Images courtesy of Digital Domain and Marvel Studios.
Digital Domain had to come up with how effects simulations would work and look to show what happens when two universes collide with each other.
Living up to its title is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where filmmaker Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) infuses his horror sensibilities into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the sequel that stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong. Digital Domain was hired by Marvel Studios Visual Effects Supervisor Janek Sirrs (The Matrix) for a 100 shots that consist of the aftermath of two universes colliding with each other, a Sinister Universe version of the Sanctum Sanctorum, and the revelation of a hex conjured by Wanda and the attempt to capture her in the Mirror Universe. “For this show, it was a standard pipeline,” Digital Domain Visual Effects Supervisor Joel Behrens states. “We didn’t have to go outside of using our typical tools. We did V-Ray for lighting and rendering, Houdini for our effects, Nuke for compositing and Maya for asset builds.”
“We had the ground level of buildings built as set pieces and dressed accordingly per universe, and then they would do a LiDAR scan of that. We would get the geometry from the LiDAR data, build out the actual extensions based off the ground-level buildings and maintain that architectural look that was already established with the ground level, and run our destruction simulation, which in this case was a pseudo anti-gravity destruction.”
—Joel Behrens, Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Domain
Filmmaker Sam Raimi brings his signature comedic spin on the horror genre to the MCU with the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
High-resolution digital doubles of Wanda and Doctor Strange were created by Digital Domain and shared with other vendors.
The Mirror Trap proved to be the most challenging look to develop and required 20 other versions of Wanda to appear in the various reflections.
On his way to find the Sinister Sanctum Sanctorum inhabited by the antagonistic and alternative version of himself, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) traverse through two different realities of New York City that have collided together and are ripping each other apart. “There were a lot of effects simulations and visual design that needed to happen to come up with that look,” Behrens reveals. “On a backlot location in London, there was a basic intersection and street that you see multiple times throughout the movie in various universes. We had the ground level of buildings built as set pieces and dressed accordingly per universe, and then they would do a LiDAR scan of that. We would get the geometry from the LiDAR data, build out the actual extensions based off the ground-level buildings and maintain that architectural look that was already established with the ground level, and run our destruction simulation, which in this case was a pseudo anti-gravity destruction.”
Plates were shot in Iceland, while portions of the grand staircase and foyer were practically built for the Sinister Sanctum Sanctorum.
“You can’t have it [the set of destroyed buildings] drifting away too quickly. Otherwise your buildings are gone by the end of the shot. It was finding that balance of how to keep interesting motion up there, along with these large, smoky, viscus-liquid tendrils that pull away from the buildings as well as the pieces of debris. Then, on top of that you’ve got the incursion from the other universe colliding and floating through space, whether in real-time or in a slightly slow-motion fashion to heighten the interest of the motion.”
—Joel Behrens, Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Domain
Animation and motion tests were conducted for the debris. “You can’t have it drifting away too quickly. Otherwise your buildings are gone by the end of the shot,” Behrens remarks. “It was finding that balance of how to keep interesting motion up there, along with these large, smoky, viscus-liquid tendrils that pull away from the buildings as well as the pieces of debris. Then, on top of that you’ve got the incursion from the other universe colliding and floating through space, whether in real-time or in a slightly slow-motion fashion to heighten the interest of the motion.” As with all of movies by Sam Ramai, a certain automobile is seen floating in the background. “Some of the floating objects like the Oldsmobile Delta 88 were hung off of a large crane arm on wires to have them slightly spinning and drifting through a scene,” Behrens remarks. “It was taking a look at that and matching it. Sam and Janek wanted everything to have a hyper-real, more than slightly slower than real-time look in this universe from the incursion. We tended to go with a heavier slow-motion, high-frame-rate-shutter look for these elements like the Brooklyn Bridge or the subway that is crashing through the ground behind them or the Empire State Building.”
Plate photography was shot in Iceland of the black sand beaches to create an otherworldly feel for the Sinister Sanctum Sanctorum.
A car that cameos in the films of Sam Raimi is an Oldsmobile Delta 88.
Different iconic landmarks appear in the Sinister Universe, such as the Brooklyn Bridge in a Victorian Steampunk Gothic style sliding through the ocean.
The Sinister Sanctum Sanctorum was treated as if it was a haunted house.
A haunted house aesthetic was given to the original model of the Sanctum Sanctorum to create the Sinister Universe version. “We didn’t modify the silhouette or the shape of the building, but changed the materials it was made out of, such as using large, weathered pieces of stone that had large cracks in them,” Behrens states. “We had vines that went up the side, and it looked like it had been a 16th century mausoleum that has seen a lot of age and wear over time.” The building is slowly being pulled apart by a massive dark void. “You have this large chunk in the upper right-hand corner that is slowly pulling rocks apart from the construction along with these sinewy, inky tendrils that come off of it,” Behrens adds. “Then, once you go inside the Sanctum there is some weird universe stuff going on. Inside the foyer you’ve got the Grand Staircase, and behind it is this odd otherworldly beach where the surf is rolling up and [there’s] a gigantic, red ominous moon.” Plates were shot in Iceland, while on set Cumberbatch walked on a mirror that had some actual sand on it. “It was a fairly complex simulation to tie in with the surf edge as waves break on the beach,” Behrens says, “and we had these tributaries around the staircase that we wanted water to pool in so Doctor Strange would walk through the water. They played him dry for wet, so we also had to try to make his boots look like that they were getting wet from the water he is walking through.”
“[O]nce you go inside the Sanctum there is some weird universe stuff going on. Inside the foyer you’ve got the Grand Staircase, and behind it is this odd otherworldly beach where the surf is rolling up and [there’s] a gigantic, red ominous moon. … It was a fairly complex simulation to tie in with the surf edge as waves break on the beach, and we had these tributaries around the staircase that we wanted water to pool in so Doctor Strange would walk through the water. They played him dry for wet, so we also had to try to make his boots look like that they were getting wet from the water he is walking through.”
—Joel Behrens, Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Domain
Doctor Strange encounters Wanda in an orchard that is an illusion, disguising a darker reality that builds upon the Marvel Studios television series WandaVision. “WandaVision had that digitized, almost pixelated television look for the hex as it got dropped and revealed what was actually happening in the world,” Behrens notes. “For this one they wanted it to be more natural and organic. We decided to tie it more into her smoky red magic and the dark hole magic. The idea of this wall of her magic that reveals the universe was tricky because we didn’t want it to be like a simplified wipe-away or dissolve. We had this swirling stuff that, as it wiped over certain branches of the trees, the smoke would cling and almost pull away, so you got this interaction between the wall and the objects that it intersects with as it was revealing that.” The trees appear significantly different in the post-hex world. Comments Behrens, “They went from a fairly normal, healthy trees to these twisted, decayed trees.” Practical trees were constructed around the actors, with the rest being a digital set extension. “We struggled with drifting fog that didn’t look too much like smoke because they didn’t want it to feel like a burnt-out forest that the characters were standing in,” Behrens says. “There is a lot of talking back forth in that scene. We ended up doing background extensions and atmospheric simulations as well as the CG dark hole.”
“Some of the floating objects like the Oldsmobile Delta 88 were hung off of a large crane arm on wires to have them slightly spinning and drifting through a scene. … [Director] Sam [Raimi] and [Marvel Visual Effects Supervisor] Janek [Sirrs] wanted everything to have a hyper-real, more than slightly slower than real-time look in this universe from the incursion. We tended to go with a heavier slow-motion, high-frame-rate-shutter look for these elements like the Brooklyn Bridge or the subway that is crashing through the ground behind them or the Empire State Building.”
—Joel Behrens, Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Domain
A swap gas-like fog that has a pinkish-orange color drifts around the trees.
A portion of the post-hex orchard was practically built around the characters.
It was important to avoid the real orchard appearing as a forest ravaged by a wildfire.
In order to imprison Wanda in the Mirror Universe, Doctor Strange conjures a Mirror Trap. “There were all sorts of permutations, such as being glassier, but we went for it being more mirror-like and reflecting a digital environment as well as a digital-double version of our actress,” Behrens explains. “When shooting the footage on greenscreen for Wanda, we had a few witness cameras for some of those reflections; however, because these mirror pieces were at different angles and magnifications of her, we ended up using a digital double for quite a bit of that.” The decision was to have a lot less distortion in the mirror images. “We needed to see clearly what is happening with Wanda,” Behrens explains. “We had spikes built out of this mirrored glass as well so you could see her reflections, in which we used a combination of both digital-double and plate reflections. It was tricky coming up with the look because you didn’t want it to feel like a flat chrome surface. So we were trying to put imperfections on the front glass, smudges, a bit of dust and dirt, scratches, small cracks, things that were grounded in reality, because the initial passes did not look good when they were strictly a purely reflective material. It looked incredibly CG. It’s always about those imperfections and realism that you can add to those pieces that hopefully fit it in there and make it feel realistic.”
A shot taken from the pilot episode outside the Fortress of Solitude.
A creative partnership and friendship forged 28 years ago at MGM has Visual Effects Supervisor John Gajdecki (Stargate: Atlantis) and Visual Effects Producer Matthew Gore (Battlestar Galactica) working together again on the second season of The CW production Superman & Lois. Co-creator and showrunner Todd Helbing (The Flash) has produced a unique spin on the superhero genre where at the heart of the story are the family struggles of Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin), Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) and their twin sons (Jordan Elsass, Alex Garfin) who have inherited the patriarchal supernatural abilities.
“We know that the artists are good and the art is built into the people. This team manages the process so tightly that we can deliver shots without panic two days before they’re on TV.”
—John Gajdecki, Visual Effects Supervisor
Superman & Lois is a testament to logistical prowess of the visual effects team that manages without panicking to deliver shots two days before they are on television.
Even though Superman & Lois is spun off of Supergirl, the look of the series is uniquely its own.
Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) must not only fly, he must fly through elements such as smoke, fog, clouds and dust. Bigger ambitions resulted in a 25% increase in visual effects shots in Season 2.
A major part of the visual language are Cooke Xtal Xpress lenses, which were emulated in the visual effects shots.
It was important to be able to produce feature-quality visual effects shots within a television schedule.
Water was poured onto Tyler Hoechlin when shooting the scene where Superman rescues a submarine in Episode 201. The submarine was created in Maya, with Houdini water and lots of clouds and smoke from the stock library added in Nuke.
The Kent family farmhouse is dilapidated and the barn has burned down in the Bizarro World version. Even though there are assets and locations that carried over from Season 1, modifications still had to be made.
A particular expression comes to mind for Gajdecki when describing how the show operates. “You hear people saying, ‘Armchair generals talk strategy, but the pros talk logistics.’ ‘Can we get the weapons to the front? Will there be food for the soldiers when they get there?’ We know that the artists are good and the art is built into the people,” Gajdecki states. “This team manages the process so tightly that we can deliver shots without panic two days before they’re on TV.”
“At the beginning of the season, we said that we wanted to take this up another level and try to get as close to feature quality as we could, knowing our limitations. But every time Superman does something, there is usually a CG component to it that adds to the schedule and budget issues. John mentioned to me that he had an in-house team on Project Blue Book, and so we proposed that. The in-house team has shined and been great in helping us to get this on the air.”
—Matthew Gore, Visual Effects Producer
Necessity led to a creative solution for Season 2 of Superman & Lois. “We have a tight network schedule, so it’s tough to try to do what we’re trying to do,” Gore notes. “At the beginning of the season, we said that we wanted to take this up another level and try to get as close to feature quality as we could, knowing our limitations. But every time Superman does something, there is usually a CG component to it that adds to the schedule and budget issues. John mentioned to me that he had an in-house team on Project Blue Book, and so we proposed that. The in-house team has shined and been great in helping us to get this on the air.”
