What Happened To Practical Effects In Film?

I’ve had a bit of time on my hands recently and decided to binge-watch “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy (LOTR). Yes, I know I’m more than 20 years late to the party, but cut me some slack! I was very young when the original trilogy first came out and did not have the chance to see it.

Anyway, I loved it. I thought it was beautifully written, beautifully cast, and most impressively, beautifully shot. It really caught me by surprise. I was expecting an experience akin to a Star Wars Episode I CGI-fest but was instead greeted with scenes that just looked so real.

Obviously, some things still required VFX (visual effects) or CGI (Computer Generated Images), but they used it sparingly. They mostly choose to use practical effects where possible.

This made me wonder: what in the world has happened to practical effects?

Now the simple answer would be that VFX has killed it. Which is true, but that does not tell the whole story. VFX was very much available during the shooting of the LOTR trilogy, yet they still chose to use quite a large amount of practical effects.

And I think the LOTR trilogy is a testament to the effectiveness of mixing practical effects with VFX. Which really makes you wonder why…