DFX Supervisor Dean Koonjul at Union VFX talks about building the mystical landscapes and cityscapes of this fantasy TV series, digital doubles and FX animation of the Shadow Monster.
Head of Visualisation Janek Lender and the NVIZ team talk about using their proprietary virtual cinematography tool ARENA to create previs for a thrilling sequence in ‘Matilda the Musical’.
MPC’s VFX Supervisor Olaf Wendt talks about working with Iñárritu on the surreal and unexpectedly beautiful visualisations his team created for the Oscar-nominated film ‘Bardo’.
Nick Drew and Simon Carr from Axis Studios talk about creating invisible VFX for environments, trains, cars and weather, all designed to keep audiences immersed in Otto’s unfolding story.
Working as sole vendor, BlueBolt delivered 152 invisible effects shots for this movie that needed to look and feel completely authentic to tell its dramatic story across two timelines.
VFX Supervisor Andrew Simmonds talks about leading the team at ReDefine, using volumetrically captured human assets to digitally create the massive crowds at Whitney Houston’s performances.
CG Supervisor Eve Levasseur-Marineau at DNEG talks about bringing a young girl’s dream world to life with simulations – dancing particles, fluids, violent smoke and even destruction.
VFX Supervisor Paul Santagada talks about the 3D environmental and FX work at FuseFX to support the hand-built sets and stop-motion animated performances in ‘Wendell and Wild’.
MPC delivered 675 VFX shots for ‘Nope’, working with the filmmakers on alien creature design, art directing CG cloudscapes and a new approach to converting daylight plates into night shots.
A global team built assets for a film produced in Unreal Engine entirely without compositing. Its world and characters are now ready to re-purpose for games, VR and the metaverse.
DNEG Animation’s Archie Donato and Kapil Sharma talk about animating the visual spectacle of ‘Entergalactic’, tying together the world and characters with colour, light, design and motion.
Will Driscoll talks about the volumetric video tools and services his company Wild Capture develop to make web content more relevant for users and, ultimately, populate the metaverse.
DNEG’s Stephen James talks about building an immersive world for this virtual production of a high-speed train journey, and making exploding trains both fun and incredibly violent.
VFX supervisor Laurent Spillemaecker of FOLKS talks about the team’s VFX for season 3 of The Umbrella Academy, bringing the world to the brink of destruction – and back again.
Pixomondo’s Phil Prates, Johny Berbsov and Asad Manzoor take an inside look at the environments, characters, FX and interactive previs they created for ‘Halo’ Season 1.
The Digital Human Group at Digital Domain talks about using new developments in their Masquerade software, from machine learning to a streamlined workflow, to transform actors to vampires.
MPC’s VFX Supervisor Matt Jacobs and Animation Director Eric Guaglione talk about transforming Sonic to hero status and building new characters and worlds in the Sonic universe.
Janek Lender and Georg Engebakken from NVIZ talk about helping the production visualise major action sequences on Marvel film ‘Morbius’, from stunt performance to camera moves.
VFX Supervisor Alexander Seaman talks about DNEG’s aerial and terrestrial chase sequences for ‘The Adam Project’ – Time Jets, a wormhole and animated flying robots.
Pixomondo's Michael Shelton, overall VFX Supervisor and 2nd Unit Director of Amazon’s ‘Goliath’, talks about building an authentic San Francisco and working alongside the DP to maintain his look and style.
The team from Digital Domain talk about building and destroying a complete 2.5 square mile chunk of New York City, and creating modern versions of Spider-Man’s favourite villains.
The team at REALTIME talks about working on season 3 of ‘A Discovery of Witches’, visualising the magic the show’s witches perform by combining simulation FX with textures and shaders.
Juanma Nogales and Javier M Pacin, VFX Supervisors at Twin Pines talk about recreating full-CG underwater environments, an historic naval battle and a road trip through the American South.
VFX Supervisor Kevin Yuille at FuseFX talks about creating the VFX that drive Dion’s story through season 2, from a villain made of flowing smoke to teleportation and force fields.
VFX Supervisor Tristan Zerafa talks about Pixomondo’s environment and crowd work for the show’s final episode, a VES Award nominee, from dramatic interiors to a never-ending forest.
VFX artists and animators at Freefolk talk about building, animating and integrating a charming CG monkey who helps travellers, into a series of new spots for online travel agent ebookers.
VFX Supervisor Huw J Evans talks about DNEG’s work on the 4th Matrix film, building massively complex environments, simulating a character as particles and using Unreal Engine to create a full CG sequence.
VFX Supervisor Pier Lefebvre at MPC Film talks about bringing new and familiar characters and creatures to the screen with work from the MPC Character Lab, FX artists and animation team.
VFX supervisor Philippe Denis talks about DNEG Animation’s first feature film, following four years of hard work and the creation of a brand new animation pipeline.
DNEG’s VFX Supervisor Joel Green talks about the team’s work on ‘No Time to Die’, stretching from large-scale environments to a futuristic glider to dramatic, true 007-style explosions.
Luma’s VFX Supervisor Andrew Zink talks about working on Marvel’s latest film, building a 360 photoreal San Francisco environment surrounding a dynamic fight sequence on a speeding bus.