15 different vendors worked on Season 2, including Zoic Studios, Refuge VFX, Boxel Studios, Frame Lab Studios, Barnstorm VFX, Tribal Imaging, Od Studios and Lux VFX.
The more shots were broken up over multiple vendors, the more often they would come back to the in-house team as the final 2D. “I see us as the final line of digital defense,” Gajdecki remarks. “Everything comes in and we do the comps, and we’ll put that photographic pass on it to make sure that the lens flares feel right and that the camera move looks like it fits between the shot, before and after, and the contrast, smoke and dust levels are matching. When Superman flies in and comes to a stop, something else has to keep going otherwise it doesn’t feel right. With some artists it is hard to explain why that’s wrong. We came up with the term energy transfer and suddenly people went, ‘Okay, I see it now.’”
“I see us [the in-house team] as the final line of digital defense. Everything comes in and we do the comps, and we’ll put that photographic pass on it to make sure that the lens flares feel right and that the camera move looks like it fits between the shot, before and after, and the contrast, smoke and dust levels are matching. When Superman flies in and comes to a stop, something else has to keep going otherwise it doesn’t feel right. With some artists it is hard to explain why that’s wrong. We came up with the term energy transfer and suddenly people went, ‘Okay, I see it now.’”
—John Gajdecki, Visual Effects Supervisor
There is mutual cooperation between the different departments which allows for seamless integration between practical and CG elements.
Tyler Hoechlin was put through the deepfake process to apply Bizarro’s face. Deepfake technology was critical in being able to create the Bizzaro version of Superman.
Bigger ambitions have meant that the visual effects count increased from 2,300 to 2,500 shots for Season 1, to an additional 25% for Season 2. Also expanded are the number of vendors, which can be a many as 15 depending on their availability. Among the contributors are Zoic Studios, Refuge VFX, Boxel Studios, Frame Lab Studios, Barnstorm VFX, Tribal Imaging, Od Studios and Lux VFX. “We have an honest relationship with our vendors,” Gore notes. “In my conversations with them, are you available and can you do this work? They’ll tell you flat-out. It won’t be like the shop that wants to take the work and figure it out. They’ll say, ‘We don’t have these artists available for those weeks, but we have these who are available.’ We’re constantly trying to fill what somebody can do.” Even though there are assets and locations that carried over from Season 1, modifications still had to be made. “The [Kent family] farmhouse ended up in Bizarro World, so even though the farmhouse didn’t change between seasons, there was a whole new farmhouse and barn,” reveals Gajdecki. “The barn has burned down and the farmhouse is dilapidated.”
Villainous Ally’s acolytes prepare to travel through the portal to Earth Bizarre in a greenscreen plate of the actors on the dressed studio floor. The portal was created in Houdini and comped in Nuke with smoke elements.
A greenscreen plate of Superman and Tal-Rho on the volcano’s edge. The Maya model of the interior of the volcano was comped with Houdini lava, live-action volcano splashes and lots of smoke and embers to produce the final shot.
“There is stuff that we can’t talk about for the series finale that might come as a text from Todd Helbing with a photo that says, ‘We’re going to do this,’” Gore comments. “We went, ‘Okay. Cool. Let’s figure out how.’ A lot of times Todd will give us a heads up that something big is out there, so we can at least start thinking about it even if we don’t get a full outline or a script yet. At least we know conceptually this is something that we have to try to fit into the schedule.”
“Anything that we need we get. When we shoot greenscreens, the line producer says, ‘It’s Gadjecki Rules.’ They light it for us and get the exposures and interactive light that we need. Our shots look good even though we have little time because we shoot the pieces so well and production is behind us.”
—John Gajdecki, Visual Effects Supervisor
Gajdecki has a particular philosophy towards visual effects. “Every shot that we do has to look like that the art department directed it and the camera operators operated the camera. We are sensitive to the inputs from the other departments to make sure that we put in the same chaos that would be in a real shot.” The cooperation is mutual, he says. “Anything that we need we get. When we shoot greenscreens, the line producer says, ‘It’s Gadjecki Rules.’ They light it for us and get the exposures and interactive light that we need. Our shots look good even though we have little time because we shoot the pieces so well and production is behind us.”
The term ‘energy transference’ was coined for the scenes where Superman flies in and comes to a stop, to explain why the energy all around that action must continue.
Episode 208 features a portal. Comments Gajdecki, “Upon hearing that there was going to be a portal, we got all of the reference together, numbered all of the references, put it out in front of our executives, got on the Zoom and asked, ‘Todd, is any of this close to what you’re thinking?’ He might have 50 images to look at, and we start to talk about the nature of the portal, what’s the portal doing and the behavior. We go from there and start narrowing down the focus.” Superman gets affected in a dramatic way. “There had to be some component of him getting shredded as he enters it,” Gajdecki adds. “Then we had this whole other thing where once he’s inside there, what does it look like? It goes back to who does what. Our in-house team started a look in Episode 201 where Bizarro is flashing to stuff. We need some cool flash that is supposed to sell that it’s him traveling through the portal. The in-house team was tasked with that. They came up with a look. It evolved to a certain point, and we knew that we wanted it to feel like it had depth to it. That was our other challenge. Todd wanted it to feel that he is breaching something, but we also wanted to sell that there is something behind it, and then he had to shred in there at some point. We didn’t want it to be holes underneath and you see through him. We wanted a substance there, but didn’t want it to be bone and skin because it’s CW.”
Only 10% of the shots don’t have a custom 3D element.
Adding to the shot count was number of deepfakes associated with the character of Bizarro, who is revealed to be an alternative dimension version of Superman. “We let everyone know that the AI approach was not going to be a one-size-fits-all answer to all the Bizarro shots,” Gore explains. “We had numerous discussions with Todd that if a shot was going to ‘break’ the AI, we were going to have to apply more traditional methods to get the sequences to where he wanted them to be. For example, there were a couple shots where we needed to go all CG on Bizarro in order for him to be able to appear in the same shot as Tyler during some of the fight scenes. We massaged the cuts with Todd. Boxel Studio took on all the work that the AI couldn’t do. The in-house team came up with the look for Bizarro’s eyes and then worked with Tribal Imaging in Calgary, Wild Media Entertainment in Toronto/Vancouver, Kalos Studios, Animism Studios and Refuge VFX to make sure no matter who took Bizarro to final, the look for Bizarro’s eyes and makeup was going to be consistent in all the comps across the various episodes. It was also a great learning experience working with this new AI toolset. And to be clear, not every scene in the Bizarro story arc was achieved using AI.
The chase involving the Velociraptors combined plate photography from Malta and Chris Pratt riding a stationary motorbike on a massive rolling road in the U.K.
Prehistoric beasts have had a constant presence in the life of David Vickery, who served as Visual Effects Supervisor on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World: Dominion. “I’m still working on dinosaurs! Not the film ones, but for promotional media, advertisements and public relations related stuff.” Any concerns of repeating himself were alleviated by working with a different director, crew and script. “There are always new challenges.” About 1,450 visual effects shots were created, with ILM being responsible for 1,000 shots while the rest were handled by Lola VFX and Hybride. “[Director] Colin Trevorrow had a one-on-one relationship with the storyboard artist, and those storyboards were handed over to us to create animatics. I worked closely with the previs and postvis teams [provided by Proof].” Collaborating with Production Designer Kevin Jenkins was easy as he is a former art director at ILM. “Kevin clearly understands visual effects and worked a lot in 3D, so he could hand those designs over to us,” Vickery observes. “Because of our previous working relationship, Kevin trusted me to take incomplete designs to ILM and to continue their evolution.”
“There are probably more animatronics in Jurassic World: Dominion than in Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World combined. … [T]he digital dinosaurs we had were an exact match for the physical animatronic dinosaurs that we had on set. It didn’t matter where they positioned the rig because the range of motion was exactly the same as the range of motion in the digital dinosaur. The goal being to get a plate that gave us practical animatronics that could move and perform on set and be digitally extended without us having to replace it.”
—David Vickery, Visual Effects Supervisor
‘Digital archeology’ was conducted to return the original T-Rex from Jurassic Park to her former glory.
1,450 visual effects shots were created, with ILM being responsible for 1,000 shots while the rest were handled by Lola VFX and Hybride.
An entirely new feather system was constructed in Houdini by ILM to deal with creatures such as the Pyroraptor.
Chris Pratt reprises his role of Owen Grady in Jurassic World: Dominion.
Jurassic World: Dominion was the first Hollywood production to recommence shooting during the pandemic.
Five weeks into principal photography for Jurassic World: Dominion, the pandemic caused a global lockdown. “Nobody knew what was going to happen when COVID-19 hit and we had to start shooting again during the pandemic,” Vickery states. “It was hard to understand how we were going to be able to communicate with each other, because suddenly we had to stay distant, were all wearing masks and couldn’t all cluster around the director’s monitors. We had tech scouts where the DP, John Schwartzman, was still isolating before he was able to come back onto set. We were deploying all sorts of new techniques such as wearing Bolero headsets rather than the usual walkie system.” Travel restrictions caused a few key scenes to be reimagined, such as Velociraptors chasing a motorcycle driven by Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) through the streets of Malta. “We had array photography and LiDAR data from location, which was then projected and manipulated rather than being a fully CG environment. Once we got back in the U.K., Chris rode a stationary motorbike that was placed on a massive rolling road that was 25 feet wide. The bike was rigged so it could weave left and right.”
“There was a cool bit of what I called ‘digital archeology.’ We had 3D SoftImage files but didn’t even have the software. However, we managed to get those NURBS files into Maya and convert them into polygon meshes. We also referenced all of Stan Winston’s photography. It’s a beautiful piece of recreation of that original T-Rex model.”
—David Vickery, Visual Effects Supervisor
A different approach was adopted for Mosasaurus attacking the crab boat. “Our editors scoured through 16 seasons of The Deadliest Catch program, correlated and created an edit from outtakes,” Vickery reveals. “The goal was to use the natural aesthetic of the footage that we had and integrate the CGI elements into it. The crab pod is something that we added in as well as the Mosasaurus and a bunch of spray.” Shifting weather patterns had to be accommodated. “When we were shooting at a lumber yard and had to put two huge Apatosaurus in the background, the whole sequence was shot in the morning in bright sunlight and no snow,” Vickery says. “Then it started snowing at lunchtime and we had to reshoot the entire scene again because the snow was going to change the look of our plates. We had a huge team of effects artists at ILM whose job was adding digital snow and dust.” An entirely new feather system was constructed in Houdini by ILM to deal with creatures such as the Pyroraptor. “It relied on the geometry of the feathers being described as a curve for the quill and a flat piece of polygonal geometry for the feather itself,” Vickery explains. “The feathers had to be able to interact with environmental elements. “On set we had the special effects team with air movers, some snow and atmospheric effects, but we had to recreate the same effect in post to be able to integrate the Pyroraptor.”
When designing dinosaurs the first point of reference is the holotype.
A massive animatronic was constructed for the Giganotosaurus.
There are probably more animatronics in Jurassic World: Dominion than in Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World combined.
“There was a moment on set where Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and DaWanda Wise are with the biggest animatronic that I’ve ever seen in my life. Bringing all of those things together was amazing!”
—David Vickery, Visual Effects Supervisor
There was a close collaboration between the art department, visual effects and creature effects to make sure that there was seamless integration of CG and practical elements.
The goal was to get a plate where the practical animatronics could move and perform on set and be digitally extended without it being replaced.
Production Designer Kevin Jenkins created clay maquettes that were scanned and given to ILM to make sure that the models were anatomically correct before being 3D printed by John Nolan and the creature effects team.
