15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The Oscar race for visual effects has moved ahead, with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announcing 15 films that are being considered for its Best Achievement in Visual Effects award.
While the list of contenders includes the usual suspects of summer tent poles and sci-fi action flicks, it also includes Martin Scorsese's 3-D fantasy "Hugo" and Terrence Malick's meditative "The Tree of Life," which sports evocative non-computer-generated imagery.
In early January, members of the Academy's Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee will narrow the list to 10. Then, highlight reels of the shortlisted contenders will be shown to Academy members at the January "bake-off," one of the most popular Oscar events.
The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order with video FX reels, trailers and pictures:
"Captain America: The First Avenger"
As is often the case with big budget effects films these days, many FX houses contributed visuals to this comic book adventure set during World War II. Some of the most imaginative came from the FX house Lola, which turned actor Chris Evans from his bulked-up superhero self to the emaciated character he plays BEFORE undergoing a top secret scientific experiment that creates - Voila! - Captain America. It is like a Charles Atlas ad in reverse.
The trick? Several, actually, depending upon the shot. Sometimes a body double was used, but also digital head replacement (as Lola did to paste Armie Hammer's face onto Josh Pence to create the Winklevoss twins in "The Social Network"). Trickery with props and costumes also added to the effect.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Cowboys & Aliens"
This behind-the-scenes featurette shows some of Industrial Light & Magic's CGI work in this western/sci-fi flick.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
For the last film based on the Harry Potter series, a complete representation of Hogwarts was built in the computer. Previous films had made extensive use of miniature photography.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Hugo"
Not much in the way of behind-the-scenes footage of this 3-D film here, but this interview with Martin Scorsese includes many shots that were only possible with digital manipulation.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"
This teaser trailer for the latest in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise offers some explosive imagery, including the destruction of the Kremlin in Moscow.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
Autodesk has posted a video of a symposium featuring Industrial Light & Magic Visual Effects Supervisor Ben Snow, discussing "On Stranger Tides."
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Real Steel"
Motion capture was used for actors representing boxing robots. Their movements were then translated onto a video game version of the robots. That playback allowed a "virtual camera" to photograph the fight scene as if it were in a true boxing ring.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
Actor Andy Serkis and WETA Digital - who created the computer-generated character of Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy - pushed the VFX envelope further with his motion-capture performance of Caesar in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." A campaign to have Serkis nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar - unprecedented, considering the actor does not actually appear on screen - may have gotten a boost from the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Circle, which nominated Serkis for their award.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows"
This trailer for the new Sherlock Holmes film offers glimpses of effects sequences that Basil Rathbone could never have imagined.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Sucker Punch"
"Sucker Punch"'s approximately 1,100 FX shots were divided among several FX houses, including MPC, Pixomodo, Animal Logic and Prime Focus.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Super 8"
J.J. Abrams' film was an ode not only to youthful filmmaking but also to the effects extravaganzas he cherished as a youth. The clip above features ILM's Dennis Muren on the film's train wreck sequence.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Thor"
This clip from Kenneth Branagh's comic book adventure shows a giant robot invading Earth. Bad stuff happens.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
VFX Supervisor Matthew Butler of Digital Domain describes some of the process of animating and rendering effects shots in this Michael Bay actioner in which stuff "blows up real good."
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"The Tree of Life"
Terrence Malick's internal epic about a young boy growing up in 1950s Texas features a vivid depiction of the creation of the universe and the evolution of life on Earth. While some computer-generated wizardry was used to bring dinosaurs to life, veteran effects master Douglas Trumbull ("2001: A Space Odyssey," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind") and effects supervisor Dan Glass ("The Matrix: Reloaded" and "Revolutions") used non-digital techniques to depict the swarming cosmos and nebulae. Interviews with the two can be viewed below.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
"X-Men: First Class"
MPC's FX reel shows some of the shots created for the latest "X-Men" film, including the Beast transformation, the destruction of Magneto's yacht, riptide hurricanes, and the destruction of Cerebro.
15 films in line for visual effects Oscar
Not making the cut
Curiously missing from the list of contenders is Lars von Trier's meditation on apocalypse, "Melancholia." An FX reel below shows how some of the haunting slow-motion imagery from the film's prologue were layered.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. ET in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
The 84th Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.