

[19:11] screen every part of him is believable

[19:13] he's intimidating and slimy and fully

[19:16] realized more than that he's you used

[19:18] appropriately within the environment

[19:20] that the CGI is enhanced rather than

[19:22] being distracting most Davey Jones

[19:24] scenes take place at night so it always

[19:26] looks like the strange lovecraftian

[19:28] elements of his design are coming out of

[19:30] the darkness but even during the day he

[19:32] looks great because the inspiration

[19:33] behind his design and the design of his

[19:35] crew that they are people made out of

[19:37] sea creatures and plants fits within the

[19:39] context of the scene they don't look out

[19:41] of place on the deck of a boat or in a

[19:43] storm or anything by the ocean and even

[19:46] when the film puts him in an environment

[19:47] that he should look weird in they

[19:49] managed to make it all look like it

[19:51] coheres with Stark lighting choices like

[19:53] Davey Jones should look really out of

[19:55] place at fancy British tea time but he

[19:58] doesn't because the Stark yellow

[19:59] lighting makes him and the human

[20:01] characters all blend into a single image

[20:03] the thing is though there was a cost to

[20:06] these movies looking this good in the

[20:08] past year or so there have been a number

[20:09] of reports about the poor working

[20:11] conditions for most of the people in the

[20:12] VFX industry stories which came out

[20:15] alongside widespread criticisms of the

[20:17] quality of the CGI in a number of

[20:19] different movies and TV shows such as

[20:21] Marvel's She-Hulk there are a bunch of

[20:24] factors that have created these

[20:25] conditions first the consolidation of

[20:27] Hollywood Studios means that each

[20:29] individual Studio has a lot more

[20:31] bargaining power when it comes to making

[20:32] demands of VFX artists most VFX artists

[20:35] work on a freelance basis with the

[20:37] studios and so they are in constant fear

[20:39] of alienating a client and losing out on

[20:42] all of their work this means that movie

[20:44] studios like Marvel can make outrageous

[20:46] demands of VFX artists expecting them to

[20:49] work on unrealistic schedules and to

[20:51] make enormous changes late into the

[20:53] process something they are notorious for

[20:55] the VFX studios are also in competition

[20:58] with one another to secure contracts

[21:00] with the movie studios so they have to

[21:01] under bid one another meaning that the

[21:03] margins are very thin or non-existent

[21:06] the majority of VFX workers are thus

[21:08] both underpaid and overworked when you

[21:10] multiply this all by the fact that the

[21:12] number of projects that need major VFX

[21:14] work has exploded over the past decade

[21:16] you've got an industry that has had a

[21:18] Breaking Point to give you a picture of

[21:19] just how bad it is almost every Studio

[21:21] has some sort of cry room where people

[21:23] would just go into and cry for 10

[21:25] minutes and then come back out and do

[21:27] their job that quote is from an io9

[21:28] article that includes Anonymous

[21:30] interviews with a number of VFX workers

[21:32] on the issue one of the artists

[21:33] specifically identified Pirates of the

[21:35] Caribbean at World's End as a Flashpoint

[21:38] for the industry Disney made

[21:39] increasingly huge demands on the VFX

[21:42] Studios who managed to pull off the

[21:43] project despite the massive time crunch

[21:45] a lot of us in the industry saw that as

[21:47] a really bad thing because we recognized

[21:49] that we were never going to get more

[21:51] than this amount of money and this

[21:52] amount of resources because they

[21:54] finished the Pirates of the Caribbean

[21:55] and that's exactly what happened so look

[21:57] I hope my love for these movies is

[21:59] coming through but obviously it's also

[22:01] hard to know that something I'm attached

[22:03] to was also objectively bad for a

[22:06] generation of VFX artists the movie

[22:08] looks incredible but I take a worse

[22:10] looking Blockbuster movie about silly

[22:12] Pirates if it meant an industry that had

