Manuel Messina’s Post

Oscars 2025 : VFX “Bake-off” on January 11? The 2025 Oscar VFX Bake-Off is a key event in the journey to the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It’s part of the process where the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) selects the final nominees for the award. What Happens at the VFX Bake-Off? The Academy announces a shortlist of around 10 films that have been identified as contenders for the Best Visual Effects category. These films are selected from a broader pool of eligible movies. Showcasing VFX Work: Representatives from each shortlisted film—typically VFX supervisors and producers—present their work to the Visual Effects Branch of the Academy. They showcase a 10-minute reel highlighting the most impressive visual effects sequences in their film. The reel focuses on how the effects enhance the storytelling and filmmaking. Behind-the-Scenes Insights: Presenters often discuss the challenges, techniques, and innovations behind the VFX work. This gives voters a deeper understanding of the complexity and artistry involved. Voting for Nominees: After all presentations, members of the Visual Effects Branch vote to narrow down the shortlist to the final five nominees. These five films will then compete for the Oscar. Why Is It Called a ‘Bake-Off’? The term “bake-off” comes from the informal idea of competing to see who has the best “recipe”—in this case, the most outstanding VFX work. The presentations are like a friendly competition where each team tries to showcase why their film deserves recognition. This year the 10 films for Bake off are “Alien: Romulus,” “Better Man,” “Civil War,” “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Gladiator II,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Mufasa: The Lion King,” “Twisters” “Wicked.” #vfx

𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗶 and Nolan deliver excellence. If you think big-budget, VFX-heavy Hollywood films. You will NEVER ever even think that their cutting-edge, jaw-dropping visuals were created and curated in a studio somewhere in Mumbai’s Malad or Hyderbad’s Banjara Hills. Truth is Indian VFX companies are helping Hollywood's biggest studios and directors in creating the immersive cinematic worlds in several fantasy, sci-fi and superhero blockbusters. • Think 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗲 whose visual effects were done by Prime Focus, an Indian firm which bagged an Oscar award at the 94th Academy Awards it too. • Think Alfonso Cuarón’s mind-bending 2013 space thriller 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆. Indian VFX studio Prime Focus played a pivotal role in creating the awe-inspiring visuals of Earth seen from space, the lifelike space station and the intense zero-gravity sequences. • Think 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 where the visual effects were handled by India-listed company Double Negative (DNEG). Interstellar went on to win the Academy Award for Visual Effects. • Think 𝗔𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 - Indian VFX studios like Digital Domain India and Framestore worked on the challanges of creating unforgettable battle scenes and time-travel sequences. • Think Chris Hemsworth’s '𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗿: The Dark World' were the VFX work was done by Prana Studios in Mumbai. • Think 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸's vibrant jungles and realistic animals that were crafted by Technicolor’s Moving Picture Company (MPC) • Think 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗶 where Indian VFX company Rhythm & Hues, now Reliance MediaWorks worked on creating the realistic Bengal tiger, Richard Parker • Think James Cameron’s 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗿 • Think 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. Think Khaleesi’s Dragons. You can check the end credits list of these tentpole movies to spot a number of familiar-looking Indian names. The 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 include the comfort level of communicating in English, affordability and high-quality work. 𝗕𝗨𝗧 The question is then why are Indian movies still suffering from the bad CGI curse? Think Adipurush and its shoddy VFX work. So, why the Indian VFX Industry that is the backbone of Hollywood but still untapped by Indian Film industry. Multiple reasons for this. • With studios bagging projects in the West, Indian movies don't get much attention. • Bollywood movies allot lower budgets for VFX. • Movies that employ VFX is very small. But movies like 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮 changed things. It reportedly had more VFX shots than most Marvel films. Then, we had the history-making RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli. SS Rajamouli had also delivered Baahubali - another triumph in visuals. Meanwhile, Nag Ashwin’s upcoming sci-fi film Kalki 2898 AD can be a gamechanger for the Indian VFX scene. And the number of VFX shots in movies is only going to go up in future. - #startup #movies  

