Summer Bay fires/explosions looking real

[jaybok1]

Wondering if anyone knows the reason why fires and explosions look so fake lately (in the last 5 years). They used to look Epic and very real and it would enhance the realism of the story for example - The stalker and sally warehouse explosion 2005, Martha & jacks 2006 Wedding, the Rocket club fire 2007, and the Formal Car Crash and explosion at the end of 2008. Now It looks very un realistic and fake like really bad CGI for example - the music festival bush fires, john lighting fires and the flashback to his childhood, the cabin in the woods fire with Kat and co, Ash burning down Robbo and Kats New Runaway home, and the worst was the caravan park explosion. had the caravan park explosion looked real, I think the story would have been more popular. for god sake even the caravan setting fire in the pilot was better than that. It's odd to me that you'd think 10 years later the technology would have advanced but it doesn't even compare to what was done years earlier in the show. Is there any reason for this? (I did think the 2016 plane crash was well done though) 

[Dan F]

1 hour ago, jaybok1 said:

Wondering if anyone knows the reason why fires and explosions look so fake lately (in the last 5 years). They used to look Epic and very real and it would enhance the realism of the story for example - The stalker and sally warehouse explosion 2005, Martha & jacks 2006 Wedding, the Rocket club fire 2007, and the Formal Car Crash and explosion at the end of 2008. Now It looks very un realistic and fake like really bad CGI for example - the music festival bush fires, john lighting fires and the flashback to his childhood, the cabin in the woods fire with Kat and co, Ash burning down Robbo and Kats New Runaway home, and the worst was the caravan park explosion. had the caravan park explosion looked real, I think the story would have been more popular. for god sake even the caravan setting fire in the pilot was better than that. It's odd to me that you'd think 10 years later the technology would have advanced but it doesn't even compare to what was done years earlier in the show. Is there any reason for this? (I did think the 2016 plane crash was well done though) 

You've answered your own question really - they used to use SFX (practical effects - i.e. real fire), but now they largely use VFX (CGI) for the big stuff.

It's much cheaper and less of a logistical nightmare to use CGI, but it rarely looks as good (unless you have huge budgets, which H&A don't).

[CaptainHulk]

Adam's shack fire and The Bushfire were the last realistic looking ones, IMO.

[harrietjames]

You're also looking with older eyes. Watching the early years, some things seemed worse the 2nd time round.

[Homeandawayfan.]

True. In 1994 I found the shack fire good but looking back I find the small fires never really spread and all stayed in one place.

Phil meeting his demise in 1989 at the hands of Doge was realistic.

[CaptainHulk]

But The shack fire was devastating and probably one of the most dramatic episodes of a year where supposedly "nothing happened"

[ter06]

The bush fire was laughable, as was the plane crash. That was actually embarrassing. If they can’t do it right, they shouldn’t do it at all. 

[Luigi Severus Fletcher]

The caravan explosion in 2016 was the most fakest looking thing ever. The caravan explosion from 1995(?) looked way more realistic (maybe due to the old cameras).