IndieWire invited the production VFX supervisors from the five Oscar-nominated films to choose and analyze a pivotal scene that best showcases their work: Paul Lambert (“Dune: Part Two”), Wētā FX’s Erik Winquist (“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”), Wētā FX’s Luke Millar (“Better Man”), Eric Barba (“Alien: Romulus”), and ILM’s Pablo Helman (“Wicked”).
For Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part 2,” Lambert and his Oscar-winning “Dune” team from DNEG ramped up everything with much more visceral action. They once again used sand-colored VFX screens to integrate live-action footage with digital elements; they supplied CG enhancement to the 44-day SFX practical shoot of Paul (Timothée Chalamet) riding the sandworm for the first time; and they created more extensive views of the massive sandworms during battle with CG and practical effects.
Wes Ball’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” dives deeper into the now dominant ape civilization. Wētā greatly upgraded its photoreal performance capture animation for chattier apes while creating more VFX action set pieces with a lot of simulated water. Overall, 33 minutes are entirely digital, which is a franchise first.
Michael Gracey’s “Better Man,” the Robbie Williams musical biopic that’s like a fever dream, shows off a different Wētā simian style for the pop star appearing as a CG chimp throughout (performance-captured by actor Jonno Davies). Wētā adopted a more human approach to mimic Williams’ mannerisms from youngster to adult. However, this created a major technical challenge for interacting with the rest of the actors, especially during the musical numbers.
Fede Álvarez’s “Alien: Romulus,” a standalone set between “Alien” and “Aliens,” finds young colonists encountering the Xenomorphs and Facehuggers while scavenging a derelict space station. ILM joins Image Engine, Tippett Studio, and Wētā. In a throwback to the original, there’s a deft combination of animatronics and CG. What’s new is a hybrid human/Xeno from Wētā and an evil android, Rook, who resembles Ash (Ian Holm) from “Alien,” using a Legacy puppet and the generative AI software, Metaphysic Live.
Jon M. Chu’s musical “Wicked” leans on the magical realism of Oz to tell the origin story of Elphaba/the Wicked Witch (Oscar-nominated Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda/Glinda the Good Witch (Oscar-nominated Ariana Grande). ILM and Framestore split VFX duties with a combination of CG and special effects. The CG included hundreds of talking animals and extensions for Oz. In addition, special effects took center stage (under the supervision of Paul Corbould) for the building of The Emerald City Express, the spinning library shelves, and the large wooden Wizard head.
‘Dune: Part Two’: The Spice Harvester Ambush
Lambert chose the scene where Paul and Chani (Zendaya) lead the Fremen in a surprise attack on a Harkonnen spice harvester. The action sequence represents VFX integration at its best through a combination of practical effects and CG and is crucial in proving Paul’s worth as a warrior and strategist.
“An interactive model of the huge Harkonnen machine was developed, allowing real-time visualization through an iPad. This tool provided interactive views of the harvester at the same time of day as filming, showing not just its full size but, more importantly, where shadows would fall. This ensured photography was done under correct lighting conditions to match the huge composited harvester,” Lambert said.
“To integrate realistic shadows, full-sized SFX harvester leg sections were mounted on industrial excavators, giving accurate shadow casting and tangible reference points for actors. Additionally, a physical, moving underbelly was created for scenes where the Fremen transitioned from the shadowed side to the sunlit side of the harvester, ensuring natural interaction with the environment. [Nominated] Director of photography Greig Fraser used Unreal Engine to track sun positions, ensuring practical lighting that blended seamlessly with the virtual.
“Practical squibs were embedded in the sand to simulate tracer fire from the flying Ornithopters encircling the harvester, adding another layer of realism to the battle sequence. For views from the Ornithopter, a prop gun was mounted inside a Blackhawk helicopter as it flew in the Jordanian desert. For the harvester’s destruction, the VFX team referenced practical explosion elements with detailed CG simulations. Effects were enhanced with particle simulations, debris physics, and dynamic lighting.
