The Effects of the Best Picture Oscar Movies

Last year the team behind the visual effects for Life of Pi won an Oscar for their work, pretty much while they were in the middle of a bankruptcy, because the visual effects industry is one tough business to be in.

During the past year the industry has been in revolt. There's talk of a union, or perhaps a trade organization, and putting an end to unfair and crippling tax-breaks. A lot of very heavy issues plague an already insecure industry, slave to a never-ending cycle of technology upgrades and notorious low profit margins.

While I have a problem with the over-reliance on CGI in some Hollywood films, I'm a HUGE fan of a) credit where credit's due, 2) paying people properly for their work and 3) a sustainable visual effect industry, where talent and not random tax breaks determines who stays in business.

Back when Life of Pi was up for an Oscar this image (or variations thereof) started to circle the internet:

This year, also around Oscar time, visual effect maestro extraordinary Todd Vaziri put this image up on his blog:

Images DO speak a thousand words, don't they?

As fun as these images are, they're also a bit obvious. Of course an effect-driven film will look silly without effects, much like a musical would look odd with long stretches of silence, where the songs should be. But here's the thing: Every film these days uses visual effects. Well, virtually every film. A collapse of the visual effect industry won't just hit those big superhero movies, it'll hurt across the board.

So I've dug up these examples of the effect work done in some of the non-effect movies nominated for a Best Film Oscar this year. Everyone knows that Gravity wouldn't look like much without its effects, no need to go any further into that, but what about the other films?

Philomena

A sweet little story about a sweet old British lady buzzing off to the US to find her son, no need for effects there, right? Wrong. The job included numerous digital backlots and faking Washington DC.

Effects below by Union VFX.

Dallas Buyers Club

Now here's an example of a good old-fashioned movie, salt of the earth type stuff. No bells and whistles here, and surely no effects either, right?

Actually this low-budget, fast-paced production was apparently forced to fake quite a few locations. On top of that, numerous fixes were required to clean up continuity errors and match pick-up shots.

Effects below by Fake.

American Hustle

Faking period New York required a ton of work, and apparently the visual effects team (from Zero VFX) had to remove reflections in sunglasses from pretty much the entire freakin' movie! They also had to do a complete reconstruction of the Plaza Hotel:

Captain Phillips

Okay, so SEAL team parachuting and busy aircraft carriers are obvious effects (but still cool, of course).

But an element often overlooked in the heat of battle: The monitors. Some guy had to sit there and not only add images to every monitor, but also figure out what those images should be. (That guy was Chris Lunney, according to the FX Guide article.)

Effects by Nvizible Visuals Effects.

12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave also required heavy post-production augmentations to establish the proper period look, and of course the gruesome whipping sequence had some VFX assistance as well.

Effects below by Wildfire.

The Wolf of Wall Street

The opulent nature of the movie lends itself to over the top effects work, so The Wolf of Wall Street features quite a few obvious (though not necessarily bad) effect shots. It also features some pretty invisible work, though.

Here are some examples of how The Wolf of Wall Street would look, without effects, from Brainstorm Digital, ScanlineVFX and Method Studios.

Gravity

Okay, I lied. I couldn't help but include some examples from the Oscar-winning Gravity after all. Let's say they make up for the fact that I couldn't find any examples from Her or Nebraska.

Here is Gravity sans effects, courtesy of Framestore.

WRAP-UP

I'm not the right person to get into the whole union / tax-break VFX discussion, other far more knowledgeable people can handle that, but this much seems obvious to me: Considering how much film studios rely on visual effects, how much they use effect shots to promote their films, and how much money big effect films make these days, the studios need to treat the creators of those images properly. It's as simple as that.

If you keep kicking the guy who carries you on his back, he will eventually dump you in a ditch and find something better to do.

Old School Effects: Three Quickies

So you're in the mood to remember the good old days of visual effects, before CGI took over. What do you do? Well, what I usually do is take an old issue of Cinefex down from the shelf and flip through it.

Just in case you don't have access to this particular magazine, here are three alternatives you can dive into, if you're in the mood for some old school movie magic.

1) Get "BBC VFX: The Story of the BBC Visual Effects Department"

The title says it all. I just got this book, and I haven't even had time to read it properly, I've just been flipping through the pages. It covers everything from 'Allo 'Allo to Doctor Who, with a ton of unique images.

The interesting thing is that the book covers titles which haven't already been covered a million other places. These aren't big Hollywood movies, the ones that come with glossy making of books. These are more or less obscure British TV programs - comedies, dramas, even documentaries - and many of them you will never have heard of before, but that doesn't make the magic any less compelling.

2) Watch "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size"

This hour-long documentary is about the geniuses behind the effects from the original Japanese Godzilla films. It can be found on the DVD "Rodan and War of the Gargantuas" from the Toho Masters Collection.

It's an absolutely wonderful walk down memory lane, with plenty of interviews with the old masters and it ends with a fascinating recreation of one of the classic effect shots - a volcanic eruption, created by using a water tank. Somehow this film will convince you that a man in a rubber suit stumbling around between models buildings is the greatest thing ever.

3) Join "P.E.G. Practical Effects Group" on Facebook

This is a magical place - a veritable cornucopia of awesome pictures of old school effects. The members of this group will spit in your face if you say the C-word (CGI), and they'll spill blood defending models and miniatures!

They'll post never before seen images from classic films, work in progress from current productions, video clips and drawings, whatever your heart desires. And many of the people who worked on those classic scenes will chime in and offer inside details. You can waste days going through old posts, but you'll have a wonderful time doing it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

No big point or conclusion here, just felt like sharing these three gems which have provided me with so much pleasure. Hope you'll feel the same way.

ADDITIONAL LINKS AND RESOURCES

The BBC VFX book om Amazon UK.

The Rodan and War of the Gargantuas DVD on Amazon US.

Bringing Gozilla Down to Size on IMDb.

Bringing Gozilla Down to Size trailer.

The Practical Effect Group.

Outstanding Effect Shots, part 24 of 24

Welcome to the Single-Minded Movie Blog advent calendar. Between the 1st and the 24th of December every day will bring you a short post about a classic or not so classic shot from the golden era of visual effects.

Nakatomi Plaza aftermath

- in Die Hard (1988)

Using the 20th Century Fox headquarters, Fox Plaza, to double for the fictional Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard seemed like a good, cheap solution. However, since the powers that be had famously forbidden the production to actually blow up the building, the model makers at Boss Film Studies had to be called in.

At the very end of the film we get this magnificent shot that shows the aftermath of the so-called terrorist attack. The camera starts at the top of the building, showing the burning rooftop, and then tilts down to the street to reveal the chaotic scene at the ground level.

The second part of the shot was indeed done on location, with hundreds of extras, debris everywhere and the charred remains of a helicopter. The first part of the shot, however, is a finely detailed 23 feet tall model, shot on the backlot at Boss.

The location footage was projected on a wall and tracked by computer, so the camera move could be repeated on the model. The idea was, that as some point there would be a transition from the model footage, to the "real" footage. Tissue paper was cut into tiny bits and shot separately in several layers to look like office paper tumbling down over the scene.

In the final shot all the elements come together perfectly, and the transition from the model to the real building is flawless. Yet another example of stunning movie magic. Christmas magic even.

And with that I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks to Mr. Dennis Rosenfeld for his invaluable contribution, and thanks for reading.

As is tradition there will be a final 2012 post on the last day of the year, but until then.... Yippee ki-yay!