In recent years, many films have begun cutting corners and overusing CGI, which has been highly criticized by movie lovers. Following the 2000s and into the 2010s, the technology in visual effects had changed drastically with big-budget films opting to use more and more advanced CGI.
During this time, films had more and more complicated visual effect shots to pull off, but for great companies like ILM and Weta Digital, it was an opportunity to pioneer new innovative techniques that are still being used today.
Skinny Steve Rogers - Captain America: The First Avenger
In order to bulk up for the role of weighing 220lbs. However, the scenes taking place before Rogers gets the serum required him to be 140lbs and a few inches shorter, which was just impossible- or so people thought.
To create the effect, two scenes had to be shot, one with Chris Evans, and another with the smaller stand-in. In post-production, Marvel Studios hired VFX studio Lola, which used a mix of Evans' footage, the stand-in, and CGI to create the final effect. In the film, the effect is done so well that it doesn't detract from the rest of the movie, per.
The One-Shot - 1917
Sam Mendes' 1917 was undoubtedly one of the best films of 2019. In order to make the film appear as if it is one continuous shot, many hidden cuts had to be made, and full CG character models were created to fill in the gaps. There are also a few other scenes where smart digital trickery was used.
The plane crash scene was actually filmed against a blue screen, and the fast-moving water which George McKay's character later finds himself in was actually shot in a whitewater rafting course designed to be used for Olympic training. The VFX work is so subtle and blends very well with the rest of the film, via befores & afters.
Autobots & Decepticons - Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The designs of the Autobots and Decepticons in Michael Bay's Transformers series are some of the most intricate and complicated CG models ever put to screen. Starting with the first 2007 film, Paramount made the brilliant decision to work with Lucasfilm's state-of-the-art in-house VFX company Industrial Light & Magic.
The CGI work in vfx are the best in the Transformers franchise.
The Bear - The Revenant
The scene in The Revenant where Hugh Glass has a face-off with a bear is by far the most thrilling event in the film. What's shocking is that a real bear wasn't even used for the scene. The scene was shot with Leonardo DiCaprio acting against a stunt performer dressed all in blue with padding (via Nola) a technique similar to how the Hulk was created in the first Avengers film.
To create the CG bear, 20th Century Fox teamed with legendary effects company Industrial Light & Magic. In order to create a realistic bear model, ILM poured through hours and hours of footage of bears to study their movements and subtle behaviors. The final effect seen in the film is impossible to tell that it is fake.
Grounded Sci-Fi - Interstellar
Christopher Nolan is well-known for prioritizing practical filmmaking, with most of his films having very few VFX shots. An exception had to be made for his grand space spectacle Interstellar. In order to create plausible science, Nolan hired Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, per Interesting Engineering, who was a longtime friend and colleague of Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan.
Thorne used mathematical equations to create an accurate black hole and realistic-looking planets that could exist within our galaxy. VFX company Double Negative also had Oliver James, the company's chief scientist who has a degree in Physics from Oxford University to help create the visual effects, according to DNEG. Thanks to a team of great minds, Interstellar is one of the best-looking sci-fi films to date.
Doctor Strange's Dimension Hopping Trip - Doctor Strange
Stephen Strange's psychadelic trip through multiple dimensions was a huge highlight of the film as it embraced the weirder, supernatural side of the MCU. The process to getting the sequence finished was much harder than expected. Since the script didn't offer much visual information to the scene besides the Quantum Realm and the Dark Dimension, this forced the VFX team to get very creative.
VFX supervisor Stephane Ceretti relayed, via Doctor Strange and the entire MCU.
De-Aging - The Irishman
The epic story of The Irishman takes place over many decades, which required the lead actors to be de-aged for most of the film's runtime. While Marvel films have usually featured digitally de-aged characters for small scenes, The Irishman had the difficult task of having to have Robert de Niro de-aged for over 2 hours.
For this near-impossible task, Netflix teamed up with ILM to create the effect. To avoid using the clunky facial capture rigs, ILM revolutionized a new technology which instead had digital markers placed on the actors' faces along with a new camera rig called the "Flux" which captures the facial movements to make the process easier, per Indiana Jones 5.
General Leia Organa - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Throughout the course of the Star Wars saga, Leia Organa has changed a lot as a character. Originally the Princess of Alderaan, Organa would become General by the time of the sequel trilogy. Following Carrie Fisher's ing in 2016, there were many theories as to how the character would go on to appear in Episode IX.
Using repurposed footage from Episodes VII and VIII, ILM was able to digitally insert Carrie Fisher into the film. Based on the lines that were in the old footage, the script had to be reworked to work around that (via Polygon). The finished look in the film is seamless and feels as if Fisher really did film new scenes as Leia.
Grand Moff Tarkin - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
While Tarkin actor Peter Cushing ed away over 20 years ago, that didn't stop Lucasfilm from bringing the actor back. With permission from the Cushing estate, Grand Moff Tarkin appeared as a ing character in Rogue One. Renowned stage actor Guy Henry was cast in the role. Equipped with a facial capture rig on his head, the VFX team at ILM was able to completely replicate Cushing's likeness over Guy Henry.
Thanks to Henry's fantastic performance and body movements, he is a perfect match for Tarkin. While the VFX took a lot of work to put in, many still criticized the CG Tarkin for being too much in the uncanny valley. VFX supervisor John Knoll stated, per fans have even reworked it using Deepfake technology.
Digital New York - The Avengers
The fact that the New York featured in The Avengers is completely CGI will be a shocking revelation to many. Due to the challenges of filming in New York with strict guidelines, Marvel made the choice to shoot all of the big action sequences of the third act on green-screen soundstages in Alberquerque, New Mexico, according to ScreenCrush.
To simulate the iconic city, Marvel teamed with ILM. The final result is brilliant, and the movie magic managed to fool many people into believing it was real. For their work on the film, the VFX team garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 85th Academy Awards.