“From the Fremen emerging from the sand to the harvester’s final explosion, visual effects collaborated with all the other departments to help create a blend of real and digital elements, bringing the director’s vision to life.”
‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’: The River Rescue
Winquist selected the mid-point river rescue, where Noa (Owen Teague), Raka (Peter Macon), and Mae (Freya Allan) attempt to cross a bridge and encounter some of Proximus Caesar’s marauders. During the fight, Raka gets swept away by the current while trying to rescue Mae. The sequence was daunting for several reasons: It required outdoor performance capture across two locations, a fight, stunt work involving a net, and a human and orangutan together in the violent water.
“Pre-production scouting found a river location in New South Wales’s Yarramundi Reserve, which provided an ideal landscape for the scene, but the river there was far too calm for our story. We shot our cast in several setups along the riverbank (using ‘fauxcap’ for Noa and Raka’s performance) and also captured motion picture aerial tiles from a drone hovering low over the river that were stitched together to create a wraparound cyclorama for our scene,” Winquist said.
“As they entered the long bridge, our characters stepped onto an exterior set in our backlot, featuring a shallow tank with a weir wall and pumps capable of generating a 400 gallons-per-second current. This partial bridge set served as two sections of the much longer structure in the story. A digital bridge extension was added in post to seamlessly blend with the physical set. Wild seagull elements shot on bluescreen and digital seagulls were added to the shots to bring extra life to the world and signal to the audience that we were nearing the coast.
“Most importantly, more than half a mile of digital rapids were simulated, split across 15 segments, allowing us to art direct specific water features near the bridge to convey the imminent danger to our characters. Development of the river took many months and resulted in over a petabyte of simulation data for this scene alone. Working with stunts, both Mae and Raka spent hours in the water. Their performance and the water interaction you see them struggling with in close-up was very real.
“The huge challenge for our artists was in replicating the very specific interaction with water and long orangutan hair. Very tight communication between different departments was essential, given the coupled nature of the work. The FX water simulation determined the positioning of the character by animators and impacted the hair simulation by our creature effects artists, but that, in turn, also had an impact on the water simulation and further fed into extremely high-fidelity simulations of thin film rivulets on skin and the volume of water draining out of saturated hair. The simulation additionally dictated the shading of both aspects of the water and the wetness of Raka’s skin and hair.
“Once compositors blended the real and simulated water together, along with the photographed bridge set, digital bridge extension, simulated nets, splash and spray elements, seagulls, drone cyc, and augmented overcast sky, the emotional impact of losing a favorite ape could be acutely felt by audiences.”
‘Better Man’: ‘She’s the One’ Musical Number
“She’s the One” serves as both an important turning point and a glittery musical number that charts Williams’ first meeting aboard a yacht with future fiancee Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno), a member of the pop group All Saints. Williams has just been kicked out of boy band Take That and finds himself on the precipice of stardom or obscurity.
“Through this musical number, we experience a beautiful but tragic dichotomy of two people meeting and falling in love, while simultaneously seeing through flash-forwards that the relationship is ultimately doomed,” Millar said.
“We previsualized the entire musical number prior to production and matched everything meticulously during shooting, to ensure all the cuts between the flash-forwards and the dance on the yacht lined up. The yacht itself was built on a sound stage in Melbourne, and the entire back deck was constructed to double as a dance floor. The yacht was then extended digitally along the water and the surrounding boats. The far background was shot on the Côte d’Azur, France, to sandwich the digital environment between two plates. This way, we always had reality to tie back to and kept the world grounded.
The integration work between Robbie and Nicole is insanely complex. They hold, spin, and lift each other throughout. We created a tight roto-mated performance for Nicole and matched it back to the motion capture data of Robbie before simulating all clothing, adjusting animation, re-simulating, and finally sculpting the interaction until their connection felt 100 percent real.