While Marvel’s villains are each villainous in his or her own way, Wenwu from ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ stands out - an ancient character who operates from a remote fortress that has existed for centuries and continuously evolves as his…
Cantina Creative designed and animated many of the fascinating objects, graphics and devices that populate the worlds and screens of Marvel’s TV series ‘Loki’. The show continues the story of Loki, the God of Mischief, after the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame’.…
Cinesite completed a neat line-up of VFX shots that add realism to brutal prison sequences and close-up exterior driving shots in ‘Black Widow’, the fourth Marvel film to which Cinesite has contributed visual effects in the past three years, including…
Two of the looks that define the adventure story in the new Disney film ‘Jungle Cruise’ are the Amazon Rainforest and the massive, magical Tree of Life. Here, the teams responsible from Rising Sun Pictures in Australia and DNEG in Canada and India talk about…
In ‘Black Widow’, Natasha Romanoff’s backstory is finally revealed to fans, including the time she spent in the Red Room, a training ground for assassins that she thought had been destroyed. After she discovers that it is still active, airborne and concealed…
FuseFX worked on over 200 shots for Marvel’s TV series ‘Loki’ across multiple episodes and creative effects, inside the mysterious Time Variance Authority and into the worlds beyond. Though the story is complex, winding through time as well as space, and…
NVIZ talk about working on previs to support their VFX for TV series ‘The Irregulars’, taking advantage of their expertise in the use of Ncam camera tracking and augmented reality.
Freefolk have brought up two robotic siblings for ŠKODA’s ‘PU-rrs electric, GR-rrs attitude’ UK TV spot, showing off the new, all-electric Enyaq iV SUV. Directed by Frederic Planchon through Academy Films, with Freefolk leading post-production and animation,…
'Monsters at Work' Image Courtesy of Disney Television Animation Animation director and story artist Stephen Anderson has worked in animation for 30 years. Steve is one of the supervising directors on the new animated series ‘Monsters At Work’. Produced by…
The Disney movie ‘Cruella’ introduces the world to the vengeful young fashion designer Cruella de Vil, descending on 1970s London as the punk rock years rolled in. The VFX work on the movie began during pre-production, about three months before principle…
FX television series ‘Pose’ dramatises the Black and Brown Queer and Trans culture, scene and community in New York City in the late 1980s and into the early 1990s. Family, the AIDS crisis and finding a home within a society that rejects them, are central…
Alt.vfx worked on the film retelling of ‘Penguin Bloom’, Cameron Bloom's true story and book about his wife Sam, the tragic accident that changed their lives and a magpie named Penguin. The Bloom family’s story began when Sam suffered a near fatal fall that…
Mr. X was responsible for a special set of looks and effects for two episodes of the Marvel Disney+ series 'WandaVision', when the main antagonist of the show is revealed as her true self – a powerful, ruthless witch named Agatha Harkness. She lives in…
Set in 2035, AMC’s six-part series ‘Soulmates’ revolves around a new test that becomes available in the near future. The story is based on the notion that, by taking this test, a person can be positively matched with his or her ‘soulmate’. The result is a…
The episodic TV series ‘Snowpiercer’ is based on both the 2013 film with the same name, and the French graphic novel 'Le Transperceneige'. Before viewers join the story, an Ice Age has occurred, a six-year blizzard causing total destruction over the surface…
Vine FX delivered 500 shots for 'The Serpent', an eight-part mini series shown on BBC One and streamed on the iPlayer. Filmed in Thailand and the UK, the series story draws from real-life events surrounding infamous French thief, conman and serial killer…
Mark Toia has been working as a DP and filmmaker for over 25 years, shooting high-profile advertising campaigns for clients all over the world. In that time he has taken advantage of the rigorous nature of his projects to widen the scope of his expertise from…
VFX supervisors from One of Us and Framestore talk about their work on Netflix science fiction feature ‘The Midnight Sky’, creating Jupiter’s moons, spaceships, a dying Earth and holograms.
3D Artist Alexei Hatherley talks about the automated animation techniques and streamlined character design his team used to keep to schedule at high quality for a new kids TV series.
HBO Max series ‘The Flight Attendant’ is a thriller with a darkly humorous edge about Cassie Bowden, a flight attendant who wakes up in an unfamiliar hotel in bed with a dead man named Alex whom she scarcely knows, and no recollection of what has happened.…
'The Third Day' is a six-part drama combined with a theatrical event created for Sky / HBO, set on Osea, a real island in the estuary of the River Blackwater recreated as a world that captivates visitors with its own interpretations of reality. The television…
MR. X delivered 476 VFX shots for the recent science fiction series ‘Raised By Wolves’, directed by Ridley Scott and streamed on HBO Max. Working with overall VFX Supervisor Ray McIntyre Jr. and VFX Producer Ruth Hauer during post-production from June 2019…
MPC worked with Pacific Rim Films director Shawn Levy again this year to bring back the animated characters from their DICK’S Sporting Goods campaign made for Christmas 2019. This time, not only do the products come to life as characters after the shop closes…
Cinematographer Johnny Derango talks about his first experience with ARRI’s large format cameras, shooting an action comedy under freezing conditions in the Canadian countryside.
Union VFX were approached to create the season finale for the Apple TV+ dystopian drama ‘For All Mankind’. The series dramatises an alternate history for the 1960s in which the Russians achieved the first successful manned landing on the moon, ahead of the…
Mavericks VFX created vivid scenes of destruction in Washington DC and a burning house for ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, earning the team a second Emmy nomination in 2020.