Each instalment of the franchise introduces new dinosaurs. “The Giganotosaurus was a real dinosaur,” Vickery remarks. “You look for the holotype, which is often a partial specimen so scientific that experts have to guess the rest. Some of the dinosaurs look so bizarre, like the Therizinosaurus, which is this huge theropod that is covered in feathers and has one-meter-long baseball bat-like claws on the edge of its fingers.” A massive animatronic was built for the Giganotosaurus. “There are probably more animatronics in Jurassic World: Dominion than in Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World combined.” Jenkins collaborated with Trevorrow and paleontologist consultant Steve Brusatte to develop concepts that were turned into clay maquettes and then scanned. The scans were given to ILM which made sure the model was anatomically correct before handing them off to John Nolan, the head of the creature effects team, for 3D printing. “This meant that the digital dinosaurs we had were an exact match for the physical animatronic dinosaurs that we had on set,” Vickery notes. The process helped to minimize the amount of CG. “It didn’t matter where they positioned the rig because the range of motion was exactly the same as the range of motion in the digital dinosaur. The goal being to get a plate that gave us practical animatronics that could move and perform on set and be digitally extended without us having to replace it.”
“From a simulation perspective, [with feathers] you’re dealing with a huge amount of geometry that is deforming and moving on a frame-by-frame basis, and is reacting to external forces like the wind, but also to the way that the creature is moving. Creatively, ever since Jurassic Park, fans and paleontologists have been crying out to see feathers on dinosaurs, and we will deliver this time.”
—David Vickery, Visual Effects Supervisor
Restored to her former glory is the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. “There was a cool bit of what I called ‘digital archeology,’” Vickery recalls. “We had 3D SoftImage files but didn’t even have the software. However, we managed to get those NURBS files into Maya and convert them into polygon meshes. We also referenced all of Stan Winston’s photography. It’s a beautiful piece of recreation of that original T-Rex model.”
Feathers proved to be the biggest creative and technical challenge. “From a simulation perspective,” Vickery comments, “you’re dealing with a huge amount of geometry that is deforming and moving on a frame-by-frame basis, and is reacting to external forces like the wind, but also to the way that the creature is moving. Creatively, ever since Jurassic Park, fans and paleontologists have been crying out to see feathers on dinosaurs, and we will deliver this time.”
The on-set special effects team deployed air movers, snow and atmospheric effects so the feathers of the Pyroraptor interacted with environmental elements.
All of Stan Winston’s photography was referenced in the recreation of the original T-Rex model from Jurassic Park.
Seeing the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchises come together was a career highlight for Vickery. “There was a moment on set where Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and DaWanda Wise are with the biggest animatronic that I’ve ever seen in my life. Bringing all of those things together was amazing!”
Amongst the winged creatures re-created are the Hatzegopteryx.
Going beyond the Hollywood portrayals is the Apple TV+ natural documentary series Prehistoric Planet, which travels back 66 million years to the Late Cretaceous period when dinosaurs reigned supreme. Serving as executive producers are filmmaker Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and Mike Gunton, Creative Director, Factual at BBC Studios. Directing the five episodes are Adam Valdez and Andy Jones who respectively worked as a visual effects supervisor and animation supervisor on The Lion King and The Jungle Book for Favreau. Collaborating closely together were digital artists from MPC and cinematographers from BBC’s Natural History Unit.
Tyrannosaurus rex and juvenile go for a swim in the episode ‘Coasts.’
A Mosasaurus as it would have appeared during the Late Cretaceous period, which occurred 66 million years ago.
Progressing from The Lion King and The Jungle Book was not a huge leap for Jones. “Wildlife, natural history and what the BBC has been doing for years was our goal for a lot of the shots. In Jon Favreau’s mind, he always wanted it to feel as naturalistic and realistic as possible,” Jones notes. Nuances have to be incorporated into the animation to believably convey the emotional state of the creature. Explains Jones, “You want to lean away from anthropomorphism as much as possible because right away people will say, ‘Oh, we’re watching animation.’ Mammals share such a common bond with us, even elephants and giraffes have this look of concern for their kids, and we try to use some of that sparingly. We looked at larger lizards and birds a lot. The way birds care for their young is different. There is not this nuzzling.”
“The whole point is when you look at natural animals, they do things that are so weird and wonderful, so why not just portray that because it’s fascinating on its own? While the BBC Natural History Unit is obsessed with scientific accuracy, they’re also storytellers and know how to make things compelling; that was a real balancing act.”
—Adam Valdez, Director
Success is found in the subtle details. “You could say that the work we do is like a thousand of tiny traces on a thousand tiny items, and if it all stacks up correctly, you get a win,” Valdez remarks. “Sometimes you don’t know what those things are until you’re in the midst of it. One of the things that we’ve learned over the last couple shows was that human audiences will project a lot onto characters for you. You don’t have to lean too hard in any visual storytelling. That’s the magic of the medium. Sometimes it’s a moment of stillness that could convey the idea that the animal might be thinking or feeling the event that just happened.” The events had to fit within natural order of things. Valdez adds, “The whole point is when you look at natural animals, they do things that are so weird and wonderful, so why not just portray that because it’s fascinating on its own? While the BBC Natural History Unit is obsessed with scientific accuracy, they’re also storytellers and know how to make things compelling; that was a real balancing act.”
A herd of Dreadnoughtus are inserted digitally into live-action plate photography.
Mongolian Titanosaur and Barsboldia gather around a watering hole.
The rules of wildlife documentary filmmaking were applied when conceptualizing and executing scenes.
A male and female Barbaridactylus were created by MPC, which was the sole vendor for Prehistoric Planet.
As interesting as creating realistic dinosaurs was the process of making the show. “The trick was how do you make something that feels like you went and got the footage hiding out for eight weeks or hiding the track cameras all over and bringing the footage back,” Valdez states. “It’s a painstaking editorial process. What you learn is it’s not like BBC Natural History Unit [to] just go somewhere and film randomly. They know what’s interesting and what the dynamics are at a certain time and place. The Natural History Unit brought us deeply researched stories and our role was to go, ‘Okay, you have a notion, but what we’re going to do is make an animatic that is so tight that you know exactly where to go to get shot by shot.’” Shots were determined by the reality of documentary filmmaking. Valdez comments, “If you shot a hunt like a movie with eight camera positions, that’s not how they get those once-in-a-lifetime moments. They get them rarely [with one camera]. It was our job to make an animatic that felt 100% like they had shot it, and then give them a shopping list: go get these backgrounds, and precisely match the lens and how the camera is moving.”
“We went through quite a bit making the T-Rex because we definitely wanted to nail our version of what we really think the T-Rex is today. It was the first asset that we built and to show off what the series would be. Him and the baby T-Rex. As much we know about them in terms of fur, coloration, and the idea of what these babies would have been like, we needed our Baby Yoda!”
—Andy Jones, Director
Edmontosaurus and juvenile appear in Prehistoric Planet, with Andy Jones and Adam Valdez sharing directorial duties.
Biomes determined the creatures, not the other way around, with the episodes titled ‘Coasts,’ ‘Deserts,’ ‘Freshwater,’ ‘Ice Worlds’ and ‘Forests.’ “That gives you one point of view on the nature of life and planet as a working ecosystem together,” Valdez observes. “Animals are our way in, whether it’s chimps, lions or dinosaurs. That’s why you see it framed the way that you do. Paul Stewart was in charge of ‘Coasts’ as the writer, producer and natural history partner. All of those particular stories have to do with the fact that where the land and sea meet you have a lot of dynamics. You have a lot of biodiversity, food source, territory and raising young. That’s the framing concept for the whole show.” The final sequence in ‘Coasts’ deals with the birth of a baby Tuarangisaurus. “For a Tuarangisaurus to make a baby that’s 12 feet long and 25% of the body mass of the mother is a massive investment, so they’re going to raise one at a time,” Valdez explains. “Then it turns out that the family shows some investment around the young as well. They found fossil evidence that backs all of this up. You find evidence of these sea creatures in the sands and earth where there was previously the Western Interior Seaway, a huge stretch of water that divided North America which had huge coastlands. The show hints on these ideas all the way through.”
“If you shot a hunt like a movie with eight camera positions, that’s not how they get those once-in-a-lifetime moments. They get them rarely [with one camera]. It was our job to make an animatic that felt 100% like they had shot it, and then give them a shopping list: go get these backgrounds, and precisely match the lens and how the camera is moving.”
—Adam Valdez, Director
A pack of Pachyrhinosaurus are hunted by the Nanuqsaurus.
When it comes to proper pronunciations of dinosaurs’ names, Jones laughs. “It’s never set in stone how to pronounce it until Sir David Attenborough says it! The Deincheirus was one of the fun dinosaurs in the series for me because it’s such a weird-looking animal with a big duck bill and massive claws. This is one where scientists would say, ‘He had these massive claws that probably could be used to defend himself in some sort of battle with males.’ But what else could these claws be use for? Let’s tell a story that’s not about fighting.’ We know that he probably ate seagrass or some sort of grass or some sort of vegetation. Those claws would be used to rip up and dig up the grasses and roots. Dealing with all of the flies is another thing. His claws could scratch a little bit, but his arms are so small that he can’t reach his whole body. The Deincheirus spots a scratching tree post to go up and start using that to scratch. For the ending of the episode, we wanted to tell the story of what happens when you eat so much food; his bowels get loose, he fertilizes the entire place and moves on. The Deincherius is a great character!”
“Deincheirus was one of the fun dinosaurs in the series for me because it’s such a weird-looking animal with a big duck bill and massive claws. This is one where scientists would say, ‘He had these massive claws that probably could be used to defend himself in some sort of battle with males.’ But what else could these claws be use for? Let’s tell a story that’s not about fighting.’ We know that he probably ate seagrass or some sort of grass or some sort of vegetation. Those claws would be used to rip up and dig up the grasses and roots. … For the ending of the episode, we wanted to tell the story of what happens when you eat so much food; his bowels get loose, he fertilizes the entire place and moves on. The Deincherius is a great character!”
—Adam Valdez, Director
Biomes determined the creatures, not the other way around, with the episodes titled ‘Coasts,’ ‘Deserts,’ ‘Freshwater,’ ‘Ice Worlds’ and ‘Forests.’
A baby Triceratops is portrayed as ‘naturalistically’ as possible, rather than rely on anthropomorphism to convey emotion.
Events involving the Corythoraptor had to fall within the natural order of things.
Prehistoric Planet showcases what scientists currently believe to be the actual behaviors of dinosaurs rather than the Hollywood portrayal of them.
For Director Adam Valdez, animation is a balance of aesthetics and physics.
In a lot of the shots, the feet of the dinosaurs were framed out because in numerous natural history documentaries, you don’t see the feet touching the ground.
‘Ice Worlds’ is a serious episode that explores family dynamics and the relationship between predator and prey. “It’s similar to ‘Deserts’ in the sense that you have these extreme environments, and it requires animals to go to greater lengths to survive,” Valdez observes. “You have this match that creates this endless loop of predation. and [questions] how does the prey species survive constantly being hunted. You have to figure out as a family group. The pack of Pachyrhinosaurus are rhino-like creatures that resemble Triceratops. They’re huge and powerful. The Nanuqsaurus don’t stand a chance attacking the group. But they are significant predators that are also big. What happens in the winter is that predators will work together as a team. You have a team of predators and a family group. It becomes a war of attrition, a siege. If we hound this family enough, eventually they’ll make a mistake, and we’ll take advantage of that mistake. It’s heavy. It’s like a standoff. You have to sit there and see who will last longer through the storm and winter that is around them.”
Going through the most iterations was an iconic dinosaur. “We went through quite a bit making the T-Rex because we definitely wanted to nail our version of what we really think the T-Rex is today,” Jones reveals. “It was the first asset that we built and to show off what the series would be. Him and the baby T-Rex. As much we know about them in terms of fur, coloration, and the idea of what these babies would have been like, we needed our Baby Yoda!”
Precise previs was created so that the cinematographers for the series knew exactly what needed to be shot for the plate photography.
The experience that the BBC Natural History Unit has in shooting hundreds of thousands of hours of real animals was leveraged when choreographing scenes.
