How “Avatar: The Way of Water” Visual Effects Wizards Conjured Underwater Magic
How long can you hold your breath underwater? One minute? Two? Maybe three? For James Cameron’s highly-anticipated Avatar: The Way of Water, now in theaters, the cast had to take lessons from free diving expert Kirk Krack in order to fluidly capture the transcendent water scenes. Why so? Bubbles.
The sequel picks up from the 2009 blockbuster exploring the enchanting oceans of Pandora, in particular, the lush island reef village of the Metkayina clan,
How Camera Specialist Otto Nemenz Helped Make “The Gray Man” & Trains Tomorrow’s Camera Wizards
Did you hold your breath during the heart-stopping, crystal-clear action scenes in the Netflix thriller The Gray Man? You can thank Otto Nemenz and his cameras for that.
For over 40 years, Otto Nemenz International, Inc. in Culver City (and previously Hollywood) has provided digital cinema cameras, lenses, and accessories to motion picture productions across the country. But it’s more than just the top-notch equipment ONI provides that makes this 40+ person operation exceptional.
How Mammal Studios Builds Magical Landscapes & Trains Technical Wizards
Creating spectacular superhero action scenes, constructing fantastical locations, visually evoking an era, or creating trippy illustrations are forms of visual effects. And they are all a key part of visual storytelling. Many viewers don’t know how these elements are created or who produces them.
The artists at Mammal Studios are a fantastic example, having woven their visual effects magic on many of the biggest blockbusters from the last decade—Black Panther,
Breaking Down the Astonishing Technology Behind Ava DuVernay’s “One Perfect Shot”
The cathedral wedding in John M. Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians. Diana Prince boldly crossing a World War I battlefield in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman. Lisa stuck on a zip-line suspended above a raucous crowd in downtown New Orleans, in Malcolm D. Lee’s Girls’ Trip. Cathartic, lovely, or almost distressingly hilarious, these scenes are indelible. What did their directors do to make them tick?
In One Perfect Shot,
From “Moana” to “Lupin”: How the Tool “VoiceQ” Does Dubbing Right
It’s all about “lip flap” when it comes to quality voice dubbing for movies and TV. Voice actors make their living by synchronizing dialogue to the micro-movements that happen when on-screen characters open and close their mouths, AKA lip flap. Imprecise voice work results in cheesy-sounding foreign language adaptations. But voice dubbing, done right, has helped propel series like the Korean language Squid Game, Spanish-language Money Heist, and French-language Lupin to hit status in the United States.
Jordan Peele, Christopher Nolan & More Developing New IMAX Cameras
IMAX, the best large-format camera developer in the world, is working with some of the most tech-savvy, talented filmmakers on the planet to develop new film cameras. The Hollywood Reporter scoops that writer/directors Jordan Peele and Christopher Nolan are just two of the filmmakers giving the company feedback. They’re joined by some of the best cinematographers in the business, including Rachel Morrison (Black Panther), Bradford Young (Arrival),
Leading Lawmakers Celebrate the Motion Picture Association’s Centennial
“We are a nation of visionaries,” Vice President Kamala Harris says at the top of her remarks about the Motion Picture Association’s centennial. The Vice President was one of nine leading lawmakers to speak about the centennial and the importance of the MPA’s work advocating on behalf of the film and television industry. “Members of the Motion Picture Association, for a century you have written the lines we will never stop quoting. You have created the images we will never forget.
Smiely Khurana is Leading the Sustainability Charge in Canada With Reel Green
Smiely Khurana is the face of the sustainability movement in Hollywood North. As Creative BC’s in-house Sustainability Lead with Reel Green™, she’s cutting a singular path for the industry in Canada; one that is quickly being modeled in production hubs across the country. Through Reel Green™, Khurana is accelerating knowledge sharing and working to deepen local industry expertise. She’s leading the charge on training and developing new tools to help Canada’s film community green its story and transition to a circular economy.
“Aquaman 2” Star Patrick Wilson Teases New VFX Techniques
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will splash into theaters right in time for Christmas, on December 16, 2022. While we still haven’t even seen the first trailer for director James Wan’s hotly-anticipated sequel, we are starting to get a few tidbits about the film itself. It sounds as if the sequel will enjoy the benefits of brand new visual effects technology that DC is deploying on its upcoming slate of films.
While plot details are being kept under wraps (location;
“The Gilded Age” Cinematographer Manuel Billeter on Lighting Old Money & New
Set in New York in the 1880s, The Gilded Age isn’t so much a follow-up to Downton Abbey as an across-the-pond companion piece from creator Julian Fellowes. In what’s being oft-referred to as a ‘lavish epic’ up and down the internet, this new HBO series follows in the footsteps of Fellowes’ previous series, with a slickly-produced focus on all the ways the rich are not like you and me.