Riot Control bot DNEG worked on all eight episodes of ‘Westworld’ season 3, building and animating a range of photoreal robots and futuristic vehicles, and creating set extensions and other invisible effects work. DNEG teams at facilities in both Los Angeles…
Framestore Climbs into the Driver’s Seat for a New LEGO Race The team at Framestore delivered environments, racing cars and effects for a new spot for LEGO titled ‘Drive What You Love’ that follows a LEGO builder’s imagination, taking off on a high speed race…
Bending the Rules for ‘Tales from the Loop’ The story of ‘Tales from the Loop’, an eight-episode series made for Amazon Prime, concerns people living in Mercer, Ohio where an underground research centre, the Mercer Center for Experimental Physics, known as…
BLOCK & TACKLE Pulls Fans and Classic Comics into SYFY WIRE Rebrand New York studio BLOCK & TACKLE had the exciting job of handling the rebrand for SYFY WIRE, the official news website for SYFY channel that reaches fans of sci-fi, fantasy and horror. The team…
DNEG Creates a Dog’s Life for ‘Togo’ ‘Togo’, an historical drama made for Disney+, is the story of Leonhard Seppala and his team of sled dogs, who completed the longest section of the Great Race of Mercy, the famous sled dog relay that brought diphtheria…
Cinesite Battles Monsters and Magic with ‘The Witcher’ Netflix series ‘The Witcher’ about a monster slayer not only needed vicious, photoreal 3D monsters, it also needed precise choreography between them and their live-action hunter Geralt of Rivia and the…
Method Studios Takes to the Sky for ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ The crew from Jumanji are back in the game, but in ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’, nothing is quite the same as before. As they return to rescue one of their players, they discover that their avatars…
Union VFX Fills St Peter’s and Paints The Sistine Chapel in ‘The Two Popes’ In 2012 Cardinal Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, grew disillusioned with the Catholic Church and requested permission from Pope Benedict to retire. Instead, facing scandal and…
Framestore Builds The Witcher’s World of Magic and Danger Netflix series 'The Witcher' is based on ‘The Witcher Saga’ series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski about witcher Geralt of Rivia and takes place in a fantasy world inhabited by sorcerers and a diverse…
MPC Casts a New Spell on ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ MPC designed and created all of the effects for ‘Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil’, continuing the magical story started in the preceding film ‘Maleficent’. Starting work in mid-2018, at about the same time…
Cinesite Vancouver Animates a New World For ‘The Addams Family’ ‘The Addams Family’ is Cinesite Vancouver’s first full-length animated feature. The team of 240 artists served as sole vendor on the production, working over a two-year period to create the…
Union VFX Rolls Back the Years for ‘Stan & Ollie’ In this shot, Union VFX needed to change the lighting, sky, signage and many period details. Laurel and Hardy was one of the world’s greatest comedy teams, but at the start of the 1950s with their Hollywood…
DNEG Builds a Better Alien for ‘Men in Black: International’ DNEG was the lead VFX vendor on ‘Men in Black: International’ and worked on major sequences, looks and character development, including the MIB London HQ. This was a worldwide project for DNEG,…
Sydney Opera House Blooms with Animation at VIVID Sydney BEMO animation and VFX studio in Los Angeles created the animation for the annual ‘Lighting of the Sails’, a projection mapping production displayed on Sydney Opera House, situated at the centre of the…
3D Studio Coffee & TV Gives Jack’s Beanstalk a New Twist Visual content studio Coffee & TV worked with agency McCann Velocity to produce a 3D animated short for the latest Vauxhall campaign. As the dedicated, specialist agency created for Vauxhall Motors by…
DNEG Builds a Better Cyborg for ‘Alita’ Factory Gang DNEG created over 250 VFX shots in eight sequences for ‘Alita: Battle Angel’, focussing mainly on the art of cyborg building and animation, and on detailed environment work that helps define Alita’s world,…
Nordin Rahhali and Method Studios Tame the Fantastic Beasts VFX Supervisor Nordin Rahhali shared notes with Digital Media World about designing, building and animating 12 creatures for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ with the team at Method…
‘Mary Poppins Returns’ Sings, Dances and Swims with VFX Magic Production VFX Supervisor Matt Johnson spent almost two years working on ‘Mary Poppins Returns’. Work started in early 2017 with tests and animation concepts and previs. “Pre-production was a…
Atomic Fiction Takes a Trip to Marwen Kevin Baillie, production VFX Supervisor, talks here about the effects and animation created for ‘Welcome to Marwen’, in which artists at Atomic Fiction (now Method Studios) realised the director’s vision of transporting…
Marcus Taormina Opens Up on Visual Effects in ‘Bird Box’ ‘Bird Box’ is a science fiction drama about an invasion of creatures that begin to destroy humanity by appearing suddenly to individuals and invoking their worst fears and greatest sadness, triggering a…
Grumpy Sailor and Panasonic Stage a Mad Hatter's Tea Party at ACMI Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne turned Lewis Carroll’s book 'Alice in Wonderland' into an experiential exhibition titled 'Wonderland' that ran from April to October…
Axis Studios Traverse the VR Universe to Create 'The bOnd' Axis Studios designed and built their first venture into virtual reality, titled 'The bOnd', as a dynamic fantasy experience in which viewers travel through and care for an alien planet, exploring it…
Method Studios Stages an Uprising for 'Outlaw King' Dramatic film 'Outlaw King' is the story of 14th century Scottish king, warrior and hero Robert the Bruce, who leads his people in a passionate battle for independence against the much larger, more…
Ncam's On-set Pre-vis Cracks into 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' In 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms', young Clara discovers an unexpected world of heroic mice, living toys and immense, snowy fantasy landscapes, hidden somewhere within her godfather…
DNEG Makes a Bigger Splash for 'The Meg' One of the biggest monster movie splashes in cinemas this year was 'The Meg', a blend of sci-fi, adventure and action about the most massive shark that ever lived. You might argue that such a story could never happen…
