‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and More VES Award Nominees Boast New Tech Achievements

Karen Idelson
·3 min read

Visual effects teams served up astonishing images of animated characters, monsters, and the ex-
plosions that we’ve all come to expect and love over the last year. And this time, as the Visual Effects Society’s nominations for its annual awards show, VFX artists are leaning more and more into the kinds of tools and techniques that speed up production, give filmmakers real time choices, and create stylized versions of effects.

Chris Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which was lauded for its astonishing and convincing VFX, relied on teams using cutting edge tools to immerse audiences in the story. The film also leaned into some classic special effects designed to be paired with VFX to make an overall more impressive image.

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“Chris wants to do as much in camera as he can because he knows this will make everything look better,” says Scott Fisher, special effects supervisor, nommed for his work on the film. “Many of the things we do are part of the magic tricks that you’ve seen in movies over many decades, and he appreciates that. When you have a part of the shot that was done this way it gives the VFX crew more information to work with to make their work better, too.”

For Jay Cooper, visual effects supervisor with ILM, who is nommed for his work on “The Creator,” real in-camera work was a part of the plan as well.

“We had a lot of conversations about the best way to do the magic trick,” says Cooper. “We wanted to be sure the audience couldn’t tell where the real locations stopped, and our extensions began — and what we decided was that we would travel as much as we can and find as many real locations as we can.”

In the early days of VFX, crews were constantly pushed to the limit with extended render times that didn’t allow filmmakers to see the finished shots until late in the process. Now, the shots can become spectacularly complex and the VFX can be seen in real-time rendering.

“Without a doubt using this technology, which we’ve seen in live action and that’s now getting into animation, in previs rough layout is definitely part of a trend that’s coming,” says Mike Lasker, visual effects supervisor, nommed for his work on “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” “Anything that speeds up the creative process and allows directors to make creative calls in the moment is something that is becoming a bigger part of our business because the directors obviously want that kind of input.”

With the tools that make it possible for directors to guide VFX in the moment becoming a bigger part of the process, filmmakers can then also make choices that are more stylized and specific to the story that they want to tell. Filmmakers are often looking for VFX that will fit into their overall vision for the story and not necessarily something that is simply realistic. Many times, the director has invented an entirely new world, and the visual rules of that world are set by the story.

VFX supervisors and crews then often work closely with other departments to adhere to the visual setup and cues developed in the on-set work.

“James (Gunn) gave us a very clear mandate at the beginning that he wanted to film the scenes in the cages with the actors as much as possible with the kind of camera he’s using,” says Stephane Ceretti, visual effects supervisor nommed for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” “This is weird because the scenes are almost entirely CG, but he wanted the style of the way we’re filming to be a reflection of the way he’s filming the rest of the movie.”

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