There is one aspect of CGI which has rather successfully replaced prior convention in cinema, and that's in the area of what used to be called matte paintings. There's a charming artfulness to the technique in older films, but it's very detectable, very flat. I remember being stunned byt the natrual vistas and mountain temples of the Scorcese film "Kundun," for example. All CGI, but they looked very real. There's more of that going on in movies now than most people realize, because the eye is so well "fooled." But perhaps virtual landscapes are a subject for the Vue d'Esprit forum, LOL.