BangBang and RSP Bring VFX Magic to Chinese Adventure 'Animal World' 'Animal World' is a Chinese blockbuster movie that features roughly 1,000 complex VFX shots, ranging from creature effects and animation to fantasy environments. A fantasy adventure film…
Framestore and Method Go to the Dark Side - and Back - for 'Deadpool 2' When Marvel's mercenary superhero Deadpool must protect a young boy with supernatural powers from the dangerous, time-travelling cyborg Cable, he assembles a team of mutants to help. The…
MPC LA Captures a World in a Raindrop for FIJI Water To launch the new FIJI Water Sports Cap bottle, the Wonderful Agency developed the creative concept of closely following a drop of rain that descends from the clouds high above Fiji. As it makes its way…
Producing VR-Native Stories to Drive Today's Immersive Media Jessie Kim and Tim Lambert are co-founders of the virtual reality production company Prosper XR, and the creators of XR Alliance, a VR content competition intended to help overcome one of the main…
MPC LA Turns Palms Casino from Dust into Gold Palms Casino in Las Vegas has been undergoing a major renovation and upgrade. To share the news with the world, director Paul Hunter created a dramatic spot that helps the owners show off the transformation. The…
Twin Pines Returns to 16th Century Seville for ‘The Plague’ Twin Pines VFX studio in Madrid created the visual effects for the historical drama series 'La Peste' (The Plague), a Spanish production from Telefonica's Movistar+ subscription platform for digital…
Phosphene Traces History for 'The Looming Tower' 'The Looming Tower' is a dramatic miniseries made for web television based on the book of the same name by Lawrence Wright. It was released on Hulu from February through April 2018. Digital Media World spoke to…
Iloura Illuminates a Dark Urban Fantasy for Netflix’s 'Bright' In the Netflix film 'Bright', directed by David Ayer, human beings live and work side-by-side with fantastical creatures – in close proximity perhaps, but not in harmony. The magical version of…
axisVFX Delivers Animation and Compositing for SyFy's Series 'Happy!' axisVFX, the visual effects branch of Axis Studios in the UK, has been working on 'Happy!', a television series showing on SyFy based on the graphic novels by Scottish writer Grant Morrison…
Nik Hill Paints and Animates 'Pictures in my Head' Director and motion designer Nik Hill visualised and created a 3D animated music video for the most recent single from DJ and producer MJ Cole, titled 'Pictures In My Head'. This video is a treasure trove of…
Cinesite Rides a Mystery Train for 'The Commuter' Cinesite was lead vendor and worked on over 800 shots for the recent high-action thriller 'The Commuter', directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. The film follows Michael, an insurance salesman on his regular train…
Mr X Sets Love in Motion for 'The Shape of Water' Anyone watching 'The Shape of Water' knows that somehow, it feels like a romantic musical, even though the two lead characters are both unable to speak, let alone sing, about their unlikely romance. The answer…
MPC's Little Hero is Born Confident for Volkswagen Volkswagen’s ‘Born Confident’ campaign, a 60-second spot directed by Nick Gordon at Somesuch, with VFX by MPC, opens with the birth of a young ram, delivered by a shepherd and his son on a dark, rainy night.…
Territory Studio Creates at the Crossroads – Story and Design in Motion Screen graphics for 'Blade Runner 2049' trailer Territory Studio creates motion design, visual effects and digital experiences. They are based in London with a further studio in San…
Union Brings Drama and Intrigue to ‘My Cousin Rachel’ Director Roger Michell has directed the first adaptation of the famous novel ‘My Cousin Rachel’ by Daphne Du Maurier, since the early 1950s. He wanted the audience to continually question their judgement…
VFX Artists Touch Heaven and Earth for 'Thor: Ragnarok' Teams at Rising Sun Pictures and Fin Design + Effects created exciting sequences, VFX and animation for Marvel's 'Thor: Ragnarok', spanning heaven and earth, distant planets and dream worlds. Rising Sun…
Hangman's James Tonkin Captures Robbie Williams' Tour with URSA Mini Pro James Tonkin at Hangman in London captured and edited the backstage footage and live performance highlights on Robbie Williams’ 2017 European tour, recording the entire development of…
Building the World of 'Blade Runner 2049' 'Blade Runner 2049' continues the story of the original 'Blade Runner' film from 1982. As it reveals the relationship between human beings and Replicants, it tells the story of one human and the Replicant he loves,…
Double Negative Puts Pedal to the Metal for 'Baby Driver' 'Baby Driver' is the story of a talented young getaway driver with an unusual hearing impairment. However, his love of music turns this weakness into his greatest strength – when he has the right song…
Cinesite Touches Heaven and Earth for 'American Gods' Cinesite Montreal received an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Special Visual Effects for its fantasy environmental work on the Starz television adaption of 'American Gods'. In five of the…
Colourist Olivier Fontenay Tames Colour and Looks for ‘Lion’ DI Colourist Olivier Fontenay’s most recent feature film project is ‘Lion’, a romance in which the story unfolds in many different settings, environments and cultures. It begins with a five-year-old…
Josh Van Zuylen Masters a Cyberpunk Universe from the Inside Out Josh Van Zuylen is a digital artist and designer specializing in environmental work. He currently works at Zero Latency, a developer of multiplayer virtual reality experiences in Melbourne,…
Axis and Jumbla Drive Motion Design for Forza Motorsport Axis Animation in Scotland, known for their striking and original work for video games, feature films, television and theme parks, has partnered with design and film production company Jumbla in…
Gentleman Scholar Animates Canada’s Cheese with Creative Soul Production company Gentleman Scholar produced a 3.5-minute animated short film on which DDB Canada and Dairy Farmers of Canada have based an integrated campaign to help raise the profile and public…
Luma Pictures Sets the Pace on Final Fantasy XV Cinematic Luma Pictures is an Academy Award-nominated creative studio run by a group of artists with wide interests and talents, ranging from visual effects for movies, commercials and new media, to animated…
VFX supervisors Arundi Asregadoo and Axel Bonami at MPC talk about new FX their global team developed while completing over 1,000 shots for action adventure movie ‘Ghost in the Shell’.