The Cretaceous Period had enough similarities to today’s Earth that the production could fill a lot of the backgrounds on today’s Earth.
Family dynamics is a prominent theme explored in Prehistoric Planet.
For Jones, figuring out the motion of the creatures was a major task. “When I first saw the design of the giant pterosaurus, I thought there was no way that thing could fly,” he explains. “It’s the size of a giraffe. Figuring that out and having people watch it and believe it, is cool. Shooting at Palouse Falls was so much fun. We knew the environment when we prevised it, so we had a good layout. Actually, getting the shots was way challenging because we were hanging people on ropes to get the cameras in the positions that were needed. It was a fun sequence all around.”
Cinzia Angelini grew up in the 1970s in Milan, Italy, inspired by Japanese cartoons and the films of Hayao Miyazaki and Disney classics, which she studied frame by frame. Renowned director, animator and Head of Story at Cinesite Studios, Cinzia has worked for major animation studios in Europe and the U.S. for more than 25 years. Her body of work includes Balto, Prince of Egypt, The Road to Eldorado, Spider-Man 2, Minions, Despicable Me 3 and The Grinch. Cinzia wrote and directed the acclaimed CG animated short film Mila, a war story that centers on the plight of civilian children, and is currently directing HITPIG, an Aniventure animated feature produced at Cinesite.
Creating Mila was a life-changing experience, inspired by the stories my mother told me about how she felt as a child during the bombings of Trento in World War II. I wanted to use the medium I love, animation, and shine a light on the terrible realities for millions of children and families around the world who are caught in the crossfire of war. Audiences have embraced Mila’s messages of hope, imagination and perseverance and I’m so encouraged that there is a growing appetite for honest and authentic stories.
I fully embrace the power of animation. Hollywood might applaud socially relevant features, but it still views animation as essentially little more than “entertainment.” It has enormous potential to affect fundamental change in how we approach each other and how we deal with societal challenges. I believe that stories told through the magic of animation can move people and influence our future generations like nothing else can.
If Mila can change even one decision maker’s experience about the consequences of war, then all our efforts were well worth it.
The Mila theme is resonating with people around the world.Our team had 350 artists who gave their time and talent from 35 countries, the largest independent virtual studio collaboration ever created. And a surprising number of those volunteers have their own personal experience with war or in their family histories, which also moved them to want to be a part of this project. The strong theme of the film ended up being the secret for its success. Mila is more than a film; it’s a story within a story.
Inclusion and diversity were key elements in assembling the Mila team, and I’m proud that a significant percent of women were in leadership positions.
Finding ways to harness the talents of so many artists and filmmakers versed in different styles of work, cultures and languages made the final film that much richer. The entire process has been challenging and incredibly rewarding. It helped me improve as an artist, influenced how I collaborate with colleagues and showed me strength of our global interconnectivity in new and inspiring ways.
I’ve always embraced risk as an opportunity to innovate, grow and become stronger.Risk takers challenge the norm and push the boundaries of their professions. I keep leaning into the unknown, because even if things don’t work out as planned, you learn so much from the journey.
Ask Me Anything – VFX Pros Tell All
Join us for our series of interactive webinars with visual effects professionals. Ask your questions, learn about the industry and glean inspiration for your career path.
Images courtesy of DNEG and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Tom Holland as treasure hunter Nathan Drake negotiates a daisy-chain of crates falling from a C-17 cargo plane in a complex mix of practical and visual effects from DNEG.
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who led a Spanish expedition of five ships in 1519 to seek a western route to the Moluccas (Spice Islands). Magellan perished along the way and only one ship made it back, in 1522, but it was the first craft to circumnavigate the world. Flash forward five hundred years, and Ruben Fleischer’s Uncharted spins a fictional tale about a present-day search for two lost treasure-laden ships from Magellan’s fleet. The Sony Pictures movie is a prequel of sorts to the tremendously popular Uncharted video game series, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The film’s treasure hunters included Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) and Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg), along with Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) and Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas).
The On-Set and Overall VFX Supervisor was Chas Jarrett. DNEG was the primary VFX vendor, completing 739 shots over 23 sequences, with teams led by Visual Effects Supervisor Sebastian von Overheidt (DNEG Vancouver) and Visual Effects Supervisor Benoit de Longlee (DNEG Montreal). Other contributing VFX vendors included The Third Floor, RISE Visual Effects Studios, Soho VFX and Savage Visual Effects.
Crates falling from the C-17 cargo plane was part of a continuous 90-second ‘oner’ sequence that mixed bluescreen, wire rigs, robot arms and digi-doubles.
Holland reaches out while a KUKA robot arm holds a crate and large fans supply the wind for the shoot. Live-action filming for the sequence took place at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, Germany, outside Berlin.
DNEG was tasked with handling various jaw-dropping sequences, including a 90-second shot in which Nate and Chloe – along with cargo crates and a Mercedes Gullwing car – fall out of a C-17 cargo plane while flying over the South China Sea. Von Overheidt considered the shot “a fun challenge. We called this sequence ‘the oner’ because it’s constructed as one continuous 90-second shot.”
“[For the falling out of a C-17 cargo plane scene] we had several practical elements with the actors hanging on wires and interacting with a stand-in car prop. We combined the practical elements with long stretches of full-CG moments. Some sections required either close-up digi-doubles to hold up, or even a transition between plate and digi-double right in camera with nowhere to hide. Mix that with the disorienting camera, and you have quite a complex puzzle to solve.”
—Sebastian von Overheidt, Visual Effects Supervisor, DNEG
Von Overheidt adds, “We had several practical elements with the actors hanging on wires and interacting with a stand-in car prop. We combined the practical elements with long stretches of full-CG moments. Some sections required either close-up digi-doubles to hold up, or even a transition between plate and digi-double right in camera with nowhere to hide. Mix that with the disorienting camera, and you have quite a complex puzzle to solve.”
To begin creating the sequence, von Overheidt reveals, “We received LiDAR scans and HDR photography of each individual cargo crate and all the other props like the Mercedes Gullwing, as well as a full scan of the C-17 interior, which was built as a set. From there we built the entire daisy-chain of crates and the C-17 interior. At the same time, we also worked on a fully digital version of the Gullwing and the C-17 exterior model with some custom modifications compared to a standard model. Ruben had asked us to create a billionaire’s version of the well-known plane.”
The exterior model of the C-17 cargo plane was built with some custom modifications befitting a super-billionaire’s souped-up version of the plane.
“[Tom Holland] indeed got thrown around quite a bit. All the crates on the exterior were mounted on top of KUKA robot arms so that they could move on a full gimbal in a programmed sequence. They were also modified with extra padding or using softer materials, so that Tom Holland and the stuntmen could jump in between them, holding onto the netting of crates. It gave a great realistic-looking reaction for most of the shots, so we got away with a lot of head replacements on the shots with Holland’s stuntman. In quite a few shots we still went for a full digital-double solution because we wanted the performance even more violent or the camera to be more dynamic than what was shot.”
—Sebastian von Overheidt, Visual Effects Supervisor, DNEG
Once camera, object and body tracking were done, Layout Supervisor Kristin Pratt and DFX Supervisor Gregor Lakner and their teams blocked the entire sequence out, “which is also the crucial step where we’d analyze each shot and figure out what CG extensions need to be added,” von Overheidt says. This also involved finding solutions for any discrepancies between the 3D-scanned crates and the ones used on set. “Our job was to piece this all together while finding the best transitions into CG and amp up the action and movement.” There were also some entirely full CG shots. He adds, “The environment was stitched based on multi-camera array footage shot at around 7,500 feet and then augmented to look a bit more desolate in terms of islands. All the clouds and wind FX and debris are CG.”
Lighting in the open sky was a challenge. “The plates were shot on a soundstage with stationary lighting, but our characters fall tumbling through an environment with only one light-source, the sun,” von Overheidt explains. “DFX Supervisor Daniel Elophe and the team broke this mammoth puzzle down into manageable sub-sections which were assembled to one long shot in compositing at the end.” The team around Lighting Supervisors Sonny Sy and Chris Rickard and Compositing Supervisor Francesco Dell’Anna kept track of changing light directions and found creative solutions to make it all work with the plates, while allowing for a free choreography of the camera and the animation, done by Layout Lead Steve Guo and Senior Animator Patrick Kalyn. “The result works really well and we ended up getting the best of both,” von Overheidt says, “seeing the sun rotating on high-action free-fall moments while coming back into a more character-focused lighting when there is dialogue and we’re locked into practical photography.”
Greenscreens assisted with the construction of a 500-year-old Magellan ship. The ships were highly detailed and complex assets built for every form of action called for in the making of Uncharted.
Tom Holland got his share of shaking and stirring thanks to a robot arm. Von Overheidt comments, “He indeed got thrown around quite a bit. All the crates on the exterior were mounted on top of KUKA robot arms so that they could move on a full gimbal in a programmed sequence. They were also modified with extra padding or using softer materials, so that Tom and the stuntmen could jump in between them, holding onto the netting of crates.” They were thrown around randomly by the robot arms to get the sense of snaking of the daisy-chain. Von Overheidt adds, “It gave a great realistic-looking reaction for most of the shots, so we got away with a lot of head replacements on the shots with Holland’s stuntman. In quite a few shots we still went for a full digital-double solution because we wanted the performance even more violent or the camera to be more dynamic than what was shot.”
To build Magellan’s two ships, sets were split into different stages, LiDAR scanned, pieced together and combined with the overall design.
The scenes with Magellan’s ships (the Trinidad and the Concepción) and the huge helicopters carrying them required extensive VFX, but the scene wasn’t created entirely full CG. Von Overheidt notes, “There was actually a lot of great footage shot on big sets. This sequence really had everything in it. The scenes were shot on several stages resembling different parts of the ships, which we were extending with CG. The helicopters we had designed are based on some classic cargo helicopters, but even beefier.”
In the case of the Concepción, the set was split into four different stages – the stern, the main deck including helm, the bow and the crow’s nest with a partial mast, according to von Overheidt. “Our CG Supervisor Ummi Gudjonsson and Build Supervisors Chris Cook and Rohan Vaz started by assembling the various on-set stages for which we had received LiDAR scans, piecing them together, lining them up to each other and combining them with the overall design of the ship.”
Von Overheidt continues, “The same process went into the Trinidad and any other set, like the helicopters. Throughout the boat battle sequence we picked about a dozen hero shots based on the criteria [of] which ones would reveal the most problems, and we would constantly check whether our model of the ships lined up to those shots. The tricky part is that practical sets aren’t perfect. They may not be symmetrical, or the same section may have different dimensions across the different sets. In addition to that initial step, it then requires careful planning and a lot of work to get to the detail level of a good practical set. The ships were highly detailed, and complex assets were built for every form of action, including total destruction. Both ships were fully-rigged sailing ships with ropes, cloth banners, sails, flexing masts and yardarms, flapping doors, all the cannons, etc. [There were] a lot of moving parts which helped to bring across some of the crazy movements and crashes the ships would do in the sequence.”
“There was actually a lot of great footage shot on big sets [for the scenes with Magellan’s ships and helicopters carrying them.] This sequence really had everything in it. The scenes were shot on several stages resembling different parts of the ships, which we were extending with CG. The helicopters we had designed are based on some classic cargo helicopters, but even beefier.”
—Sebastian von Overheidt, Visual Effects Supervisor
Between the two ships and helicopters, around 20 mercenaries, Braddock (Tati Gabrielle), Hugo (Pingi Moli) and the Scotsman (Steven Waddington) all become part of different fights which were augmented with head replacements or full digi-doubles. Von Overheidt explains, “The journey of the flight was across [some] 330 shots, so we built a massive environment that we used to block out the sequence. Ruben wanted an action-packed sequence. Especially, the shots where we see the boats and helicopters moving through the Karst landscape had to be dynamic and exciting, and we wanted to feel their weight and impact on the helicopter’s flight dynamics.”
