Somebody already is paying for it, in fact, and those somebodys are the hardworking men and women who sit in front of computer screens for 50+ hours a week rendering these amazing spectacles you see on screen. Not just big blockbusters but movies of all sorts are becoming more and more reliant on visual effects and CGI, to the point that if that whole part of the industry just disappeared, execs would be running around like headless chickens, unable to remember an era before 3D graphics software was integral to films as boom mikes. That part of the industry could very easily disappear, though. In fact it's already happening. The most extreme example is Rhythm & Hue studios, who provided most of the visual effects for last year's Life of Pi, and were rewarded with an Academy Award for their efforts. Sadly that wasn't enough to keep them from filing for bankruptcy a scant few weeks before the ceremony, because despite the amount spent on the effects for the film, it wasn't enough to cover their costs. A group of former employees at Rhythm & Hue put together a documentary, Life After Pi, which showed just how screwed up studios' relationship and use of effects houses is (you can watch it on YouTube if you fancy). When the controversy hit the news, other SFX boffins spoke out about the crappy practices in Hollywood, the long hours and the low pay that result in things like the robot dinosaurs that will be tearing up screens this summer. If it can happen to Rhythm & Hue, it can happen to anyone, and if it happened to everyone...well, the chicken-minus-head scenario.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