VFX Supervisor Aaron Wright Dishes On the Time Travel Secrets of 'My Old Ass' https://ift.tt/mVO8evH There are so few movies that come out a year that charm me. Movies with their own charisma and presence are sometimes fewer and farther between than they ought to be. That being said, one of the movies that I connected with its charming charisma this year was My Old Ass. Perhaps it's because I'm nearing the age of the main character in the future, but I saw a lot of wonder, anxiety, hope, and fear in myself, which was also in the movie. It took a lot of work for this indie to come together, and one of the unsung heroes of the film is Aaron Wright, the VFX supervisor who put a lot of care and attention into the reliability of the movie behind the scenes. We were excited to sit down with Aaron to talk about this movie. Let's dive into our interview below. Editor's note: the following interview is edited for length and clarity. No Film School: How did the team go about creating the realistic toe amputation effect for Aubrey Plaza's character? What were some of the key considerations in achieving this effect? Aaron Wright: When we first got a look at this shot, we noticed right away some key components that were going to be difficult, and also some components that would make this one of our star shots in the film. The pinky toe had some green tape on it and was wiggling around a lot, which made the foot's tendons and veins flex and move. Matching our replacement damaged toe area to the existing foot exactly was a key component to achieving believability. Other things were identified, like the flickering firelight, which had to be replicated on the toe, as well as the BG plate behind the toe. Both of these aspects were marked as difficult areas. We moved forward with the 3D foot approach and used a 2D matte painting projection as the base texture for the foot. We tracked and animated the 3D model into place using a technique called rotomation. We then used a couple of other 3D rendering techniques to get the underlying SubSurface Scattering of the skin to look correct, along with animating multiple light sources on and off to achieve the firelight flickering on the surface. All of these components were combined together in compositing to complete the look, and finally, color graded to match the scene. Since this was the main focus of the shot, and the audience’s eyes would be locked on the toe, there was no hiding any mistakes or adding layers of “smoke and mirrors” to make this a passable effect. We just had to rely on the skill and talent of our artists. NFS: How did you enhance the scar on Aubrey Plaza's stomach for the night scene? Wright: This shot was more of a straightforward shot, but it still contained some of the same difficult elements that were present in the toe shot. The flickering light and tracking the new scar onto the body was the focus. We took reference from a couple of different places, such as long-term...

AI is not about replacing artistry - its about enhancing it. Very proud to share 'Dear Dad', an animated short from Secret Level that I worked on alongside fantastic animators and storytellers Katya Vettorello Mark Wachholz Aashay Singh Stephane Benini Dale Williams Darri Thorsteinsson and directed by the one and only Jason Zada. Produced from start to finish in just two weeks, incredible thanks to Monica Monique for running the ship. I hear a lot of people worried that AI might become a replacement to creativity, but I think working on projects like this illustrate just how much AI enhances creativity, without delegating it to a computer. Traditionally a two minute animated short like this would have taken months to create and limitations in terms of budget and timelines often end up constricting the box with which ideas can play in. Instead, being able to dream up something in my head and have it reflected back to me in a matter of minutes only opens more doors for creative thinking and storytelling, it doesn't close them. 2025 is shaping up to be an incredibly transformative year for AI and animation. Lets see what the next few months bring. And if you're interested in learning more about integrating AI into your VFX and animation workflows, shoot me a private message. 📨 Thanks again to Secret Level for the opportunity! #ai #animation #secretlevel #pixar #generativeai #openai #kling #minimax

𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝘁 VFX FORUM | Victor Perez, VFX Supervisor + Director Victor Perez is a renowned figure in the global visual effects industry. His career spans over 27 years so far, and he has worked in many areas. Starting as a photographer and cinematographer, extending his interest to the whole image post-production process and evolving into a visual effects artist with a special focus on photorealistic compositing of #CGI. Along the way, he has worked on a number of #Hollywood films, including Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’, plus many more. Eventually, he became a Film Director, and his career naturally led him to his current role as a Visual Effects Supervisor. What really drives Perez is his focus on storytelling. He is fascinated by how new technologies can help filmmakers tell stories in ways never seen before. His work is a fine alchemy of Science, Technology, and Art, reflecting his passion for innovation and creativity. In parallel and compatible with his professional career as a production visual effects supervisor, Victor Perez has built a name for himself in the visual effects industry worldwide by sharing his knowledge and work with the global community of visual effects professionals. Regularly invited to renowned events such as Siggraph, #FMX, VIEW Conference, and more, he has become an influential figure in the field. His insights and accomplishments have been featured in specialised press, including Cinefex, FXGuide, The #VFX Voice, and Before & Afters, to mention a few. In 2012, he was voted one of the most influential visual effects artists in the world by the specialised press of Nukepedia. Internationally regarded as a VFX compositing guru, he has delivered Masterclasses on Photorealistic Full-CGI Compositing at industry-leading institutions like Pixar Animation Studios, Dneg; and educational institutes like Escape Studios, and The Animation Workshops. In 2016, he was invited to speak at TED, showcasing his research and its connection with his personal life, featuring a live demo of the visual effects compositing process. Victor Perez's multifaceted career in filmmaking has been honoured with over 50 awards and nominations. He has been recognised for his roles as visual effects supervisor, director, writer, and producer. Among these honours is the prestigious Italian Academy Award "David di Donatello," which he received in 2019 for his outstanding work on "The Invisible Boy: Second Generation." The same year, he made history with his experimental project "Echo," which he also directed. It earned a nomination at the Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards for Best Virtual Cinematography, marking the first time a short film had ever been nominated for this prestigious award.

🎬 The Power of Storyboarding in Animation & VFX A storyboard is a key tool in both animation and VFX that visually maps out a sequence of scenes through illustrated frames, showing key moments, camera angles, and actions. Why is it important? 🖼️ Visual Clarity: Helps everyone understand the flow of the story. 🎥 Camera Planning: Visualizes angles and movements. 🤝 Team Alignment: Ensures all team members share the same vision. ⏳ Time Saver: Streamlines production and reduces revisions. Storyboards merge creativity and planning, setting the foundation for smooth animation and VFX production. Storyboard artist Gabriel Hardman's meticulous work is a perfect example of the impact of storyboarding in film. In Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, his detailed art was essential in capturing the iconic docking scene, one of the most breathtaking moments in cinema. Hardman’s storyboards helped shape the dramatic tension and visual impact of this unforgettable sequence. #learn #Animation #VFX #Storyboarding #Filmmaking #Preproduction #BehindTheScenes #Interstellar #DockingScene #ChristopherNolan #GabrielHardman

Thinking AI will herald a new generation of filmmakers is like saying that word processing created a new generation of writers.

ENDA Episode 05→ The time when the Endless Apprentice met the Grand Line of VFX (Part 2) Along with the existence of the Grand Line, there were other concepts that I learned during my training that motivated me more to start my journey. Concepts that seem so foreign that were almost impossible to learn properly in any of the 4 Seas and that could be possible to learn in the Grand Line of VFX: the VFX Haki, which is divided into 3 types: ➡️Observation Haki: a sixth sense to detect and analyze a shot thoroughly and that would let you know if it looks photoreal or not. Not even the smaller pixels, edges, or color issues could escape this Haki. However, be aware that this Haki is not instant, it requires constant practice to improve and reach the color of Observation of a VFX Supervisor. ➡️Armament Haki: if the Observation Haki lets you analyze the shot, the Armament Haki gives you to skill to work on it. In essence is the ability to reinforce your body or the tip of your tablet pen or mouse with the skills and knowledge you have acquired: rotoscoping, painting, color correction, keying, etc, and use them correctly to tackle any shot you may find. There will not be a difficult shot to solve with the right Armament Haki. Nonetheless, one more time this Haki as the Observation one requires constant practice and training to improve and reach the Armament Haki of a VFX Supervisor or even Senior Compositor. ➡️Supreme King Haki: more than a skill is the innate ability that would allow you to take the step from artist to supervisor: the ability to lead a team and have a presence in front of the bigger fishes in the industry. The difference with the other Haki is that it cannot be learned by anyone, only those with the will to reach the highest status in the industry and able to communicate well with others will be the ones that could reach the higher ranks in the Grand Line. Additionally, this one is mandatory to become a Lead or Supervisor. Any good artist will have the Observation and Armament Haki and could reach a Senior position and be comfortable. In fact, many artists decide to stay as Seniors because they do not want to handle the additional responsibilities of being a Lead or Sup and because they are happy with the result of their journey. However, if you decide to go higher than that, be aware that achieving will be harder than you expected, especially if you want to unlock the Supreme King Haki. In my particular case, I knew from the start of my journey that I was traveling only with my Devil’s Fruit power, which I knew wouldn’t be enough to pass the “Paradise.” That’s why, before my arrival, I looked for a place and, more importantly, someone who could teach me the fundamentals of the VFX Haki, and I found the place. It would be one year full of intensive training, but I knew it would be worth it. How were my experiences in the first part of the Grand Line since my arrival? Well, that’s for the next update.

