said by Sukunai:I can't pretend though to understand why it is so many films cost so much. Maybe the film industry has simply gotten too full of crap, refuse, and just plain wasteful clutter.
Heard an interview with Harold Ramis, who mostly directs these days. He was asked that very question and had an interesting answer. The answer was 'special effects'. According to Ramis, every single scene in a movie is gone over with a fine tooth effects comb these days. He gave an example of a scene where a guy leaves a store, walks to his car in the street, and drives away. Something like that could be filmed in thirty seconds with a single hand held camera. In today's Hollywood, though, they'll shoot the scene thirty times with ten different camera crews shooting different angles, then they'll mix the film together to get the best mix of shots. Then, they'll go after it with the special effects computer, where they will alter pretty much everything on the film. He said they'll make sure the color of the grass is just right in every frame, there are just the right amount of birds in the trees above, there is just the right amount of traffic driving by, everyone walking on the sidewalks will have their faces and wardrobe touched up, etc. He said it's gotten to the point where 90% of what you see on screen is computer generated, even in non-action films.