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CGI in Sopranos!! (1 Viewer)

Mike St.Louis

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Sep 22, 1999
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This may be old news to some but I just noticed this today watching the new season 3 DVD set of the Sopranos.

I could swear that in the second episode Livia had been digitally inserted into a scene with Tony. I never noticed this the first time I saw the episode.

I know Nancy Marchand passed away in the 3rd season but I thought they had already filmed some scenes with her.

She is missed.
 

Ric Easton

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Feb 6, 2001
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Yes she was digitally put in after her death, and not very convincingly either. This has got to be the series low point. It was distracting more than anything else.

Ric
 

Dave Scarpa

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I Agree and there was no need for it. The Character should have died offscreen.
 

Michael Ballack

Second Unit
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May 30, 2000
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That was the worst case of CGI I have ever seen. But there is a case where cgi was good and necessary. The Episode "Pinewoods" has cgi breath since some of footage was shot on stage and not in a real cold location. Steve B. talks about it on his commentary.
 

Nick Sievers

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I remember the day before it aired there was an interview on TV with the people who did the CGI Nancy. It cost them a lot of time and money. They wouldn't give an exact figure but it was an expensive exercise. I agree that it was kind of a waste as it wasn't all that convincing. They wouldn't give an exact figure but it was an expensive exercise.

I want to get S3 but just can't afford it at the moment. Can't wait to watch Pinewoods again though, that episode was hilarious.
 

FredCampbell

Agent
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Apr 10, 1999
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I agree that the CGI is an odd and distracting bit. Seems like a lot of money just to have Tony argue one more time with his mother.
 

Vince Maskeeper

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According to IMDB:

"Although Nancy Marchand, who played Livia Soprano, had passed away by the time Episode 28 ("Proshai, Livushka") began filming, she appears in a brief scene at the beginning in which she has a conversation with her son, Tony. Producers pieced together dialogue from previous episodes for Livia's half of the conversation, and used state-of-the-art CGI effects to place old footage of her face on a body double. The effect cost about $250,000, and took two weeks to put together."

-V
 

Qui-Gon John

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I thought they just cut in old footage, scenes where she was talking and nobody else was on camera at the time.
 

Mark Bendiksen

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Mar 16, 1999
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I just watched this episode during my lunch break. You're not kidding. The CGI was completely distracting! I couldn't even pay attention to what the characters were saying. If they wanted Tony to have a final confrontation with his mother before her death they should've had him do it over the phone or chosen some other method, IMHO. Otherwise it was a stellar episode, though. I loved Christopher's stoned ramblings during the remembrance scene at the end, too. Very funny.
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Andres Munoz

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Dec 21, 1999
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and used state-of-the-art CGI effects to place old footage of her face on a body double. The effect cost about $250,000, and took two weeks to put together
They call that state-of-the-art??? :laugh: Man, a quarter of a million dollars for something like that?
 

Wayne Bundrick

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Yeah it was state of the art, but state of the art ain't cheap and they only bought $250,000 worth of it. Does anybody know how much the CGI shots of Oliver Reed in Gladiator cost?
 

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