One of the most complex flash-forwards was the moment in the nightclub, where the location had a fantastic, mirrored ceiling with pendant lights hanging from it. Initially, we had planned to crane up and tilt down onto Robbie and Nicole from above but on seeing this ceiling, Michael wanted to tilt up and shoot their reflection instead. It was impossible to shoot the ceiling practically as there wasn’t enough height to shoot the reflection plate looking back down. We ended up rebuilding the set and replicating everything in ‘mirror.’ The final shot starts on a plate of the nightclub, through a digital ceiling and back to plate footage of the reflection.”
‘Alien: Romulus’: Zero-Gravity Fight
Álvarez wanted to stay true to H.R. Giger’s original designs of the Xenos and Facehuggers, but he wanted them to be more badass. The most complex action set piece was the elevator fight in zero-gravity from ILM, giving Cailee Spaeny’s Rain and her adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson), a malfunctioning android, a fighting chance against the Xenos.
“Rain’s journey isn’t that unlike the original Ripley. Rain begins as a cautious and protective sister, shielding her adopted synthetic brother Andy from the cruel planet they are on. By the third act, she transforms into a pulse rifle-wielding hero. This shift unfolds when Rain and Andy find themselves trapped by the science officer, Rook, in a sealed corridor. Realizing she can disable gravity in that section, Rain hopes to prevent the Xenomorphs’ acid blood from compromising the station’s outer hull if she opens fire on them,” Barba said.
“After extensive discussions with Fede Álvarez’ and our [department heads], production designer Naaman Marshall and his team constructed two sets. One was a full-scale build with integrated stunt rigging to suspend the actors. The second was a partial set but built vertically, allowing the stunt team to pull Rain and Andy ‘upward’ along the handrail, creating the illusion of zero gravity. In post-production, we extended these sets with CG zero gravity acid blood and other particulate elements. The edit seamlessly cuts between the two sets, heightening the sense of zero gravity. A good dash of blowing wind via our on-set FX team, and you can’t tell which way was really up through the sequence.
“The initial gunfight combined practical and digital Xenomorphs, again cutting back and forth between practical and digital. The result is a unique action sequence that cements Rain’s transformation into a fearless, take-charge hero. As the Xenomorphs close in, Andy asks if her gravity-disabling plan will work. Rain, unwavering, replies: ‘Only one way to find out.’”
‘Wicked’: ‘Defying Gravity’ Musical Number
“Defying Gravity” serves as a brilliant example of how VFX can enhance, develop, and complement the emotional narrative that culminates in Elphaba’s tragic journey from compassionate freedom fighter to despised Wicked Witch of the West.
“The sequence begins by reflecting the crescendo of the music. Initially, the lighting is dim, but as we ascend the stairs, we emerge into the light on a balcony that overlooks Emerald City. It is from this vantage point that Elphaba leaps into the unknown, and we accompany her on her journey,” Helman said.
“Director Jon Chu conceptualized this journey during a production meeting, where he synchronized the music with the movements of a small model representing Elphaba. The collaboration among the cinematography, production design, editorial, stunts, and special/visual effects teams was instrumental in developing a cohesive approach for the sequence.
“Cynthia Erivo, portraying Elphaba, performed the song live while executing stunt work on wires against a balcony backdrop. It was essential for Elphaba to be singing to an audience, as establishing an emotional connection was a priority. The actress’ own experience of gravity’s pull on the expansive stage contributed to the authenticity of the visual effects, as her struggle was rooted in genuine emotion.
“Digital close-ups and expansive views of Emerald City were rendered alongside the recreation of elements of Elphaba’s body, culminating in the addition of a CG cape. This cape evolves into a significant character throughout the sequence, becoming ‘larger than life’ during the climactic ‘war cry.’ Ultimately, Elphaba, enveloped by clouds reminiscent of the Renaissance, makes a dramatic turn and soars into the sunset, leaving the audience in a state of emotional exhilaration and curiosity about what lies ahead. To Be Continued…”
