Written by Mark Trinkle
Each film that was nominated for the Academy award for Best Special Effects this year is very unique and posed its own set of problems. However, they all seemed to share a common theme in that they followed the footsteps of last years winner Gravity (Cuaron, 2013) and pushed the boundaries by way of developing and advancing new technologies to make the unreal-real. Regardless of the winner, all of the nominees represented the impressive work done in the field of special effects this past year.
This year the Academy gave the award to Interstellar (Nolan, 2014) whose effects stood out from all of the other nominated films with incredibly fantastic worlds, as being the most 'realistic'... or at the very least the most scientific. Christopher Nolan worked with Kip Thorne, a prominent theoretical physicist, to best portray both black holes and the unique pattern of light that forms around them. In addition to that the visual-effects department created the entirely fictional, but scientifically inspired visualization of the “Time Tessaract”, which is a strange lattice structure including footage of one room shown over time connected by the visual equivalent to timelines. (Morgan)
This year the Academy gave the award to Interstellar (Nolan, 2014) whose effects stood out from all of the other nominated films with incredibly fantastic worlds, as being the most 'realistic'... or at the very least the most scientific. Christopher Nolan worked with Kip Thorne, a prominent theoretical physicist, to best portray both black holes and the unique pattern of light that forms around them. In addition to that the visual-effects department created the entirely fictional, but scientifically inspired visualization of the “Time Tessaract”, which is a strange lattice structure including footage of one room shown over time connected by the visual equivalent to timelines. (Morgan)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Anthony and Joe Russo, 2014), whose Special Effects were done by effects studio Industrial Light and Magic, gave its animators the difficult task of making a superhero film gritty and realistic to fit the very specific spy/drama tone of the film. It boasts impressive digital effects accomplishments including a digitally remade Theodore Roosevelt Bridge and three digital S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarriers all of which crash land in and around the Potomac river in excitingly destructive, intricately designed sequences (Morgan, David. "Oscars 2015: Take Our Best Visual Effects Poll.";Truitt, Brian. "Oscar's Visual-effects Nominees Make Their Own Reality.").
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Reeves, 2014), whose animation was done at Weta Studios, stepped it up a level from its predecessor Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Wyatt, 2011) to meet the stories needs. Since there were so many sentient apes living in a community in the wilderness they created new software that allowed their fur to interact better with the messy world around it. During filmmaking on location in Vancouver, the studio further developed the technology by making all the normal motion capture equipment both wireless and weather proof (Morgan; Truitt).
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Reeves, 2014), whose animation was done at Weta Studios, stepped it up a level from its predecessor Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Wyatt, 2011) to meet the stories needs. Since there were so many sentient apes living in a community in the wilderness they created new software that allowed their fur to interact better with the messy world around it. During filmmaking on location in Vancouver, the studio further developed the technology by making all the normal motion capture equipment both wireless and weather proof (Morgan; Truitt).
Motion Capture used in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Reeves, 2014).
Guardians of the Galaxy (Gunn, 2014), this years second Marvel film nominated for this category, but one of distinctly different tone and feel needed much more diverse effects. Director James Gunn wanted to make sure that even though the two least human characters “Rocket Raccoon” and “Groot” were animated and not filmed with motion capture that they not be 'too animated' to fit into the world of Marvel (Truitt).
Yet another product from the minds of Marvel, X-Men: Days of Future Past (Singer, 2014) rounds out the list with its star-studded cast and time-hopping story. The three aspects of the film that involved the most special effects work were Quicksilver's powers of speed, Magneto's lifting of a stadium (which was constructed completely digitally) and Mystique's shapeshifting powers. In one action sequence the same stunt had to be redone about three dozen different ways some with Jennifer Lawrence and some with the man she had been disguised as just to make sure they got enough coverage so the animators could composite the images together into one smooth shape-shifting butt-kicking motion. (Truitt; Morgan)
Hopefully this article gave a taste of all the work that went into this years' nominees that may have gone overlooked. Special effects technology has come so far and become so prevalent in the industry that it is easy to take for granted the complexities and difficulties, but fortunately these and many other filmmakers don't let that stop them from pushing boundaries to create visually stunning images for their films.
Works Cited
Morgan, David. "Oscars 2015: Take Our Best Visual Effects Poll." CBSNews. N.p., n.d. Web.
Truitt, Brian. "Oscar's Visual-effects Nominees Make Their Own Reality."USA Today. Gannett, 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
Yet another product from the minds of Marvel, X-Men: Days of Future Past (Singer, 2014) rounds out the list with its star-studded cast and time-hopping story. The three aspects of the film that involved the most special effects work were Quicksilver's powers of speed, Magneto's lifting of a stadium (which was constructed completely digitally) and Mystique's shapeshifting powers. In one action sequence the same stunt had to be redone about three dozen different ways some with Jennifer Lawrence and some with the man she had been disguised as just to make sure they got enough coverage so the animators could composite the images together into one smooth shape-shifting butt-kicking motion. (Truitt; Morgan)
Hopefully this article gave a taste of all the work that went into this years' nominees that may have gone overlooked. Special effects technology has come so far and become so prevalent in the industry that it is easy to take for granted the complexities and difficulties, but fortunately these and many other filmmakers don't let that stop them from pushing boundaries to create visually stunning images for their films.
Works Cited
Morgan, David. "Oscars 2015: Take Our Best Visual Effects Poll." CBSNews. N.p., n.d. Web.
Truitt, Brian. "Oscar's Visual-effects Nominees Make Their Own Reality."USA Today. Gannett, 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
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