Von Overheidt adds, “Now, real-world physics obviously weren’t a priority on this sequence to begin with, but we still aimed towards that feel for a plausible animation and also staging the camera in a way that it would guide the audience through the disorienting action and make the ships look massive at the same time. We basically had to stick to real-world physics while also constantly breaking it at the same time. The entire sequence was a close collaboration between our layout team and the animation team led by Animation Supervisor Jason Fittipaldi and Animation Lead Konstantin Hubmann, and [On-Set and Overall] VFX Supervisor Chas Jarrett, himself whose roots are in animation.
The CGI helicopters were based on classic cargo helicopters but made beefier. They had unusually heavy loads to carry – Magellan’s ships – across the South China Sea, with footage shot in Thailand serving as the South China Sea.
“Generally speaking, working with big practical sets is great for visual effects because you have real references to match to – the real material, the real lighting and how the camera captures it. Even if you end up replacing parts of it anyway, it’s a great start. Actors feel more comfortable interacting with a real environment as well. The trade-off is that matching into complex practical sets can be quite the puzzle for visual effects.”
—Sebastian von Overheidt, Visual Effects Supervisor, DNEG
Magellan’s ships, carried by helicopters, waged battle in the air.
“For the South China Sea environment, we had received extensive footage from a practical shoot in Thailand. Film Production mounted a multi-camera array under a helicopter and flew through the landscape also shooting at different lighting conditions during the day,” von Overheidt says. The original plan was to use this material as practical backgrounds and only extend plates or create specific shots full CG. “As we were creating a digital version of the environment, we soon realized that our team, led by Environment Supervisor Gianluca Pizzaia and Environment Lead Matt Ivanov, was able to create one big environment which would cover the entire flight path throughout the sequence. And straight out of rendering it looked pretty much photorealistic. We presented our results to Ruben, who got excited about it. Everyone was confident that this would be the way to do it. It gave us and Ruben so much more freedom to find great cameras and shot composition that we decided to go full CG on the environment all the way through.”
Von Overheidt continues, “It allowed us to move the camera anywhere we wanted and fully customize the environment to our needs. It made the whole process a lot more efficient as well. Throughout the third act, there is also a progression in lighting from afternoon to sunset. Compositing Supervisor Kunal Chindarkar and Compositing Lead Ben Outerbridge made sure we transitioned seamlessly into these different lighting conditions and moods as we reached the final shot of the Conception sinking and Nate and Sully flying into the sunset.”
Asked if the filmmakers let the look of the Uncharted video games influence the visuals of the movie, von Overheidt comments, “Not from a visual effects perspective, no. I can’t speak for the Production Art Department though. I used to game quite a bit but never played Uncharted before, so when I joined the show, it was actually the first time I checked it out, mainly to understand the characters and some of the main levels. My main influence for creating images comes from photography and graphic design. I get most of my inspiration from actually being outdoors. We had some great artwork from the production team and the Thailand footage to look at. We would also often look at references for all kinds of scenes, like crazy skydiving stunts or video footage of heavy-lifting helicopters.”
Looking at the melding of the big-scale practical and digital in Uncharted, von Overheidt concludes, “Generally speaking, working with big practical sets is great for visual effects because you have real references to match to – the real material, the real lighting and how the camera captures it. Even if you end up replacing parts of it anyway, it’s a great start. Actors feel more comfortable interacting with a real environment as well. The trade-off is that matching into complex practical sets can be quite the puzzle for visual effects.”
With the help of bluescreen, Pingi Moli (Hugo), Tati Gabrielle (Braddock) and Steve Waddington (The Scotsman) appear to walk down the ramp of the C-17’s cargo bay onto a busy operations base.
“Bad Travelling” is the animation directorial debut of David Fincher.
There are sinister underpinnings to human nature which are mined narratively to create stories filled with destructive conflict and satirical humor for the Emmy-winning Netflix animated anthology Love, Death + Robots, executive produced by filmmakers David Fincher (The Social Network) and Tim Miller (Terminator: Dark Fate). The nine shorts curated for Love, Death + Robots Vol. 3 are examples of drastically different visual styles from the likes of Patrick Osborne, David Fincher, Emily Dean, Robert Bisi and Andy Lyon, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Tim Miller, Carlos Stevens, Jerome Chen and Alberto Mielgo, with animation provided by Pinkman.tv, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Axis Studios, Blur Studio, Titmouse, BUCK, Polygon Pictures and Blow Studio.
“In Vaulted Halls Entombed” is a military adventure that descends into Lovecraftian horror.
“When 3D animation came out, it allowed us to do certain things that we couldn’t do in 2D animation. The same with a lot of the game engines. You are able to express an entire world, adjust things in real-time and change the light if you want. It’s not baked into things like it is usually.”
—Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Supervising Director
“Jibaro” is the only episode that is not based on pre-existing material.
Returning as the supervising director from her previous outing on Vol. 2 is Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2 & 3), who worked with a mixture of new and veteran collaborators as well as making her own contribution with the muscle-flexing action adventure “Kill Time Kill.” Notable first-time participants are David Fincher making his animation directorial debut with the monstrous seafaring tale “Bad Travelling” and Patrick Osborne helms the macabre-funny, post-apocalyptic sequel “Three Robots: Exit Strategies.” Returnees include visual effects veteran Jerome Chen helming “In Vaulted Halls Entombed,” where a special forces team encounters an ancient evil, and Oscar-winner Alberto Mielgo envisioning a fatal romance between a deaf Renaissance knight and a lethal siren in “Jibaro.” Inventive animation styles are found in “Night of the Mini Dead,” which uses tilt-shift photography to make everything look tiny, Mobius and psychedelic-flavored “The Very Pulse of the Machine,” and in the painterly impressionism of “Jibaro.”
As to whether real-time technology and game engines are impacting the type of stories being told, Nelson does not believe this to be the case. “I don’t know if it’s types of stories that it has affected,” she explains. “It’s the look and how much you can deal with certain levels of complexity. When 3D animation came out, it allowed us to do certain things that we couldn’t do in 2D animation. The same with a lot of the game engines. You are able to express an entire world, adjust things in real-time and change the light if you want. It’s not baked into things like it is usually.” The impact of game engines like Unreal and Unity cannot be ignored. “I’m so old that I was on the cusp of the desktop revolution, and it used to be when I started in the business you had to have a lot of money to be able to do 3D animation,” recalls Miller. “Then desktop technology and software came along and it democratized the process, which allowed us to start Blur borrowing $20,000. I thought that was amazing, but game engine technology is going to be a paradigm shift again. You don’t need heavy machines to render. Even lots of cheap PCs are still expensive and need some technical infrastructure. Now guys can do minutes-long shorts in their basements at home and you can see it on the web. You see a lot of interesting artists doing great things by themselves or with small teams. Game engine technology is super freaking exciting. I feel like that I’ve been waiting for it a while, but now it’s here.”
“Kill Team Kill” is a kindred spirit of Predator, Commando and Escape from New York.
“[G]ame engine technology is going to be a paradigm shift again. You don’t need heavy machines to render. Even lots of cheap PCs are still expensive and need some technical infrastructure. Now guys can do minutes-long shorts in their basements at home and you can see it on the web. You see a lot of interesting artists doing great things by themselves or with small teams. Game engine technology is super freaking exciting. I feel like that I’ve been waiting for it a while, but now it’s here.”
—Tim Miller, Director
“Mason’s Rats” revolves around a Scottish farmer battling with weapon-wielding rats determined to steal his crops.
“Night of the Mini Dead” was created by using tilt-shift photography which makes everything look tiny.
When it comes to her own short, where a squad of soldiers in Afghanistan encounter a CIA experiment gone horribly wrong, Nelson decided to channel a fondness for a particular cinematic era that made action icons out of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Jean-Claude Van Damme. “For ‘Kill Team Kill,’” she says, “my inspiration was cartoons from the 1990s and action movies from that time, like Predator, Commando, and G.I. Joe cartoons. They were good fun at the time, and the story by Justin Coates had that feel to it, so that’s where that came from.” Handling the animation was the studio responsible for The Boys Presents: Diabolical and The Legend of Vox Machina. “I got to work with Titmouse, and they’re an amazing studio with a wide variety of different styles. I got to work with Antonio Canobbio and Benjy Brooke who helped to find this look. It’s a 2D style, so it has to be animatable. The character designs themselves are covered with veins and packets of ammo which are hard to animate, but we got the benefits of amazing animators from all over the world, and you can see that level of expertise in it.”
“[For ‘Jibaro’] we used real scans of armor that you might see in museums. When you see the armor, it feels almost unbelievable that you can fit a person inside. The cool thing about this is we don’t actually need to fit a person inside because these aren’t real characters. You can just have their neck. We were using real Renaissance armor. We were redesigning it a little bit, but the cool thing is that we’re seeing something that is historically accurate. I feel that is extremely new and fresh.”
—Albert Mielgo, Director
“Swarm” was adapted by Miller from a short story by Bruce Sterling, and revolves around human factions with conflicting views as to whether advancement should be achieved through genetic manipulation or cybernetic enhancement and technology. Adding further complications is the discovery of an insectoid race that may be of a higher intelligence than humanity. “We have a set of eight-sided dice and roll them!” laughs Miller when describing how he decides upon the animation style, character design and world-building. “It was interesting that we had this short which is almost entirely in zero-G, but we were still going to do some motion capture for that,” notes Miller. “Then the pandemic hit and motion capture was not an option anymore. I didn’t want to get caught in the uncanny valley either, so I decided to stylize the characters to a certain degree, which helps the story not be quite as horrible as it would be otherwise. I loved making the show. It was a challenge to think about the physics of how people move through zero-G, and anything with lots of creatures is a good time. I get a lot of vicarious enjoyment from knowing the animators and creature designers are going to enjoy the process of making this.”
Mocap was combined with CG keyframe animation to produce “Swarm.”
“[For ‘Kill Team Kill’] it’s a 2D style, so it has to be animatable. The character designs themselves are covered with veins and packets of ammo which are hard to animate, but we got the benefits of amazing animators from all over the world, and you can see that level of expertise in it.”
—Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Supervising Director
“The Very Pulse of the Machine” is a love letter to French comics great Jean “Moebius” Giraud.
“Three Robots: Exit Strategies” features the neurotic XBOT 4000, dimwitted and enthusiastic K-RVC, and the brilliant and deadpan 11-45-G examining the demise of humanity.
Self-taught as an artist, Mielgo (The Windshield Wiper) utilizes the principles of painting, in particular lighting, when producing animated shorts such as “Jibaro.” “I create a simple image by removing what is not necessary for the eye to understand,” he says. Themes rather than the premise influence the animation style. “In terms of the girl, I wanted her to be a walking treasure, and in order to do that I was doing research on folklore jewelry from Northern Africa, China, India and Pakistan. In the case of the guys, I prefer the Renaissance rather than the Medieval in terms of design. We did something interesting, which is we used real scans of armor that you might see in museums. When you see the armor, it feels almost unbelievable that you can fit a person inside. The cool thing about this is we don’t actually need to fit a person inside because these aren’t real characters. You can just have their neck. We were using real Renaissance armor. We were redesigning it a little bit, but the cool thing is that we’re seeing something that is historically accurate. I feel that is extremely new and fresh.”
Sheena Duggal is an acclaimed visual effects supervisor and artist whose work has shaped numerous studio tent-pole and Academy Award nominated productions. Most recently, Duggal was Visual Effects Supervisor on the box office blockbuster Venom: Let There Be Carnage and was a BAFTA nominee this year for Best Special Effects for her work on the Oscars VFX-shortlisted Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Sheena is the only woman VFX Supervisor to earn that level of recognition from the Academy this awards season. She was the first woman to be honored with the VES Award for Creative Excellence, bestowed in 2020.
