These 'Before CGI' Movie Production Photos Are Hilarious

Thanks to the marvels of modern moving-making technology, you can make your actors look like they're fighting bad guys on a plane, a boat, or in the jungle. You can have an entire cast of peeps sipping a coffee brand that paid heavily to be featured in your film while fighting hordes of nightmarish villains that are, in reality, blocks of foam.

And that's all thank to the magic of green screens and CGI. Oh yeah, and also creativity and skill.

Shooting on location is pretty much a thing of the past. I mean, why risk doing something outdoors where you have zero control of natural elements, noise, and strange people crowding around, when you can easily throw up a bunch of green tarps in a warehouse with nice acoustics and call it a day?

Thanks to CGI artists, we're able to buy that Daenerys in Game of Thrones is actually petting a dragon and not some guy in a bodysuit. Now it's one thing to hear that and nod in appreciation, but it's another thing to see all of the graphics and computer effects stripped away. What we're left with are scenes that are flat out hilarious.

This Twitter user brings up a good point: it must take a ridiculous amount of concentration to deliver convincing performances when you're just hanging out with someone in a leotard.

Remember this scene from Guardians of the Galaxy?

Or how about this weirdness from Alice in Wonderland?

Well this is how it turned up in post.

Spoiler alert, guys. Bella wasn't really petting a wolf, just some dude in a gray onesie.

The pre-production shots are pretty great.

Look at her ride this "dragon" with such intent.

The new Beauty & The Beast would've been much better if the whole thing was shot with him without CGI.

Bet you didn't think the tiger from Life of Pi was a blue plushie.

Actual piers are for n00bs.

No time machine? No problem.

People were just as shocked that the actors could maintain their professionalism in the face of such obvious ridiculousness.

While others were upset that some voice actors weren't physically on location.

For many though, it was an eye-opening experience that proved actors didn't live the crazy glamorous life that they originally thought.

Cherish your actors that perform in CGI-heavy situations, people.