How the “Moonfall” VFX Team Tapped Physics to Destroy the Earth
Don’t look up! The moon is on a collision course with Earth. Filmmaker Roland Emmerich, who brought us Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012, returns with another global disaster movie in Moonfall (premiering February 4) that has a colossal twist. This time it’s up to NASA executive Jo Fowler (Halle Berry), astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson), and conspiracy theorist K.C.
“Station Eleven” Cinematographer Christian Sprenger on Threading Timelines & Revealing Humanity
It was two days after Christmas when I texted cinematographer Christian Sprenger to ask if he’d be interested in talking about Station Eleven, the critically acclaimed limited series created for television by Patrick Somerville (Maniac, The Leftovers) on HBO Max. I had just finished watching the pilot episode “Wheel of Fire,” which he photographed alongside director Hiro Murai, and the visual aesthetics were astoundingly refreshing.
Adapted from the book by Emily St.
“West Side Story” Music Supervisor Matt Sullivan on The Cast, Spielberg, and Capturing Magic
When we interviewed West Side Story‘s music producer David Newman, he made clear not only how massive of an effort was required to pull off Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece musical, but how personal it all felt. “There were hundreds of us involved in it, and I loved it. It just was a completely pure feeling,” Newman told us. “We were all just doing it for the love of it. That is the feeling I get with this movie.
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” Production Designer Stefan Dechant on Joel Coen’s Minimalist Masterpiece
Production designer Stefan Dechant has worked on detail-packed cinematic spectacles like Jurassic Park, Avatar, Pacific Rim: Uprising, and Kong: Skull Island. When he signed up for Joel Coen‘s black and white adaptation of The Tragedy of Macbeth, Dechant had to embrace a new aesthetic, stripping all decorative embellishments that might distract from the drama at hand.
How “Nightmare Alley” Hair Designer Cliona Furey & Makeup Designer Jo-Ann MacNeil Made Magic
In Guillermo del Toro’s carnival noir Nightmare Alley, the visionary director eschews the supernatural for a period noir to fantastic effect. The film is set largely at a mid-20th-century second-rate carnival filled with schemers, dreamers, hustlers, weirdos, and femme Fatales, with del Toro acting as our carnival barker (that role in the movie actually belongs to Willem Dafoe), taking us on a tour of the lost souls plying their various trades in this shadowy world.
The Future of Immersive VFX Arrives With Dark Bay at Studio Babelsberg
The future of visual effects may be moving from post-production and right onto the set. At Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, Germany, a new stage recently started helping filmmakers make the switch. The 109-year-old studio complex’s new Dark Bay Visual Production Studio is an LED-enabled stage that allows VFX to become part of production while shooting is still underway. And details are mostly under wraps at this point, but the first production to make its home in the new studio is Netflix’s 1899,
Industrial Light & Magic Senior Creature Artist Dane Larocque on Constructing Unforgettable Creatures
Dane Larocque hails from rural British Columbia and Alberta and grew up in what he calls a “hardcore western rodeo family.” A career in visual effects, at arguably the most prestigious VFX company on the planet, wasn’t something he grew up imagining as an option. Yet Larocque had an enduring passion for film and was the type of kid who’d pore over the special features of a DVD to see how a particular film was actually made.
“Godzilla vs. Kong” VFX Supervisor on Creating Titan Title Match of the Ages
John ‘D.J’. Des Jardin has been a go-to visual effects supervisor in Hollywood for decades, and he’s widely known as one of the best and nicest guys in the business. You can see his inventive, creative touch in The Matrix, X-Men, and Mission Impossible franchises. His work can be seen on Ang Lee’s achingly beautiful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The man’s talents cross all genres—if you need something to exist on screen that doesn’t,
A New “Making The Snyder Cut” Video Reveals How This Epic Came to Be
By now you’ve seen Zack Snyder’s Justice League—if not, you’re going to want to step away from this Mother Box (JL joke!). If you did take in the Snyder Cut, you’re probably still parsing all the implications the film raised for the DCEU, and all the new stuff Snyder included in the film. The Anti-Life equation! The Martian Manhunter! Steppenwolf’s fealty, and fear, of Darkseid! And of course,
“The Dark Knight” & “Gravity” VFX Supervisor Introducing New Filmmaking Tech in Directorial Debut
If there’s anything good to come from the pandemic in the entertainment world, advancements in filmmaking technology that are making it possible for artists from all over the world to collaborate remotely has got to be high on that list. To that end, The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Tim Weber, who nabbed an Academy Award for his groundbreaking work on Alfonso Cuarón’s 2014 space epic Gravity, will be revealing new collaborative filmmaking technology when he makes his directorial debut.