Union VFX Catches the Last Train for ‘T2 Trainspotting’ For ‘T2 Trainspotting’, based on Irvine Welsh’s novels ‘Porno’ and ‘Trainspotting’, Union VFX in London worked on major sequences to visually depict the writer’s style of fantasy on screen in a way that…
Deluxe Toronto Takes on 4K Post for Resident Evil’s Last Stand Deluxe Toronto took on most of the post-production services for the sixth and last movie in the sci-fi horror franchise, ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’. The project pulled together many…
Chris Bobotis from Mettle talks about helping to shape and advance the 360/VR medium by developing digital tools that address real challenges in the VR post production workflow.
Cinema 4D Tames the Dragon at Adobe CC Launch in China Adobe Creative Cloud was launched in China for the first time in late 2016. Motion artists at two studios in Sydney, Never Sit Still and Luxx, collaborated on a special project for the event, and were…
Glassworks Tells the Monster’s Tales in ‘A Monster Calls’ Glassworks in Barcelona created two beautiful animations telling powerful stories-inside-a-story to support the film ‘A Monster Calls’. The animations are based on fantastic tales the young protagonist…
Syndrome Studio’s Motion Graphics Go Live at the People’s Choice Awards Syndrome Studio, specializing in design and animation for major entertainment, advertising and brand clients, has just created an on-air and on-stage graphics package for the 2017…
SPOV Looks Inside ‘Doctor Strange’ Among the many arresting looks on show in Marvel’s most recent film ‘Doctor Strange’ was some that were surprisingly down-to-earth - a series of highly realistic, accurate but always intriguing screen graphics and…
Talking the Talk - Hybride Meets the Aliens on ‘Arrival’ The team at Hybride in Québec created 245 visual effects shots for science fiction film ‘Arrival’ serving as the main VFX vendor working with director Denis Villeneuve and production VFX supervisor…
MPC Searches for Starlight in ‘Passengers’ The recent deep space film ‘Passengers’ contains roughly 1,400 visual effects shots that aim to give viewers a vision of the interstellar environment far from our sun and solar system. As lead VFX vendor, MPC…
Rodeo FX Uncovers ‘Fantastic Beasts’ and How to Build Them Rodeo FX worked on 126 visual effects shots for ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’. The work included environments around New York City in the 1920s, the magical reconstruction of a destroyed…
ZERO VFX Moves Mountains behind ‘The Magnificent Seven’ The story of the most recent version of ‘The Magnificent Seven’, directed by Antoine Fuqua, unfolds surrounded by the sweeping mountain landscapes of New Mexico, but the production took place in the…
One of Us Creates a Crowning Glory for ‘The Crown’ ‘The Crown’ is a Netflix original series giving audiences a view of the life and world of Queen Elizabeth II as a 25-year-old newlywed, faced with the prospect of leading her country’s monarchy following…
Ben Gervais Walks the Line for 120P 4K Master on ‘Billy Lynn’ Director Ang Lee employed extreme cinematic techniques to tell the story of a soldier who returns to the USA psychologically and emotionally damaged by his time in Iraq. ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime…
Mocap Innovation Captures the Spirit of Ariel in ‘The Tempest’ The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has been collaborating with The Imaginarium Studios and Intel on a new production of Shakespeare’s play ‘The Tempest’, which opened on 18 November 2016 and will…
Iloura Fights Fire with Fire on 'Deepwater Horizon' In 2010, one of the world’s largest man-made disasters occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The film ‘Deepwater Horizon’ is a tribute to the people on board whose efforts saved…
Hitting the Marks with Motion Graphics Raoul Marks is an award winning motion artist who lives in Sydney, Australia and works for Elastic studio in Los Angeles. Raoul and his team, led by creative director Patrick Clair, are responsible for some of the most…
Animatrik Sets Madness to Motion in ‘Suicide Squad’ ‘Suicide Squad’ may give audiences a view of the dark side of being a superhero, but it doesn’t lack for fast-paced fight scenes – albeit with an edgier tone than usual. While deciding who the bad guys…
Framestore Catches Jungle Fever for ‘Tarzan’ Framestore created jungle environments, digital doubles and detailed creature animation for over 700 shots on ‘The Legend of Tarzan’. The movie is based on the novel written in 1912 by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose…
