VFX Voice - Fall 2017

300 (2007). Zack Snyder’s stylistic rendition of this comic booksourced
story took full advantage of the manipulation of live-action
photography with visual effects for key ‘frames’, including for this cliff
sequence completed by Animal Logic. Actors were commonly filmed
against bluescreen, but the final imagery was intentionally pushed
and pulled for dramatic effect. (Photo copyright © 2007 Warner Bros.
Pictures. All rights reserved.)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, his
return to the franchise after many years, saw the worlds of stunts,
special effects, visual effects and – in a more than prominent way, color
grading – combine to give the film its hard-hitting result. These images
sum up the general approach to the film’s visual effects, in which plate
photography was often augmented with additional environments,
crowds, effects and color grading. (Photo copyright © 2015 Warner Bros.
Pictures. All rights reserved.)
things actually work. With that as the basis, you can create incredible
images and make an audience believe they are real – whether
it’s fantastic, like the folding cities of Inception, or the interior of
a black hole in Interstellar, or something of this Earth that most
people have never experienced, as with the heart of battle in
Dunkirk. The exotic nature of what you can achieve with visual
effects creates a hyper-reality. Truth can be stranger than fiction.”
—Christopher Nolan, Director
Transformers (2007). The Decepticon Bonecrusher, a CG creation
by Industrial Light & Magic, causes havoc during a freeway chase
scene in Michael Bay’s Transformers. ILM solved major animation and
physical interaction challenges to help bring the film to life, seamlessly
integrating highly reflective metallic characters into what has been
described as the director’s ‘Bayhem’ action. (Photo copyright © 2007
Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.)
“Visual effects have merged into the whole process of the cinematic
experience. It’s not about shots, it’s about the integration of
universes, the integration of sets, the integration of life and actors.
We’re living in a historic moment in cinema.”
—Alfonso Cuarón, Director
Starship Troopers (1997). Phil Tippett’s Tippett Studio orchestrated
a raft of CG bugs for Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers, relying on
keyframe animation and the use of a ‘digital input device’ armature,
first devised for Jurassic Park, that replicated the idea of a stop-motion
animation feel for the creatures. The film was also marked by impressive
spaceship miniatures, matte paintings and other digital effects.
(Photo copyright © 1997 Sony Pictures. All rights reserved.)
“I originally studied as a fine artist, so to see so many truly
gifted VFX artists and crew working around the clock to bring
their incredible skills to Wonder Woman was truly stunning. Bill
Westenhoffer, our VFX Supervisor, was by my side every day, and
did such an amazing job guiding and overseeing all of the effects,
which were so critical to the storytelling. At the moment there is
still a limit to what you can do with a digi double versus a
real actor, because if it gets too close or detailed you can still start to
feel that something isn’t quite right. The next big breakthrough
will be to cross that divide and really be able to manipulate a digi
double to absolutely appear as fluid and real as a person, in closer,
more detailed shots. We’re getting close!”
—Patty Jenkins, Director
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