VFX journalist Ian Failes
It’s very nearly the 30th anniversary of Ron Howard’s Willow, a huge effects film full of practical fx, miniatures, optical composites, matte paintings…and digital morphing. This was ILM’s big breakthrough into 2D image manipulation. I recently wrote about for VFX Voice magazine, and you can check out that article here.
I asked Weta Digital animation supervisor David Clayton that question for VFX Voice, in relation to his work on Rampage.
For VFX Voice, I talked to a number of VFX artists who have made the jump to directing: Hasraf Dulull, Victor Perez and Miguel Ortega. Check out the projects they’ve worked on and tips for becoming a director.
20 years has gone fast – I distinctly remember the studio’s first big project, Pitch Black. Trace their path in this story at VFX Voice.
I talked to Scanline for VFX Voice magazine about how they did the waterfall scene for Tomb Raider.
Image Engine gave me some great breakdown pics to go with this VFX Voice story on the art of VFX breakdowns.
There are actually sooo many great effects shots in Willow, but for me it was ILM’s use of ‘morfing’ that made that project so memorable. It’s now 30 years old, and here’s the VFX Voice piece I was able to do on the film.
I talked to Aardman for this story at VFX Voice about their newest stop motion effort, Early Man. Some really nice behind the scenes pics here.
The latest issue of VFX Voice is now out, with Wrinkle in Time on the cover, and has a bunch of content I was able to contribute. I’ll post some links to some of those stories in the coming days.
Previs, postvis and techvis: it’s now pretty much part of all big VFX films. Here’s how The Third Floor contributed its skills to The Last Jedi, at VFX Voice.
I do love writing these invisible visual effects stories, and here’s a new one on Hostiles for VFX Voice.
At VFX Voice, two new online articles I wrote have now been published. The first is a breakdown of one scene from Downsizing, which utilised some neat miniaturisation effects. And the second is about the awesome stampede in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
For VFX Voice magazine, I looked back at some of the big ticket innovations ILM introduced with each Star Wars film. Loved the history here.
What a thrill to chat to ILM vfx supe Ben Morris about The Last Jedi (we did this a few months before the film was out – it was tough!). VFX Voice magazine has the story.
Anyone who saw Jumanji in the 90s knew that CG and VFX was already changing films forever. I got to chat to former ILM animation supervisor and now director Kyle Balda about his work on it, for VFX Voice magazine.
One of my favourite articles to write this year: a look at The Shape of Water effects with Legacy and Mr. X, for VFX Voice magazine.
The January 2018 issue of VFX Voice has a piece I wrote on Oats Studios, Neill Blomkamp’s experimental outfit.
The latest VFX Voice magazine – January 2018 – has a whole bunch of features I was able to contribute to, and I’ll run through them over the next few days. First up is a piece looking at the VFX Oscar contenders.
I’ve had a lot of fun over the years writing about invisible fx work, and this new piece at VFX Voice’s website covers Image Engine’s work in Detroit, Chimney’s Atomic Blonde vfx and Dneg’s seamless Baby Driver augmentations.
Go and see Paddington 2. Just see it. It’s so good. Here’s a look at how Framestore pulled off that cool pop-up book sequence, at VFX Voice.