VFX Photography Takes a New Angle with the Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K In this article, VFX supervisor Douglas Hans Smith contrasts the use of today’s high-resolution, wide dynamic range cameras and other modern techniques used to capture VFX elements, one of…
‘Independence Day’ Resurges with Courageous VFX When audiences rejoin the INDEPENDENCE DAY story in ‘Resurgence’, countries around the world are at work on an immense defense program to protect the planet against the return of the alien invaders they drove…
Mapping a New Face with CONNECTED COLORS In early 2016, visual design studio WOW in Tokyo produced ‘Connected Colors’, a project combining animated 3D graphics, projection mapping and live performance. The video was made for a global Intel promotion titled…
Sarofsky Goes Wild on ‘Animal Kingdom’ Main Title Production and design company Sarofsky has created the main title sequence for the new US family crime drama ‘Animal Kingdom’ for TNT, which debuted in mid-June. Five years earlier, designer and director Erin…
Gramercy Park Creates a Smashing Campaign for Big Brother’s Return Channel 5 has partnered with Gramercy Park Studios (GPS) to create a series of VFX-driven promos for the return of reality TV show Big Brother. It stars the show’s presenters, Emma Willis and…
Outpost VFX Reveals the Beauty within the Brain Outpost VFX in the UK has produced visual effects for the Netflix Original production, ‘My Beautiful Broken Brain’, released last month and currently showing on demand. The film is the story of Lotje Sodderland,…
Cinesite Creates a Great Escape for 'X-Men: Apocalypse' Cinesite’s VFX supervisor Nicolas Chevallier and a team of 20 artists were assigned a fast-paced chase sequence from Marvel's latest film 'X-Men: Apocalypse' in which the heroes escape from Alkali Lake,…
RSP’s VFX supervisors Tim Crosbie and Dennis Jones talk about their return to hyperspeed with Quicksilver and working with Cyclops in Marvel’s new film ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’.
MPC and Sky worked together on a series of new idents for the Sky Arts channel’s rebrand that centres on the transforming power of colour, from ordinary to extraordinary.
FuseFX VFX supervisor Jon Massey talks about the realistic and historically accurate visual effects their team created for American Revolutionary War drama ‘Turn: Washington’s Spies’.
For Channel 4’s new Formula 1 deal, the Design Studio at Framestore left traditional ideas about racing broadcast titles in the dust - but kept the speed, glamour and intense competition of F1.
MPC’s VFX supervisor Seth Maury and the team at MPC Vancouver created the massive seas and storm sequences driving the true story behind the film ‘The Finest Hours’.
Francois Dumoulin talks about recreating 19th-century Nantucket for ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ with concept art, large scale set extensions, CG water and matte paintings for 260 VFX shots.
From pre-production to post, Rushes created motion graphics for more than 300 screens on set, appearing in 23 scenes ranging from Q’s lab at MI6 to inside the villain Oberhauser’s lair.
From pre-production to post, Rushes created motion graphicsfor more than 300 screens on set, appearing in 23 scenes rangingfrom Q’s lab at MI6 to inside the villain Oberhauser’s lair. Rushes’ Screen Graphics Monitor the World of SPECTRE A fascinating side of…
MPC Creative’s Mike Wigart and Dan Marsh tell what creating imagery for VR viewing means for production and post teams, and describe their approaches on two very different projects.
Cinesite VFX studio contributed to major sequences in ‘The Revenant’, helping the director build up the experiential nature of the film with perfect shot transitions and invisible effects.
Sarofsky created and delivered the main titles sequence for ‘Ant-Man’ Sarofsky -Ant-Man6at 4K resolution, in 3D stereo and 2D versions, from high above Earth and descending down to the subatomic realm.
IO Entertainment worked with director Sam Mendes, DP Hoyte van Hoytema and crews working on VFX, SFX, production design, art, stunts and locations, as sole previs provider on ‘Spectre’.
Paul O’Shea at MPC LA describes working inside the world of Black Ops for the game’s new trailer, scouting elaborate sets, handling photoreal zombies and robots and choreographing FX.
Gramercy Park Studios worked with film and installation artist Mark Lewis to deliver VFX and virtual camera moves for scenes inside the Louvre Museum in Paris in his film ‘Invention’.
James Tonkin from Hangman Studios and director Charlie Target Adams shot and produced a live studio session of Placebo’s album ‘Loud Like Love’ at RAK Studios, London.
‘Metallica: Through the Never’ in 3D combines fantasy with a full Metallica concert. Opus VFX seized a chance to contribute particle and electrical effects.