The lack of female visual effects supervisors is definitely the result of a lack of opportunity and unconscious bias – and that is fixable. Earlier in my career, I was told that the goal was to promote the male supervisors, and watched as guys who had worked under my VFX supervision were promoted up the ranks and given opportunities on large VFX shows. It never occurred to me that my gender would hold me back, and I was always surprised when it did. I am a strong believer in diversity and inclusion, not just because I am a bi-racial woman, but because I believe that greater diversity leads to freer thinking and greater creativity.
Good girls get nowhere. Be disobedient, be persistent, never take disrespect thrown your way… be smart and graceful and remember you are equal.
Never stop fighting for the right to be the best you can be. Women spend too much time being congenial, and it’s time for us to speak up about our achievements and the opportunities we’ve created for ourselves. We’re talented, we’re here, and we’re ready.
Even if women break though the glass ceiling, they end up on a glass cliff where they can be pushed off, because there, is no cadre of women to cheerlead in support that is equivalent to a “boy’s club.” We need to be building an industry culture and a structure that supports women in the field and sets them up for success. I take my opportunity to be a role model and a voice for other women seriously; I want to not just open doors, but bust through them.
Change can happen fast if everyone is motivated. We need to do it now.
In having this inevitable conversation, we can’t exclude men or accuse them if we want to create the change we want to see. We must do it together. Women are almost always expected to solve the systemic problems we did not create or perpetuate in a patriarchal culture. A lot of well-meaning people lack self-awareness or fail to understand their role in enabling sexism or great inequities. If meritocracy fails to work, then uplifting women needs to be a conscious choice. I would ask all men in VFX to go through implicit bias training and be active problem-solvers and advocates for women, because people still give men’s voices more credibility. It takes a lot of people to create success for an outlier.
Ask Me Anything – VFX Pros Tell All
Join us for our series of interactive webinars with visual effects professionals. Ask your questions, learn about the industry and glean inspiration for your career path.
Michelle de Swarte portrays Natasha who has a fateful encounter with a mysterious baby seeking to control her life.
Upon reading the synopsis for the HBO and Sky horror comedy The Baby, one gets a distinct impression that anxiety about motherhood drives the narrative created by Lucy Gayme and Siân Robins-Grace. The summary states, “Controlling, manipulative and with violent powers, the baby twists Natasha’s life into a horror show. Where does it come from? What does it want? And what lengths will Natasha have to go to in order to get her life back? She doesn’t want a baby. The baby wants her.” When this observation gets mentioned to VFX Producer Anne Akande and Visual Effects Supervisor Owen Braekke-Carroll both of them laugh in agreement. “It’s certainly a dissection of many angles of motherhood!” states Braekke-Carroll. “There is symbolism and scenes that absolutely tap into practical and real fears of breast feeding and abandonment. We were tasked with bringing some of the juicer parts of the script into the visual medium. It’s quite literal in many ways.”
Bobbi (Amber Grappy), Natasha (Michelle de Swarte) and Mrs. Eaves (Amira Ghazalla) stand in horror at the violent chaos that ensues in The Baby.
“We weren’t pushing [visual effects] beyond anything because the show was one that we knew early on was grounded in reality. The baby is a baby. There are a lot of misconceptions about what this baby is and what his agenda is. There are a few moments where we have some heightened reality and he is still a baby, but a bit different.”
—Anne Akande, VFX Producer
Gayme and Robins-Grace had a clear and descriptive vision of the reality and tone of the series. “Siân and Lucy were keen from the outset on getting a realistic and grounded tone throughout the series, and this influenced how we then approached the body of work,” remarks Akande. “We were involved early in the process to ensure that the shoot methodology would be effective and give visual effects enough material to pull off some of the more dramatic scenes. Beyond that giving the guidance, they were also collaborative, open and willing to take feedback on the best way forward via visual effects to hit each story point.” The visual effects work for the eight episodes consisted of just under 650 shots by Framestore, Jellyfish Pictures, Freefolk and Goldcrest. “We weren’t pushing it beyond anything because the show was one that we knew early on was grounded in reality,” notes Akande. “The baby is a baby. There are a lot of misconceptions about what this baby is and what his agenda is. There are a few moments where we have some heightened reality and he is still a baby, but a bit different.”
A key location is a seaside cottage at the base of a cliff, directly fronting the shoreline.
This beachside cliff was LiDAR scanned, recreated through DMP/CG, then combined with plate photography.
Nicole Kassell helmed the pilot, Faraz was responsible for three episodes, and Stacey Gregg and Ella Jones each directed two episodes. “It’s always interesting working with different directors across a series, and in this case they did all have different approaches to handling the visual effects,” states Akande. “Nicole Kassell had a lot of experience in visual effects and had a hands-on approach from storyboards, concept, previs through to execution. Others brought their comedy experience to help drive the storytelling beats, and there was also some experimentation using different shooting techniques and machinery on set. All of this brought an interesting mix that fused with the tone of the show, creating a unique place for The Baby in the comedy/horror genre.” Storyboarding and concept art were produced for all of the key creative beats.
“We definitely knew that we needed a digital asset. By casting twins, we were able to double our shooting hours. The babies absorbed the nature of the set quickly, and we saw them grow up over the course of six months of shooting with them. That left us with a strange, hybridized methodology over time, whether it be face replacements from plates with a CG body, a stand-in prosthetic baby with a head replacement being pushed around in a pram, or one digital arm, plate head and a prosthetic body. There was also an army of stand-in babies.”
—Owen Braekke-Carroll, Visual Effects Supervisor
The cottage and immediate gardens were built on the site of a small quarry which provided the immediate base of the cliff and surroundings.
“To compensate for [the unpredictability of the babies] on set, we ended up treating almost every frame with the baby cast in it as a potential visual effects shot. This included taking large volumes of data and notation for most scenes and essentially treating them as a CG creature in the scene.”
—Anne Akande, VFX Producer
“Concept art for key moments, such as our Demon Baby nightmare scene, was developed by the Framestore art department and was crucial in helping settle the creative vision as much as possible before shot execution,” remarks Braekke-Carroll. “From the storyboards, some key shots were turned into previs.” Scripts for the eight episodes were broken down to determine what shots required visual effects. “We worked closely with the art department throughout the shoot to help find the right combination of set, location and bluescreen,” explains Akande. “A key location in the script that we return to many times is a seaside cottage at the base of a cliff, directly fronting the shore line. Locations were unable to find a site that hit all the required points, so visual effects were tapped to make this work. The cottage and immediate gardens were built on the site of a small quarry, which gave us the immediate base of the cliff and surrounds. A secondary location along the site of a dramatic coastline in Newhaven [England] was the basis for the extension. This beachside cliff was LiDAR scanned, recreated through DMP/CG, then combined with plate photography to combine the two locations together.” Deaths are plentiful throughout the story, but the focus is on the aftermath rather than the actual act of violence. “There is an implied causal link between the baby and a death,” states Braekke-Carroll. “But he’s not necessary physically holding the knife.”
Due to the unpredictable nature of the babies on set, every shoot day could wildly deviate from the plan and the visual effects team would be required to help.
“The sheer nature of the amount of time that we were going to have a baby onscreen and on set meant that a lot of things we had planned for would sometimes go flawlessly without any help from us,” notes Braekke-Carroll. “On another occasion, the entire day might need to be completely changed and require our input for all sorts of reasons.” Identical twins were cast in the title role. “We definitely knew that we needed a digital asset,” remarks Akande. “By casting twins, we were able to double our shooting hours. The babies absorbed the nature of the set quickly, and we saw them grow up over the course of six months of shooting with them.” Digital doubles were avoided as much as possible. “That left us with a strange, hybridized methodology over time, whether it be face replacements from plates with a CG body, a stand-in prosthetic baby with a head replacement being pushed around in a pram, or one digital arm, plate head and a prosthetic body,” states Braekke-Carroll. “There was also an army of stand-in babies. When it comes to performance with our hero twins, that became a hybridized process where we used a combination of digital passes, keying tools, reprojections and face tracking from source plates. Then also leaning on machine learning additional 2D layering to change the performance.”
“It’s always interesting working with different directors across a series, and in this case they did all have different approaches to handling the visual effects. Nicole Kassell had a lot of experience in visual effects and had a hands-on approach from storyboards, concept, previs through to execution. Others brought their comedy experience to help drive the storytelling beats, and there was also some experimentation using different shooting techniques and machinery on set. All of this brought an interesting mix that fused with the tone of the show, creating a unique place for The Baby in the comedy/horror genre.”
—Anne Akande, VFX Producer
The eyes were difficult to get right. “The animation of the performance of the baby isn’t quite straightforward,” remarks Braekke-Carroll. “The eyes are quite loose and gaze differently. We took parts of plates for the area around the eyes for the micro-performance and combined that with CG or machine learning layers.” A wealth of material was gathered from reference photography. “We could be working on something in Episode 104 and there’s a performance that nails it in Episode 102,” states Akande. “Everybody on set was invested in getting us the material. It could be the first two seconds before the take, and that was needed for the face replacements. We also learned about which baby is good at being still or restless. The one thing that we tried to educate people on is that the babies are a member of the cast. If you replace a cast member with a stand-in for 30 shots, that becomes visual effects. Every time a baby was in a shot, the first port of call was our hero baby. The real performance will always be better than the alternative. CG was the last resort, and that was what we let the showrunners and executive producers know from the beginning.”
Face-generation camera setups were orchestrated that proved to be useful as animation reference and being utilized for machine learning. “Anytime we were using a digital baby performance and we would also be running a machine learning output as well,” explains Braekke-Carroll, “rather than treating that as a facial replacement solution we had it as an additional layer setup that could be incorporated partially or fully in with the other renders for the other parts. A lot of the shots that you will see won’t necessarily be a machine learning output, but there will be parts of the lips, eyes or cheek that will give it an extra degree of photographic verisimilitude that you get from that output.” One of the most difficult visual effects tasks was to have a baby falling asleep or sleeping. “We had to find a bunch of solutions and ended up shooting a lot of high-frame-rate plates of the baby and played them back at normal speed,” adds Braekke-Carroll. “We looked for a nice section where it felt like they were sleeping. A machine learning dataset was built just of the baby’s eyes. The high-frame-rate photography gave it a gentle effect, rather than trying to animate too much micro eye movement.”
The show had one primary asset, which was the baby digital double. The bulk of the baby work was handled by Framestore.
In some cases, shots were a combination of high-frame-rate plate photography, digital-double parts and a machine learning layer on top.
Point-of-view shots take place within the birth canal and womb. “We had a free remit to take B camera, get all of the jars of Vaseline, PCB tubing, probe lens, lights, blood, sputum and pus,” reveals Braekke-Carroll. “We took all of the bits and pieces and gelled them up. We got some nice closeup photography inspired by the scenes in The Tree of Life. I was pushing against building a CG interior because, tonally, I didn’t think that it fit the episode. From that photography, visual effects added a layer of fine particulate and endoscopic lensing. There is also the diffusion of the water and cloudiness. But the actual content of the walls was practical photography.”
“The one thing that we tried to educate people on is that the babies are a member of the cast. If you replace a cast member with a stand-in for 30 shots, that becomes visual effects. Every time a baby was in a shot, the first port of call was our hero baby. The real performance will always be better than the alternative. CG was the last resort, and that was what we let the showrunners and executive producers know from the beginning.”
—Owen Braekke-Carroll, Visual Effects Supervisor
The unpredictability of the on-set babies posed the biggest challenge across the series. “To compensate for this on set, we ended up treating almost every frame with the baby cast in it as a potential visual effects shot,” explains Akande. “This included taking large volumes of data and notation for most scenes and essentially treating them as a CG creature in the scene.” The best moment was literally saved for last. “We’re looking forward to the final sequence underwater,” states Braekke-Carroll. “It’s a beautiful and unexpected scene that wraps up the story and bookends the series nicely.”
