“In the past decade studio budgets for special effects have exploded. Effects budgets have gone from $5 million a movie to $50 million. It’s now not uncommon for movies to cost $150 million, with effects accounting for a third of that budget. There’s barely any movie made today that doesn’t have digital clean-up, matte painting, wire removal or fixing something out of place, like bags under the eyes on a bad day. The cost increases result largely from the growing sophistication of special effects.”