Think you can tell what’s real and what’s ‘shopped in big-budget movies? Think again, says RocketJump Film School’s Freddie Wong.

In his defense of computer-generated imagery, or CGI, Wong tosses the common belief that such effects turn good movies bad out the window by presenting us with this awesome mashup of effects. Computer images, he explains, are often unfavorably contrasted with so-called “practical effects” — like explosions or gunfire — that happen in a real, controlled environment.

But sometimes, it’s hard to tell which is which.

“Amazing, wonderfully-executed CG is everywhere — you just don’t know it,” he says in the above video. Bad visuals, he adds, are the fault of either a shoestring budget, time constraints, or both.

“Visual effects have, since the beginning of cinema, always been a part of this art form,” Wong explains.

“And CG, just like every innovation in cinema, is simply a tool on the filmmakers’ tool belt to tell a story. But when the end result is bad, maybe it’s really not the tool’s fault.”

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