South Korea-based Gulliver Studios created the dramatic effects for the surprise Netflix hit series Squid Game, which returns for a second season in 2024. (Image courtesy of Netflix)
Aninterestingbellwetheristhe2022VisualEffectsSociety AwardnominationsthatplaceLokiandFoundationattheforefrontwithbothbeingsingledoutfortheirstunningenvironmental workforLamentisandTrantor.“Wewereaskedtocreatemeteoreffectsfromscratch,”statesDigitalDomainVisual EffectsSupervisorJeanLuc-DinsdalewhendiscussingLamentis anditsmoonLamentis-1.“Wewentthroughmultipleversions ofprovidingthemeteors,theimpacts,andthedustanddebristhatfliesaroundthem.Thatwasthentweakedandpopulated throughout the episode because the meteors are a constant threat, but not always the focus of the sequence.”
Trantorisliterally50differentcitiesstackedontopofeach other.“Everylevelwasbuilthundredsofyearsbeforethenext one,sotherewasalotofconceptingandarchitecturalresearch that went into how Trantor and its multilevel structure was designed,”explainsDNEGVisualEffectsSupervisorChrisKeller. “Wecreatedalloftheseinterstitialelementsbetweenbuildings, likebridges,platforms,megastructuresspanning1,000meters, throughtheskyceilingofacertainlevelintothenextlevel.Then you’llseehyperlooptrainsand,ifyoulookcarefully,flyingvehicles. All of that had a certain logic.”
Part of the futuristic appeal of Star Trek:Discovery is the amount of attention and detail put into creating believable UI. (Image courtesy of Paramount+)
Originally,Ampersandwasgoingtoberealbutwaschangedto CGbecauseDisneyhasa‘noprimate’rule.“StephenPughand JesseKawzenuk,ouramazingvisualeffectssupervisors,madeitsoeasyforme,”recallscinematographerCatherineLutes.“Iwas constantlylaughingatthepuppetAmpthatwehad.Ithelpedwith thewaythatthelightwasfalling,andthat’sagoodreferenceaswell forvisualeffects.Stephensaidthatcamerashouldn’tdothingsthat a monkey wouldn’t do. If the camera is a little bit stilted or doesn’t move smoothly, that’s great because that’s what would happen if youweretryingtofollowanactualmonkeyrunningormoving.”
One question is whether The Book of Boba Fett can carry on the Emmy-winning ways of The Mandalorian. (Image courtesy of Lucasfilm)
Nostalgia reigns supreme as Ewan McGregor and Haden Christensen reprise their roles from the StarWars prequels for Obi-WanKenobi. (Image courtesy of Lucasfilm)
Oscar Isaac becomes a part of the MCU for the first time, along with Ethan Hawke, in the Disney+ series Moon Knight. (Image courtesy of Disney)
Raised by Wolves is seen as a better exploration of an Alien-inspired universe than the prequels directed by Ridley Scott. (Image courtesy of HBO)
There is no shortage of monsters to be found in The Witcher, such as a powerful vampire known as a Bruxa. (Image courtesy of Netflix)
The Wheel of Time features a wide gamut of visual effects from creatures, magic and world-building done in a grounded fashion. “One thing that was important for me from the beginning was that this world feel authentic and real,” explains The Wheel of Time creator, executive producer and showrunner Rafe Judkins, “even for the actors and crew, trying to go to places, as much as we can put stuff in-camera, even if we end up augmenting or enhancing it later with visual effects.”
The fact that the sixth season is the grand finale for The Expanse may see Emmy voters finally honor the body of work with a nomination. “The most challenging thing is wrapping your head around things that may not sound that difficult initially, like deorbiting maneuvers where you slow going forward to be able to drop,” notes Bret Culp, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor of The Expanse. “We’ve done a good job and, as a result, it has been made clear to us that we are favorites with a lot of people at NASA and have an open invitation to visit the JPL [Jet Propulsion Laboratory].”
The usual suspects include Lost in Space, which has been rightly lauded for being able to turn practical locations into alien worlds and making biomechanical robotic beings that are empathetic and menacing. “The most challenging visual effects sequence in the finale of Lost in Space was creating the horde of killer alien robots and sprawling wreckage of their crashed ship,” remarks Lost in Space Visual Effects Supervisor Jabbar Raisani. “The entire episode had to be filmed on stage, and we decided to shoot against black. As both the director of the episode and the VFX Supervisor, I relied heavily on shot planning with our in-house previs team which maintained close collaboration with the production designer to maximize our efforts and bring the series to its epic conclusion.”
“The most challenging visual effects sequence in the finale of Lost in Space was creating the horde of killer alien robots and sprawling wreckage of their crashed ship. The entire episode had to be filmed on stage, and we decided to shoot against black. As both the director of the episode and the VFX Supervisor, I relied heavily on shot planning with our in-house previs team which maintained close collaboration with the production designer to maximize our efforts and bring the series to its epic conclusion.”
—Jabbar Raisani, Visual Effects Supervisor, Lost in Space
For those looking for major robot battles, Season 3 of Lost in Space will not disappoint. (Image courtesy of Netflix)
The Battle of New York scene from 2012’s The Avengers was used as a flashback in Hawkeye, which was released as a limited series in 2021. (Image courtesy of Disney)
A welcome return to the world created by Gene Roddenberry is Patrick Stewart reprising his signature role of Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard. (Image courtesy of Paramount+)
Returning for sophomore seasons are Star Trek: Picard and Raised by Wolves, with the former mining the fan adoration for the Starfleet officer portrayed by Patrick Stewart and the latter infusing Alien mythology into the android survival tale produced by legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott. The hardest sequence to design, create and execute for Raised by Wolves was the outerspace sequence between Mother and the Necro serpent in Episode 208,” reveals Raised by Wolves Visual Effects Supervisor Raymond McIntyre Jr. “The flying Necro serpent is lured away from killing Campion by Mother, who leads the serpent into outer space in order to attempt to kill it. This scene was added deep into postproduction, and visual effects was tasked with designing an entire sequence from scratch as no live-action footage existed. Visual effects designs included the flying serpent, lighting design in outer space, nebulas, the planet Kepler 22B seen from this viewpoint, Mother’s new kill scream and a visualization of the failure of the EMF dome protecting this area of the planet. Execution involved creating realistic camera motion for each shot, and beauty lighting with sun flares, allowing for dirt on the lens to show up during flares, all while rendering fully CG shots.”
Making their debuts are Obi-Wan Kenobi, which has Ewan McGregor reprising his role as the legendary Jedi Master from the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, an exploration of life on the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike; both of them serve as prologues to the original movie and television series and have the best chances to get nominations for their respective franchises, especially if a proper balance is struck between nostalgia and canon expansion.
Then there is a matter of art imitating life that will resonate with some while being too close to the bone for others, where the viral mayhem portrayed is even more devastating and required extensive invisible effects to paint out modern-day life. In Sweet Tooth, a pandemic causes hybrid babies that are part human and animal, with the adolescent protagonist being half deer, while Station Eleven focuses on humanity trying to rebuild society after a virus has decimated the population, and See envisions a future where blindness has reached epidemic proportions.
A favorite to win at the Emmys is Foundation, which features stellar environments throughout the AppleTV+ series. (Image courtesy of Apple TV+)
A planet gets destroyed amongst the purple haze in the Disney+ series Loki.(Image courtesy of Marvel Studios)
A surreal situation for the cast and crew of Station Eleven was shooting a story about a pandemic during one. (Image courtesy of HBO)
Animal/human hybrids populate the world of Sweet Tooth because of a deadly virus. (Image courtesy of Netflix)
Serving as dark social commentary on the growing financial divide is Squid Game, which combines elements of The Most Dangerous Game, childhood games and Dickensian debt into a rating sensation for Netflix, and is a strong contender to upset the voting establishment. “The game spaces in Squid Game were unique and something we had never experienced before,” states Cheong Jai-hoon, Visual Effects Supervisor of Squid Game. “What we wanted to achieve from the settings of Squid Game was a fabricated yet realistic look, and it was quite challenging to balance the two conflicting characteristics. Especially in Episode 107, characters play the game of Glass Stepping Stones from high above the ground, and we had to create an environment that would make the viewers immerse in the fear and tension. We put the most effort into deciding the depth from the stepping stones to the ground and the overall scale of the whole setting. We could have easily exaggerated, but we strived to find the right balance between what seemed fake and realistic, as it was more difficult than we thought.”
Also, present is the author only outdone by the Bard himself when it comes to number of film and television adaptations of his works. Lisey’s Story was conceived by prolific horror maestro Stephen King, who has supernatural unrest intersecting with personal trauma. Comic book adaptations are not in short supply. A superhero who has a sharp wit and archery skills is paired with a like-minded protégé in Hawkeye, which channels Shane Black’s penchant for Christmas, action sequences and odd-ball comedic pairings. For those wanting an irreverent take on the genre, James Gunn helms the small screen adaptation of Peacemaker, where an extremist murderer embarks on a quest for peace. Moon Knight introduces the Marvel Studios equivalent of Batman, but with an Egyptian god reincarnation twist that raises questions about the mental sanity of the main character.
Superman & Lois reimagines The Daily Planet colleagues as a married couple trying to balance domestic life and a rogues’ gallery of high-flying adversaries. “If Superman is fighting someone in the air where they would both be horizontal, it was much more time efficient and easier on the actors if they can be vertical,” states cinematographer Stephen Maier, who added a physical camera shake for the sake of realism. “The stunt team will often go away to design or rehearse something, do their previs that they film on their iPhones, cut it together and show it to us. We have a close collaboration with special effects in regards to atmospheric smoke and haze. The gags that they come up help to exemplify the strength of Superman, such as him lifting a car.”
Considering the growing demand for content and the acceptance of visual effects as the primary work tool of potential nominees reflect how far the production quality of television and streaming shows have come in being able to expand the scope of creatives with a theatrical sensibility. It is because of this that the Primetime Emmy Awards has become as fascinating to watch as the Academy Awards as both showcase the very best of what can be achieved when talented digital artists get to contribute to the storytelling. Undoubtedly, the eventual winner will encapsulate the highest of level of creative and technical ingenuity achievable under current circumstances and will serve as a building block for what is to follow.
London
VES London is the UK branch of the global Visual Effects Society, a non-profit, professional, honourary society dedicated to the promotion and education of the art. We achieve these goals through events that showcase local talent and unite industry professionals, as well as foster communication with the wider community.
For our members, we show loads of free movies in private cinemas throughout the year, many with free drinks both before and after the screenings. We also put on other events, from excellent parties to educational opportunities. All this is to encourage more socialising and exchange of information & ideas, which is what a society is all about!
For non-members and prospective members we have a few open events, including our regular monthly pub night and our bi-annual sponsored membership drive party. If you are not yet a VES member, please join the 'friends of the VES' Pub Night mailing list to get notifications of any upcoming open events by contacting us at hello@ves.london!
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Sony Pictures’ BULLET TRAIN
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, August 9, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Advance Screening of Universal Pictures’ NOPE
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, July 26, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Sony Pictures’ WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, July 12, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Universal Pictures’ and Illumination Entertainment’s MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, July 5, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ ELVIS
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ LIGHTYEAR
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Advance Screening of Netflix’s THE SEA BEAST followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Panelists will include Writer / Producer / Director Chris Williams and Voice Actor Zaris-Angel Hator
Please RSVP to the following e-mail: filmawardsuk@netflixevents.com (be sure to give your full name and those of your guests) Sunday, June 19, 2022 at 11:00AM Soho Hotel
4 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3DH
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Wednesday, June 15, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures’ MORBIUS.
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE.
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ AMBULANCE.