[22:13] healthy working conditions for the

[22:15] people involved right now though we've

[22:17] got both an in industry with unhealthy

[22:19] working conditions and a tsunami of

[22:21] movies and TV shows with subpar effects

[22:23] it's the worst of Both Worlds and to be

[22:25] totally clear it's not the case that the

[22:27] people working on the shows that come

[22:28] out today are somehow less talented than

[22:30] the ones that came out years prior it's

[22:32] that they're not given the proper time

[22:34] to do their best work and that's the

[22:35] worst case scenario for everyone

[22:37] involved except for the big studios as

[22:39] I'm writing this both the actors Union

[22:40] and the writers Union are on strike

[22:42] while VFX artists at Marvel in Disney

[22:45] have voted to unionize I hope they

[22:47] succeed and if you do too then well

[22:49] there's not much you can do but the

[22:51] least you can do is not take to social

[22:52] media to blame underpaid workers when

[22:54] your favorite thing gets delayed by a

[22:56] couple of months blame the studios

[22:58] instead taking a look back at the

[23:00] Pirates Trilogy today is a wild

[23:01] experience it feels like those movies

[23:04] came out at a focal point for a lot of

[23:06] different trends that have robbed the

[23:07] industry of a lot of the life that it

[23:09] once had there were movies that were

[23:11] Everything at Once action comedy horror

[23:13] romance Adventures but it really was

[23:16] just those three First movies there is

[23:18] no chance of me doing a re-analysis of

[23:20] the fourth or fifth films because the

[23:22] main reason those movies don't work is

[23:24] simple they weren't directed by Gore

[23:26] verbinski Gore verbinsky is a pretty

[23:28] interesting director and in doing the

[23:30] research for this video I dived into his

[23:32] entire filmography a filmography which

[23:35] hasn't had a new entry in seven years so

[23:38] I've actually made a whole second video

[23:40] about his movies it's called whatever

[23:42] happened to gore verbinsky this is a

[23:44] full 30 minute long video essay that I'm

[23:47] really proud of and if you've enjoyed

[23:49] this video I think you'll get a lot out

[23:51] of that one and you can watch it right

[23:52] now on nebula if you don't know nebula

[23:55] is a fantastic streaming service that I

[23:57] helped make with a bunch of other

[23:58] educational YouTubers that you're

[24:00] probably familiar with it's a place

[24:02] where we can make videos that don't have

[24:03] to worry about the YouTube algorithm or

[24:06] getting demonetized for instance Maggie

[24:08] mayfish recently made a fantastic nebula

[24:10] original series called unrated that

[24:12] explores the history of sexuality on

[24:14] film you can watch all of that good

[24:16] stuff for an absurdly low price if you

[24:18] sign up with my link you can get 40 off

[24:21] of an annual plan of nebula which works

[24:23] out to a little over two dollars and

[24:25] fifty cents a month I mean come on on

[24:27] top of that you'll get access to nebula

[24:29] classes like this one by my friend

[24:31] Patrick H Willems which is a practical

[24:33] tutorial to becoming a filmmaker also

[24:36] for the month of September only nebula

[24:38] has a lifetime membership deal oh what's

[24:41] that well for three hundred dollars you

[24:43] can have access to nebula forever yes

[24:46] forever this is the best way to support

[24:49] creators on that platform because one

[24:51] third of the money goes directly to

[24:52] supporting this channel while the rest

[24:54] of it goes to the development of more

[24:56] nebula Originals you can save more money

[24:58] by getting an annual plan but you can

[25:00] help make nebula a better platform today

[25:03] with a lifetime membership so give it a

[25:05] look with the other link I've shared

[25:07] below a big thank you to everyone who

[25:09] has already signed up for nebula and

[25:11] another big thanks to my patrons for

[25:12] supporting me on patreon keep writing

[25:15] everyone

[25:16] thank you

[25:21] [Music]

[25:29] [Music]

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