Before production on the film began, the VFX team spent two years indexing a digital library of images and sequences from the filmographies of Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro. The design of each character was tailored for the movie. "Like any achievement, it’ll be measured against what it will do for the industry in the future," said VFX supervisor Pablo Helman.
Inception
Inception bent the minds of audiences everywhere, and not just because of the intricate plot, which delighted (and confused) audiences everywhere. "Some of the more spectacular imagery of the film—the street folding over in Paris, characters creating architecture out of thin air—are VFX shots that we created from a combination of live-action and copious amounts of digital animation," said VFX supervisor Paul Franklin.
Although much of Franklin's work on the film involved CGI, the VFX team built a miniature version of the mountain fortress set. "The great thing about miniatures is they give you this chaotic reality that digital hasn't quite gotten to yet," he said. Franklin also used CGI to "subtly bend elements like physics, space, and time."
Gone Girl
David Fincher's Gone Girl may not seem like a film that required any visual effects at all, but that only because Fincher's use of CGI is imperceptible to the untrained eye. Fincher is notably a fan of CGI. Artemple Hollywood, the VFX studio behind the film, released a reel showcasing the digital augmentations made to each of the scenes.
Advertisement