Method Studios’ Post

Explore the world of VFX with Alessandro Ongaro, the VFX Supervisor for the epic titan battles in Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire! Discover the techniques and visual effects that brought every roaring moment to life on screen, including visualization work by The Third Floor: "Big kudos to Jeremy Munro and The Third Floor, who handled all the visualization required for the film, delivering a blueprint to our vendors that took most of the guesswork out of the picture." "Another critical aspect of the film was dealing with the scale of the Monsters. Early in prep, we agreed to use the different senses of scale based on the situation so that when we’re just with the Monsters, we treat them like they were human-sized creatures rather than 350/400ft tall. This dramatically helped design and choreograph the fight scenes, arguably the film’s most complex aspect from a design perspective. This is also made possible by the excellent work Jeremy Munro and the team at The Third Floor brought to the project during the 15-month period they worked on the film." Check out the full story here: https://lnkd.in/ePJnd6tf

Prepare to have your perception of reality shattered as we talked with Production #VFX Supervisor David Simpson. In our exclusive interview, he unravels the intricacies of creating invisible #visualeffects (made by Framestore, TPO VFX and fixfx) for #AlexGarland's groundbreaking film, #CivilWar:

Episode 113 is up. My conversation with production designer, art director, concept designer and VFX artist Kevin Jenkins. https://lnkd.in/eHuxU5uM We swap stories about our childhood movie experiences and the films that got under our skin—like Jaws, Star Wars, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. We talk about how these films not only shaped Kevin's tastes but ignited a passion for storytelling and artistry that's stuck with him. Kevin and I get into the risks filmmakers took back then. We touch on the balance between practical effects and digital tech, and why having a passionate, collaborative team is crucial to making something memorable. There's a bit on the commercialization of genres and how fandom sometimes gets too caught up in nostalgia, missing out on new, original stories. We also cover how filmmaking has evolved with technology, especially for artists like Kevin, who transitioned from traditional illustration to digital tools. Kevin shares insights on how tech influences collaboration and creativity on set. He walks me through the role of a concept artist, the problem-solving and idea generation that goes into projects like World War Z and Edge of Tomorrow—highlighting the creative process behind creature designs and visual effects. Kevin opens up about the challenge of finding the right design and the nuances of working within big franchises. He talks about the essential collaboration between art and costume departments to build a cohesive visual world. Finally, Kevin shares his ambition to work on a historical epic.

A brief post on how to assure the success of any action sequence, but also applies to VFX shots: 1. Storyboards & subsequent animatic approved by production post & client. 2. VFX supervision on set & post to assure all plates for above (1) taken into account. 3. As many cameras as possible to allow for “happy accidents” that may happen in edit IF, PRIMARILY, 1 is in the can, (& 2) all plates for these sequences are also shot. 4. Although the most obvious, often NOT taken into account: COMMUNICATION and active involvement between production, post, and client. 5. Production, post and client Abiding by all reviews approved, before a frame of film is captured.

Well, I was wrong. And now I appreciate Wes Ball EVEN MORE. See, I assumed that because of his extensive VFX knowledge and ability to generate concept material and pre-visualize sequences by himself, that he would exploit the process both to have a solid plan going into filming, and as a way to earn the studio's trust and "protect" himself from creative interference while directing the biggest film of his career thus far. But what he revealed in this fascinating conversation with Mike Seymore and Erik Winquist, is that he intentionally avoided doing that. Instead, relying on storyboards which he referred to as "more ambiguous", made room for discovery and exploration on set for the actors, the camera and him. But beyond the creative reason, the fact that he felt confident to let go of his "edge" of being able to pre-visualize, means he had totally won the studio's trust before shooting began. This is very impressive, though not too surprising. He'd done a great job directing the Maze Runner trilogy (he directed all 3 films back to back, the first one being his directorial debut), and had probably impressed FOX during the pre-production of The Mouse Guard, which got canned with the acquisition by Disney. This podcast includes many interesting topics, such as his intention to release a version of the entire film comparing it with / without VFX, and why he thinks this is a great idea that will honor both the VFX effort and the production effort equally. Highly recommended listen! #VFX #directing #podcast

CGI vs VFX vs SFX: Understanding the Differences in Film Effects #Entertainment#Guide

The UK has always been ahead of the curve on stop motion. For some reason Europe has always had a home for the medium, first explored in Soviet Russia/Eastern Europe, whereas the US has always treated it as much more niche. The piece below is a perfect example of playing to stop motions strengths, juxtaposing the textured characters and set pieces against the clean, colored Cyc's so prevalent on social media. The effect that is rendered is so engaging as your eye is drawn ever inward towards detail. The exact opposite of corporate friendly CG, that can often be so flat that your eyes glaze over without registering anything. Attentions are short, so it up to the creatives to find new ways to hold folks attention, and I think this piece can really teach us Americans the value that stop motion adds to advertising. Cheers to Joseph Wallace and Co. for such a great piece!

CGI vs VFX vs SFX: Understanding the Differences in Film Effects #Entertainment#Guide

Someone did something I would NEVER do as a VFX supervisor, and the result was exactly as expected. The lesson was simple: don't false-represent yourself A fellow filmmaker reached out to me to potentially VFX supervise his first feature film debut. This was about 12 years ago when I was new to LA and without any feature film experience, but we had already worked together and I had his trust. But he ended up hiring someone else at a well know VFX house. CUT TO - several months later, I get a phone call. It's my director friend, now deep in post-production, and he doesn't sound happy. Most of the VFX work was done by then except for a handful of shots. But these weren't just any shots. These shots were *critical* in that they showed reality merging with fantasy. The entire story hinged on them striking a delicate balance. "Aren't you working with <redacted>? -They should just continue look-dev'ing until you approve, no?" He got quiet for a second, then said "Well turns out that VFX supervisor whom we met at that company took the project independently and hired his own team on the side, and now says he's burnt through the budget and can't offer more revisions". Well there you go. The man won the job by false representing himself as an agent of a known VFX house. He even invited the filmmakers (director and producer) to tour the studio with him and see "the team in action". Then he turned the project into his side-gig and hired an external team to do it. Now, full disclosure: I also took on side-gigs and hired external team to do VFX for my clients *WHILE* working at a known VFX house. But I *NEVER* false represented myself to these clients. Not before and not during the gigs, AND I was contractually permitted to engage in them, as I made my employer aware of this from day one. So what happened with my friend's film? I helped him of course. He barely had any spare change, so I did these shots myself. But I guess I also learned that being disingenuous is an actual thing that some people need to be warned against. Just be genuine guys, don't be like this guy.

Explore the world of invisible #visualeffects with Roni Rodrigues, #VFX Supervisor at Outpost VFX. In our exclusive interview, he breaks down the detailed work that brought authenticity to #BobMarley: One Love. Don't miss this fascinating peek behind the scenes!