vfxblog – Page 41 – Visual effects and animation journalist Ian Failes

A Monster Calls – a wonder of animation

Make sure you try and see A Monster Calls on the big screen for the incredible animated stories, and also MPC’s creature work. Here’s a new piece for Cartoon Brew on the animated tales.

January 6, 2017
How Rogue One is an ode to the VFX of the Original Trilogy

One of the impressive feats accomplished by ILM for Rogue One is segueing from this ‘new film’ (made with advanced VFX techniques) into A New Hope (released, of course, in 1977, at a time when effects were done with models and motion control and optical compositing). To make that happen, a special ops team at the studio studied…

January 5, 2017
VFX trends for 2017

Digital Arts asked me what I thought were the big trends coming for 2017 in VFX. My view is: digital humans and even better digital characters, more practical fx, more vfx houses getting into anim and their own IP, and a big Oscar VFX upset.

January 5, 2017
Schirkoa – find this and watch it

At SIGGRAPH Asia last year, I was able to interview Indian filmmaker Ishan Shukla about his short Schirkoa, which made it to the Academy long list. There’s not much else to say except you need to try and find this film and watch it. Check out the interview at Cartoon Brew.

January 4, 2017
Cinesite’s invisible fx in Assassin’s Creed

There was a big practical focus in Assassin’s Creed, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any vfx. Cinesite crafted some fantastic invisible work for the wagon chase. Here’s a breakdown on Cartoon Brew.

January 3, 2017
Showcasing Luma in 3D Artist mag

My newest article in 3D Artist magazine is about Luma Pictures and some of their recent projects, including Doctor Strange.

January 3, 2017
K-2SO is the best

I talked to ILM animation supervisor Hal Hickel about making K-2SO, which I think was the best character in Rogue One. Check it out at Cartoon Brew.

December 30, 2016
The zero-g swimming pool

Here’s a new piece I wrote for Cartoon Brew about the swimming pool scene in Passengers, which featured great vfx by MPC.

December 30, 2016
Star Wars’ practical and CG make-up odyssey

For Inverse, I jumped into the best practical and digital make-up and animatronics and prosthetics work from the Star Wars films. Such innovation amongst these.

December 18, 2016
Star Wars – and ILM – changed the way they make movies. Period.

Thrillist asked me to dive into how the Star Wars movies changed the way movies were made, from a VFX point of view. It was fun recounting just some of the advancements, including motion control, camera tech and CG developments.

December 15, 2016