Why is Unreal Engine the fastest filmmaking tool? Well the real reason isn't so obvious... Filmmaking isn't JUST about the visuals! This might sound obvious, but as a VFX artist, it's easy to forget... The truth is the image is only HALF of your final film! So if you're making your previs and animations WITHOUT sound, that means half of your film is an after-thought... So as you're making your VFX, you need to add SOUND in your EDIT! But here's where most people trip up... Filmmaking and Animation requires ITERATION And with VFX and CGI, that usually means waiting around for your renders at EVERY STEP in the pipeline... So you're forced to sacrifice... 1) Sacrifice your quality with PS1-era Maya Playblasts (yuck) 2) Sacrifice your time with higher-quality renders (you're not busy, right?) Or... don't sacrifice at all by using Unreal Engine! If you want to make your own films (without a crew of 100+ artists) you have to ITERATE in real-time! That's exactly why Unreal is so powerful. You can start assembling your film, from posing, to animation, to lighting, and final VFX, all with real-time renders! As soon as you've got something promising, just press render and drop it in your edit! This way you can focus on making a great film (VIDEO + SOUND) instead of just great Visual Effects. The longer you stay in Unreal, the more time you're saving! If you want to learn EXACTLY how much time you can save, and start making your own Hollywood-level VFX + Films from home... Join me in my Godzilla Masterclass this week! Reserve Your Spot Here 👉️ https://lnkd.in/ecnJ4hf3

Hello LinkedIn Family, Today, I want to share a story that has troubled me a lot over the past week. I've always loved gaming because of its animations and how they are becoming more realistic every day. I spent many years playing games because I loved their stories and creativity. I started learning and created a YouTube channel for my videos. I began making voice-over videos in 2018, but I didn't get popular because my content wasn't very engaging. I started to learn skills like VFX and CGI, which means adding realistic objects and animations to videos. I started making videos about this in 2019. They didn't get much attention, so I began recording myself too. Some videos took over a month to make due to VFX & CGI. Despite all the hard work, I wasn’t getting many views on YouTube. Three years passed, and I still hadn't hit 1,000 subscribers until 2024. But I didn't stop because I love this process. I started enjoying it even though it was hectic, but I was satisfied. I learned Adobe Premiere Pro for editing, Adobe After Effects for VFX, and Blender for CGI. Then, suddenly, AI came along, and the world started changing. Artists became worried because there was a risk of losing their jobs or tasks to AI. I was one of them. As soon as I started using AI, it helped me a lot in many ways. Then I made some videos on politics and was shocked to see the results. I got more than 500,000 views, and my channel boomed in 2024. Soon, I was about to hit 4,000 subscribers. I know 4,000 subs isn't a big deal, but for me, it's very special as I spent the last four years of my life making videos. Now, ups and downs are part of life. I was about to experience something bad. On April 19th, I woke up as usual and checked my channel's analytics. I got logged out from all devices. At that moment, I got very worried. I tried to log in with my password and was shocked to see that my password had been changed an hour ago... For a while, I didn’t know what was happening around me; my heart was pounding. I was hacked and was in a huge depression because I had spent more than four years of my life on this channel. I gave priority to everything, but then suddenly it was gone. The hacker made some violations, and YouTube then deleted my channel. I was losing all hope. After some research, I came to know that YouTube replies on Twitter. I tweeted, and YouTube replied to me. In 2-3 days, YouTube gave my channel back to me after verification. I was very happy to get my piece of heart back and witnessed that hard work can't be lost. I want to thank YouTube for supporting me during this difficult time. The purpose of this post is to make you guys aware of phishing and hacking. It's very dangerous, and anyone can fall prey to it. Don’t click on any suspicious links and don’t trust fake websites. It was a very difficult time for me, but I learned many things from this incident. Also, here is the link to my YouTube channel if you want to visit: https://lnkd.in/d42dNXRx