This comes from the folks over at Industrial Light and Magic. It’s a short peek inside the visual effects work done on 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The CGI is amazing.
This short video represents just a small amount of the nearly 900 visual effects shots ILM contributed to the film. It took a crew of over 300 people.
If you like his work, you can head on over to Patreon and support Jamie Benning. He’s a documentary film maker and this short clip is an interview with Kevin Pike, who worked not only on Back to the Future, but also on Return of the Jedi.
It’s a fascinating clip and a great look behind the scenes, so it is certainly worth supporting Jamie so he can continue making documentaries. In this clip, Kevin Pike talks about his work on the Location Special Effects on Return of the Jedi.
Do you love Terminator 2? Of course you do. Check out these behind the scenes photos from James Cameron’s classic 1991 film. The images come from Stan Winston’s special effects work shop. I really love that pic of the Schwarzenegger prop with the chest exposed. Look at all of that detail.
It’s easy to see why this movie is so amazing and holds up so well. And those Arnold busts are super creepy. One is surprised. The other looks mean.
via Geek Tyrant
Critics can complain all they want about how David Lynch’s version of Dune is not a great adaptation, but you know what? I don’t care. The universe that the team created in this film completely captured my imagination when it came out and I enjoyed the hell out of it.
The visuals and atmosphere in this movie are truly magnificent. I can still watch it to this day and see things I didn’t notice the first time. It’s really fun to get a glimpse behind the scenes and to see them building this world.
Photos: Duneinfo, Konbini and Dune.cz.
via io9
We’ve seen remastered versions of Star Trek, Star Wars(Thanks George, but it wasn’t necessary.) and other vintage sci-fi properties, but what about Battlestar Galactica? Have you ever wondered what the original Batttlestar Galactica series would look like if it was remastered and re-released? It would look a lot like this.
This amazing reel of a restored and remastered original BSG was created by Adam “Mojo” Lebowitz. This video is a demo to get us all excited about how frakkin’ awesome it looks. I fully support this as long as we also get a remastered Babylon 5 too.
via Ain’t It Cool
Ray Harryhausen was a genius and his talent is directly responsible for many of the cool effects you see in movies and on TV today. io9 recently posted a fantastic collection of photographs of the stop-motion special effects pioneer, that show him working with his models.
Harryhausen was behind movies like Mighty Joe Young, Jason and the Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans. His on screen magic was and is amazing to see, and so are these images which show him hard at work.
Mighty Joe Young 1949
via Chelloveck
7th Voyage of Sinbad 1958
via Filmbook
Animating a skeleton from Jason and the Argonauts 1963
via reddit
Clash of the Titans 1981
via Cineweekly
If you enjoyed David Fincher’s Alien 3, you’ll enjoy seeing some more behind the scenes footage of what went in to creating the special effects for the movie. The video below focuses on a baby Alien called the Bambi Burster. It reminds me just how much I love practical effects and I’m glad they seem to be making a comeback with the new Star Wars movie.
The “Bambi Burster” was cut from the film, but this video shows a test of the unfinished puppet. In this case it looks like they were having a hard time getting the movement down. It is awesome that these guys got to play with all of the cool toys back then.
While we await more info about Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, here is a treasure trove of images that will keep you occupied for awhile. A collection of 140 photographs featuring Industrial Light & Magic’s model building process from 1977 to 1983. These images are just stunning and a good reminder of how incredibly talented these folks were.
The detail on some of these models is just breathtaking. THIS is why more filmmakers need to go back to using models. I could look at these all day long and still see things I never noticed before.
via Gizmodo
These days we all know about computer generated imagery. In fact many of us think that the Star Wars prequels had way too much of it and suffered because of this. Star Trek has always been a pioneer of the art-form and as such has helped shape the technology behind it. These videos are from a 1987 Open University documentary on computer aided design, highlighting some early examples of CGI and how it was used in Star Trek.
Both are well worth your time. It’s a fascinating look back at effects that we take for granted today. The first video looks at Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The second video looks at some of the work done on the Genesis Device sequence from Star Trek II.
This stunning VFX breakdown from Digital Domain, who worked on X-Men: Days of Future Past is a must watch. A lot of hard work goes into turning Jennifer Lawrence into Mystique. Sometimes it takes a whole other actor. The video shows the models and effects used for the scenes and much more.
It is amazing just how much work it takes to take the two actors and transform the scene. Oh and all of those amazing details at RFK stadium? That took a lot of work too and it looked great. Also check out Quicksilver’s VFX video. Great stuff. They are both very fascinating to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyFo559P2DQ
