Every day it seems there are a handful of articles being written trying to get to the bottom of the limp summer box office this year. There's no shortage of suspected culprits, from high ticket prices to lackluster exhibition experience to warm weather, international tensions and political messaging in movies. What makes these articles wastes of space and column inches is that there is no one easy-to-package-in-a-soundbite scapegoat. And since there's no one thing to blame, the repeated claim that it's the quality of the movies keeping audiences away is even more hollow.

But that's not what this blog is about. Though I don't agree with the assessment that crummy movies are to blame -- namely because people seem to have no problem spending hours watching garbage on television --- there's a companion claim to this assessment that is very common.

It says that movies are bad because they concentrate on special effects and not on story.

This gets twisted into special effects = bad.

There's a bogus perception that there's a big bucket of money and time labeled STORY, and that directors, producers and studio executives habitually rob from this bucket and put it into the VFX bucket. People think a director's attentions cannot be divided between VFX and story. VFX (and to some extension, slick sound design) are often blamed for being spectacular at the expense of a story.

That's all bull. Yes, there is a problem with the way scripts are developed for the screen, but it has nothing to do with visual effects. The problem stems from, in part, a system that targets release dates and production schedules without a finished script in hand - the old "putting the cart before horse" mistake. It's a system that allows unqualified execs or actors to exert questionable influence over an already weak story.

But these flaws exist entirely separate of the visual effects industry. You can blame all sorts of systems and corporate cultures for the lack of attention a solid script gets, but you can't and shouldn't blame the advancements, ingenuity and hard work of the people involved in visual effects, special effects and sound.

Because, see, they're the ones getting it right despite terrible projects. They have no say in the scripts they get handed. I'm sure they would love it if the development process spent more time on the script. While they dedicate themselves to polishing their craft and delivering the best work possible, I know of several effects artists in the industry who sheepishly avoid listing their credits, because they've been involved in some really bad movies.