Athena Studios led a detailed digital restoration of ‘Black Angel’, a long lost short film made by ‘Star Wars’ art director Roger Christian. BLACK ANGEL A short film titled ‘Black Angel’ made in the late 1970s as the directorial debut of ‘Star Wars’ art…
RSP’s all-CG shots for ‘Gravity’ bring astronaut Ryan Stone tumbling back down to earth in a glowing space capsule. Gravity - Down to Earth Rising Sun Picturescontributed two and a half minutes of entirely computer generated footage to the final sequence of…
Nvizible’s Adam Rowland and colourist Rob Pizzey talk about the subtle FX and grade that tell the story of the MV Maersk Alabama hijacking. CAPTAIN PHILLIPS – A Pirate’s Life Visual effects house Nvizible worked on over 180 shots for ‘Captain Phillips’, the…
Documentary feature on civil rights activist Joachim Prinz required comprehensive handling in post across multiple formats. DOCUMENTARY POST – An Activist’s Life Documentary feature film‘Joachim Prinz: I Shall Not Be Silent’had its US premiere at the New…
Director Yanni Kronenberg and digital production company Holler created a TV and online digital campaign for Audi Quattro in Australia. LAND OF QUATTRO Director Yanni Kronenberg and digital production companyHollerhave created a TV and online digital campaign…
To promote the super fast Maclaren P1 road-car, 76ltd's Dan Gifford directed a complex shoot and post at the famous Nürburgring race track. Racer’s Dream The new Maclaren P1 costs a million Euros, drives at 350kph and looks like a racer’s dream. Because…
Fuel VFX & Method Studios contribute to ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’, producing key FX from elusive holographic characters to Katniss Everdeen’s fiery dress. PLAYING WITH FIRE Fuel VFX and Method Studios played active roles in ‘The Hunger Games: Catching…
Adam Haywood of Final Focus employs the Blackmagic Cinema Camera & DaVinci Resolve to bring 1950s looks to his film ‘Penny’ at Melbourne’s Dromana 3 Drive-In. PENNY – Turn Back Time Adam Haywood is an independent filmmaker and co-owner of Final Focus…
Cutting Edge’s TVC for the Sony A7 camera takes four cosmonauts high into the stratosphere to watch the earth, weightless, from a new perspective. Sky Divers Cutting Edge produced Sony China’s recent TVC for the A7 camera with agency M&C Saatchi, who asked…
Vine FX handled all FX and animation across the first series of the BBC’s new show ‘Atlantis’, building fantasy CG creatures and 3D environments in over 1,000 shots. BEYOND ATLANTIS Vine FX in London worked with producers at Urban Myths Films on the new BBC…
Nicolas Aithadi tells how the team at MPC created environments, a fiery ambush, digital assets and animated photoreal CG characters for ’47 Ronin’. Japanese Western VFX supervisor Nicolas Aithadi and his team at MPC became involved with ’47 Ronin’ in 2012,…
Fernando G Baptista describes the research & techniques behind his beautiful graphics for National Geographic’s feature on Brunelleschi’s Dome in Florence. Brunelleschi’s Dome National Geographic’s February cover featurereveals the history and design of…
Director Anatoly Ivanov explored the world of a well-known Russian Techno DJ for his first full-length documentary, titled ‘Kvadrat’. The DJ’s Journey French/Russian directorAnatoly Ivanovexplored the world of a well-known Russian Techno DJ for his first…
Framestore and Method Studios talk about disassembling & assembling RoboCop, exploring the future of television and staging a robotic siege. Cops and Robots In the world of ‘RoboCop’, the US multinational corporation OmniCorp designs and builds robots of…
DDP Studios handled on-set data and dailies management, colour, post andmastering for ‘The Railway Man’. Method Studios, the movie’s sole VFX vendor,completed almost 150 shots. ‘The Railway Man’ Stays on Track with DDP & Method Studios DDP Studios completed…
Proof visualisation studio carried out previs and postvis services for MarvelEntertainment’s ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, planning the actionfor every major action and VFX scene. Proof Visualizes ‘Captain America’ from Previs to Postvis…
LOOK produced environments, miniature integration, matte paintings,particle FX, stop-motion animation and 3D projections to bring real magicand fantasy to ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel ‘. LOOK Effects Takes a Trip to The Grand Budapest Hotel LOOK produced some…
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 came to life after a close collaboration betweenvisual effects, sound and post production teams from Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Alex Scollay, a CG and VFX artist, has developed a series of storyboardsas a graphic novel with CG imagery and cinema production values using3ds Max, V-Ray, Nuke and Thinkbox software. CG Artist Alex Scollay Makes ‘Vicki’s Wish’ Come True AlthoughAlex…
Due to tight, creative collaboration with Bandito Brothers’ editorial team,Cantina Creative was able to complete 1,000 VFX shots for ‘Need for Speed’in only six months with a team of ten. Cantina Creative & Bandito Brothers Accelerate a True VFX/Editorial…
VFX artists at Gramercy Park Studios give racing a new twist forBetfair by putting race horses behind the wheel of a pair of rallycars splashing down a country road. Gramercy Park Raises the Stakes on Betfair’s Supercharged Horses Gramercy Park Studios and…
John Seale ASC ACS and his intrepid crew followed Furiosa’s War Rigacross the Namibian desert to capture ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ with 6ARRI ALEXA cameras and 11 Codex onboard recorders. Cinematographer John Seale Rolls Down ‘Fury Road’ ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, the…
Motion capture companies Animatrik Film Design and DimensionalImaging talk about working together to bring specialist facialperformance capture services to VFX and game productions. Performance Capture Pioneers Collaborate on New Mocap Experience Motion…
Steve Lumley, Art Director on ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’, talks about his work with the team at Sony Pictures Animation to introduce some Transylvanian magic to the California suburbs.
