I was watching a recent VFX Artists React and they were talking about a shot of an explosion from the trailer of The Creator. Apparently they used video of the Beirut explosion and comped CGI elements over it. Thoughts? Is this ethically or morally wrong? Does it make you rethink seeing the movie?
I dare to disagree that it is wrong to use such footage. Yeah people died, but people die from explosions in general.
I dunno - people drown all the time as well, but if I found out that someone had taken footage of a tragic event in which my grandma and a couple hundred others drowned, used it, and added their own special effects to “enhance” it for their purposes, I’d have mixed feelings to say the least.
I agree with the other comment saying that maybe using the footage as a reference would’ve been FAR more palatable.
I wonder if this decision was a callous one, or if the potential controversy was just another factor in calculating reach and engagement.