Category: vfxblog

  • Mandelbulbs, mutations and motion capture: the visual effects of Annihilation

    When Alex Garland’s Ex Machina won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 2016, it was perhaps considered a major surprise in the VFX community. But the win also highlighted just how crucial the visual effects were in bringing the story of the A.I. robot Ava, played by Alicia Vikander, to life. Now Garland…

  • New mocap video of Andy Serkis as Snoke

    Most vfxblog readers have probably already seen ILM’s fantastic Snoke visual effects breakdown here, but Lucasfilm has also just released a clip from the upcoming Last Jedi Blu-ray/DVD that features an unaltered Andy Serkis performing Snoke in his motion capture suit. Back in January, I wrote a piece for Cartoon Brew on how ILM transformed…

  • FMX 2018 – the program

    FMX has unveiled its program for 2018 and the talks, presentations and events happening in Stuttgart on April 24-27 look incredible. I am hosting the ‘Then & Now’ track which will feature Phil Tippett and Chris Wedge on the Friday, April 27th. Here’s a rundown of some of the other talks that have been announced…

  • Thanks to Fox Renderfarm for sponsoring vfxblog

    My thanks to Fox Renderfarm for coming on board as a new sponsor of vfxblog.com. I’m grateful to them for helping me continue publishing a whole bunch of original content here, including retro VFX pieces. Many VFX and animation studios already rely on Fox Renderfarm for cloud rendering, and they are one of the leaders…

  • Dark City at 20: a conversation with colorist Peter Doyle

    Filmed in Sydney and released 20 years ago this week in 1998, Alex Proyas’ Dark City surprised many by instantly becoming a neo-noir sci-fi classic. Fans of Proyas’ earlier works, including The Crow, were perhaps not surprised at the director’s adept skills in crafting a film around a dark sun-less world run by a mysterious group…

  • A whole bunch of Blade Runner 2049 VFX breakdowns in one place

    Over the past few months, I’ve seen some incredible – incredible – VFX breakdowns posted by the various studios behind the effects in Blade Runner 2049 (overall supervisor John Nelson). So here’s a whole bunch of them in one place at vfxblog. I’m sorry if I’ve missed any of the major work, please let me…

  • Aaron Sims on the secrets of crafting compelling characters

    The creatures and characters you see in some of the biggest films and television shows are the result of countless hours of design, research, re-design and skilled artistry. Among the most prolific of creature and characters designers is the team at Aaron Sims Creative, headed up by design veteran Aaron Sims. In recent times, ASC…

  • ‘We tried a million things’ – the oral history of Sphere’s sphere

    Barry Levinson’s 1998 film Sphere, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, brought with it a diverse array of visual effects straddling both the practical and digital worlds. Its central ‘character’, the sphere itself, was a CG creation by Cinesite, and proved to be one of the toughest design challenges on the movie. Overall…

  • Industry news: Iloura merges with Method Studios, and the lost Pirates 3 interview

    Sister visual effects studios Iloura and Method, both owned by Deluxe, are combining under a single brand – Method Studios. Iloura, an Australian VFX studio with a 30 year history in Melbourne and Sydney, had in particular been knocking it out of the park recently with killer work on projects such as Game of Thrones, Fury…

  • 5 visual stories from 5 VFX Oscar nominees

    Over the past year I’ve been able to cover the visual effects in all of the films nominated for the VFX Oscar – Blade Runner 2049, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Kong: Skull Island, The Last Jedi, and War for the Planet of the Apes. Now in this special series of visual stories, I’m…