Framestore’s VFX team ventures into space with new techniques for lighting, virtual cinema and photo-real CG. GRAVITY - Every Way is Up A primary challenge of making ‘Gravity’ was the director Alfonso Cuarón’s intention to tell an action story about human…
VFX supervisor Kelly Port and digital FX supervisor Darren Hendlershare details of animating pixies, building a fairy’s wings and flyingthrough clouds for Disney’s fantasy, ‘Maleficent’. Digital Domain Captures Pixie Dust for ‘Maleficent’ Digital…
VFX supervisor Seth Maury at MPC Vancouver reveals the inner magic thatmakes the two worlds of ‘Maleficent’, their fairies, creatures and enchantedeffects all come to life. MPC Makes Worlds Collide for ‘Maleficent’ MPC handled a huge range of tasks for…
Ryan Cook and Julian Foddy from Double Negative’s VFX team talk aboutwrangling the heroic beasts of the 'Hercules' legend, refining their in-housetools, creature FX and animation. Double Negative Builds Legendary Creatures for ‘Hercules’ Double Negative’s…
Richard Anderson’s experience as a concept artist spans games, featurefilm pre-production and visual effects. Here, he talks about building hiscareer within this competitive industry. Concept Artist Richard Anderson Brings Studios’ Visions to the Screen…
VFX supervisor Matt Kasmir of Nvizible shares the challenges of creatingand animating the legs of the graceful but deadly Gazelle in excitingfight sequences for ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’. Nvizible Takes a Leap for ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ Among the…
Method Studios’ Simon Carr and VFX team tell about building vast newworlds, robotic characters and zero gravity FX for sci-fi fantasy feature‘Jupiter Ascending’. Method Touches the Stars for ‘Jupiter Ascending’ Contributing to the science fiction fantasy…
Framestore’s motion capture and light played fascinating roles in theproduction and post of the science fiction fantasy ‘Jupiter Ascending’. Framestore Brings Light, Life & Motion to 'Jupiter Ascending' Framestore's London and Montreal teams delivered over…
Framestore’s motion capture and light played fascinating roles in theproduction and post of the science fiction fantasy ‘Jupiter Ascending’. Framestore Brings Light, Life & Motion to 'Jupiter Ascending' Framestore's London and Montreal teams delivered over…
For ‘The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’, animators and VFXartists at Iloura re-created and animated SpongeBob and his friends as3D CG characters in a live action world. SpongeBob Squarepants Jumps to Life in 3D with Iloura AEAF ENTRY View in Online…
Fixafilm post in Warsaw has re-constructed and digitally restored AndrzejWajda’s classic film ‘The Ashes’ with Digital Vision’s Nucoda Film Mastergrading system and DVO restoration tools. Fixafilm and Digital Vision’s Nucoda Rescue Phoenix from the Ashes…
Rendering high resolution content for the Academy of Sciences Planetarium’sall-digital dome requires hundreds of render nodes and high-speed storagewithin a dedicated IT infrastructure. Planetarium Studio Powers Renders for Digital Dome Visualisations…
Motion capture companies Animatrik Film Design and DimensionalImaging talk about working together to bring specialist facialperformance capture services to VFX and game productions. Performance Capture Pioneers Collaborate on New Mocap Experience Motion…
Steve Lumley, Art Director on ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’, talks about hiswork with the team at Sony Pictures Animation to introduce someTransylvanian magic to the California suburbs. Art Director Steve Lumley Takes 'Hotel Transylvania 2' to the Suburbs WhenSteve…
One of Us completed two sequences at the summit of ‘Everest’, extendinga huge 360° green screen set, and creating atmospheric particle effectsand dramatic storm cloud environments.. One of Us Reaches the Summit for ‘Everest’ One of Usworked on two sequences…
Cinesite built robotic aliens and a training range where the hero of ‘Edgeof Tomorrow’ hones his battle skills, and created a time slice shot combiningmotion control and post camera moves. Cinesite Builds a Robotic Boot Camp on ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ As the pace…
Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, ASC, talks about cameras and whathe has been learning from his experiences shooting and lighting forfeature films, working both on film and digitally. Shane Hurlbut ASC Captures Movie Action, Light and Looks Cinematographer…
Proof visualisation house created previs and postvis services for someof the most complex and exciting action sequences in Marvel’s galacticadventure ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. Proof’s Previs & Postvis Charts the Galaxy for Marvel’s Guardians…
Rodeo FX staged a harrowing car chase through Paris with director LucBesson’sfearless heroine ‘Lucy’ at the wheel, visualising her gifts ofx-ray vision and ability to see mobile device signals. Rodeo FX Takes Lucy on a Collision Course VFX studioRodeo FXin…
Richard Anderson’s experience as a concept artist spans games, featurefilm pre-production and visual effects. Here, he talks about building hiscareer within this competitive industry. Concept Artist Richard Anderson Brings Studios’ Visions to the Screen…
Ryan Cook and Julian Foddy from Double Negative’s VFX team talk aboutwrangling the heroic beasts of the 'Hercules' legend, refining their in-housetools, creature FX and animation. Double Negative Builds Legendary Creatures for ‘Hercules’ Double Negative’s…
VFX supervisor Sue Rowe and animation director Erik de Boer atMethod Studios take on environments, complex simulations andvicious Grievers for ‘The Maze Runner’. Method Unravels the Maze with a New Creature Pipeline Method Studios’ Vancouver studio handled…