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at 7:00PM The Basement Screening Room at MPC
127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Their Families are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of Universal Pictures’ and DreamWorks Animation’s THE BAD GUYS.
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 2:00PM
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ field***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL (Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
VES Members and Guests are Invited to a Screening of Sony Pictures’ SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 7:00PM
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ field***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Guests are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS.
MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks whilst indoors and they highly recommend that all VES members and guests test negative with a lateral flow COVID-19 test before attending.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 7:00PM
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ field***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
We are back are more excited than ever to be hosting our first live event in a very long time and it’s at none other than the glorious Canal Museum in central London. Make sure to RSVP to this event as it’s going to be the Christmas party to end all Christmas parties. There will be DJs, dancing, drink, canapés and most importantly… canal boats, there might even be a special Whiskey bar that pop-ups near the end of the evening.
This is a ticketed event and you must RSVP to attend!
Last entry is at 11pm
(Members must be logged in to RSVP)
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of United Artists’ and Universal Pictures’ NO TIME TO DIE. MPC safety guidelines require all attendees must wear masks while moving around the building and they recommend that masks be worn whilst seated in the theater.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information)
Tuesday, October 19, 2021 at 7:00PM
***VES members please register your name in the “Attendee 1″ field***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
CAVE Academy and VES London are very excited to have Şefki Ibrahim join us for this session, where he’ll run us through his process and workflow for creating amazing digital portraiture. From sculpting, to look development and lighting, find out how Şefki takes CG to another level.
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
To sign up to the session, click on the link below:
CAVE Academy and VES London are very excited to have Şefki Ibrahim join us for this session, where he’ll run us through his process and workflow for creating amazing digital portraiture. From sculpting, to look development and lighting, find out how Şefki takes CG to another level.
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
To sign up to the session, click on the link below:
This week, CAVE Academy will be holding a panel discussion on the topic of Diversity in VFX.
Our panel will first consider how diverse the VFX industry currently is. Secondly, they’ll analyse the barriers to diversity which exist, and how they can best be overcome to create a culture of acceptance and inclusion.
If you have any questions you’d like put forward to the panel, please send them to: ja@caveacademy.com
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
To sign up to the session, click on the link below:
An FX artist designs and produces animated effects that recreate the real-world behaviour of elements such as fire, water and explosions, as well as magical or otherworldly flourishes. These effects add a sense of energy that helps bring the storyteller’s world to life. This session covers Unity’s VFX Graph, which handles millions of particles on the GPU. You will learn how to author configurable, reusable next-generation effects, simple or complex, without writing any code.
The webinar will be held online in the UK but all are welcome.
This trans-Atlantic ‘Speed Networking’ event is hosted by the VES LA section for an opportunity to meet people in LA, UK, France and Germany. You could make 5+ new global connections in the VES in just one hour!
Saturday 24th July 2021 10am PST / 6pm GMT / 7pm CET
Working from actor scan data is now a common task in the VFX and gaming industry. In this masterclass, Christopher Antoniou will give you a quick but complete tour on how to go from a production-quality scan that has been kindly provided by Clear Angle Studios to a clean production-ready model.
Chris will first cover prepping the model and scan alignment by wrapping a base mesh to the scan data. He’ll then continue to make model tweaks to bring the geometry to a ready state for texturing and rigging.
Creating a production-ready model from a scan may seem easy, but without a solid workflow in place, it can be tricky to get right. Join us for this ‘digi-double’ workflow fly-through where you’ll be able to see industry techniques at play, and worthy tips and tricks to help push your assets to the next level.
The webinar will be held online in the UK but all are welcome.
During this webinar, Paul will introduce you to real-time workflows using Epic GamesUnreal Engine, an overview of the UI, how to navigate, importing data, materials, lights, post-processing, and how to render content out using the Sequencer. Following on from this, we’ll have a bit of an exploration into the new features in UE5.
The webinar will be held online in the UK but all are welcome.
This Friday (21st May 2021), we have Ben Radcliffe of Unity Technologies joining us for the 5th session of our series focussing on real-time workflows for animated storytelling, where we’ll be turning out attention to Layout.
Layout artists are the cinematographers of virtual cinema, where they help tell stories through lens selection, angles, and camera movements. This session demonstrates how to animate physical cameras using the Timeline, then how to sequence, edit, and blend shots together to define the cut. You will learn about Unity’s procedural camera system, Cinemachine, and how to compose shots and move cameras using dolly tracks. Finally, you will see how you can use polybrush to perform last-minute set dressing to fill out the environment through the camera lens.
To join the session, you can follow the link below, and if you have any questions, please send them to: ja@caveacademy.com.
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
Women in VFX When: Fri May 14, 2021 06:00pm to 08:00pm PDT
Guest Speakers: Debra Coleman, Harriet Edge-Partington, Marieke Franzen, May Leung, Lauren McCallum, Brenda Ximena Roldan Romero
This week, we’ll be hosting a fantastic group of women from the VFX industry to discuss their career pathways, fulfilling ambitions, company culture and how to go about changing things for the better. The session will be followed by a Q&A with questions from the audience.
To join the session, you can follow the link below, and if you have any questions you’d like put forward to the panel, please send them to: ja@caveacademy.com
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
Animators use timing and movement to create the illusion of life in characters and environments. This session explores how to bring our characters and world to life by creating keyframe basic animation in the Animation window using the Dopesheet and Curve Editor. From there, you’ll learn how to use the Timeline to record and retarget animation, then blend animated clips together, as well as how to blend shapes in facial animation to transition between characters’ facial expressions. This segment finishes by taking a look at Unity’s new Animation Rigging toolset.
The session is being hosted by VES London but all are welcome 😉
Guest Speakers: Lauren McCallum, Hugo Guerra, Pat Imrie, Robert Andrews, Paul Mellender, Melinda Ozel
This week we’ll be hosting a panel talk on the important topic of Mental Health and Wellbeing. During the session, we’ll discuss issues such as working conditions, culture, and support for artists.
To join the session, you can follow the link below, and if you have any questions you’d like put forward to the panel, please send them to: ja@caveacademy.com
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
This is the third of our series focussing on real-time workflows for animated storytelling in collaboration with Unity.
Look development defines the aesthetic style and feel of your world through the use of color, texture and light. This look could be photorealistic or have a stylized, cartoonish aesthetic, or anywhere in between. This session looks at how materials use texture maps to define the overall appearance of assets, then demonstrates how materials, textures, shaders and lighting all work together to create the final look
Topics covered will include: Materials, Shader Graph, Creating a Stylized Look, AOV Recorder, Furioos, AR Foundation and XR Asset Review.
To join the session, you can follow the link below:
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
Guest Speaker: Debra Coleman, Hugo Guerra, Micheal Morgan, Melinda Ozel
This week, we step away from the mouse and the keyboard to discuss the important topic of ‘Finding your Voice’.
Within every industry, it is essential to be able to speak up for what you believe is right and to feel your voice is being heard. But speaking out is not always easy. The fear of making mistakes, of being rejected, of being laughed at is very real and considerably impacts creativity and personal development.
During this session, we’ll be speaking with artists from a range of different backgrounds to listen to their experiences and discover how to overcome the fear of speaking out and how to find your voice.
To join the session, you can follow the link below, and if you have any questions you’d like put forward to the panel, please send them to: ja@caveacademy.com
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
The first task of any VFX production is to take the script and break it down to figure out what the requirements are for the project. Can elements be shot in-camera? Would a virtual production stage be required? Green screen? Digi-doubles? Creatures? What is the budget for the project? and so on.
This session will explore how to break down a script and discuss some of the considerations you should bear in mind when VFX is required.
To join the session, you can follow the link below, and if you have any questions, please send them to: ja@caveacademy.com
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
This is the second of our series focussing on real-time workflows for animated storytelling in collaboration with Unity.
An environment is the world in which characters live and their stories unfold. The environment artist builds these worlds to create spaces that will immerse audiences in the story. This session covers blocking out environments’ geometry, importing props, set dressing, and how to create a sense of atmosphere through lighting.
Topics covered will include: Probuilder, FBX Round Tripping, Prefabs, Polybrush, Realtime Directional Sun Light, Volumetric Lighting and Fog.
To join the session, you can follow the link below, and if you have any questions, please send them to: ja@caveacademy.com
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
To join the session, you can follow the link below, and if you have any questions you’d like put forward to the panel, please send them to: ja@caveacademy.com
The session will be hosted in the UK but all are welcome 😉
Guest Speaker: Andrew Schlussel from Framestore, Amy Backwell from Industrial Light & Magic, Mark Flanagan from Epic Games, and Ben Radcliffe of Unity Technologies
Masterclass starts on 15.01.2021, AT 17:30 GMT
CAVE Academy Masterclasses in collaboration with VES London are back on this week, where we’ll be kicking things off with a panel discussion on the State of the Industry and Future Skills for 2021.
2020 was a year like no other: WFH, the rise of virtual production, real-time workflows, the list goes on and on. How we approach and tackle VFX and animation is changing, and at a pace like we’ve never experienced before. With 2021, what can we expect from the industry and what skills would be most beneficial for artists to hone?
For this discussion, we have Andrew Schlussel from Framestore, Amy Backwell from Industrial Light & Magic, Mark Flanagan from Epic Games, and Ben Radcliffe of Unity Technologies joining me to discuss how we can best prepare for the needs of the VFX and animation industry in this changing and challenging landscape.
To join the session, you can follow the link below, and if you have any questions you’d like put forward to the panel, please do send them in this direction: info@caveacademy.com
What is XR? It’s shorthand for a related set of new technologies that are changing the way we interact with the world and with each other: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality. To understand XR, you need to understand the technologies that enable it. If you understand the available technologies, how they are used, and what their future holds, you’ll be well equipped to deal with XR as it rapidly evolves and converges. This Thursday in partnership with VES & CAVE Academy I will be giving an overview XR in unity and showing you how easy it is to get started.
Guest Speaker: Ben Radcliffe Masterclass December 10, 2020, AT 20:00
Guest Speaker: Ben Radcliffe
Masterclass starts on 12.11.2020, AT 20:00 GMT
Create real-time projects without writing a single line of code! This session covers the fundamentals of Bolt, a visual scripting solution now available in all Unity plans. Learn how to configure and leverage Bolt for your Film, Animation, and XR projects, create basic interactions, use quick-start templates, and more.
Guest Speaker: Ben Radcliffe
Masterclass starts on
14.10.2020, AT 20:00 BST
Abstract
Interested in creating realtime effects in Unity such as fire, smoke, or sci-fi holograms? You can author configurable, reusable next-generation effects, ranging from simple to complex without writing any code. VFX Graph handles millions of particles on the GPU. Here’s your chance to get hands-on with the real-time VFX topics covered in this masterclass.
Guest Speaker: Chris Musselwhite
Masterclass starts on
01.10.2020, AT 20:00 BST
Treehouse digital has created their own in-house solution to virtual production using the Unreal game engine. During this master class we are going to discuss why they went the route of virtual production, how they were able to achieve this with a minimal budget and how this changed their typical production constraints.
Chris is an award-winning, BAFTA and AMPAS qualifying Producer who secured distribution in over thirty territories for his first feature film, after it was screened at Cannes Film Festival (2007). Chris is responsible for coordinating every production, managing budgets and maintaining international relationships.
Guest Speakers: Daniel Gilligan, Jahirul Amin
Masterclass starts on
08.10.2020, AT 20:00 BST
Abstract
During this masterclass, we’ll explore what type of data is captured onset for the purposes of VFX, and how the data is then used in post-production. This will include looking at texture, look dev reference, and data wrangling tasks.
Guest Speaker: Ben Radcliffe
Masterclass starts on 17.09.2020, AT 20:00 BST
As a storyteller, you want to immerse people in a world of your own making. As an artist, you want to experiment and play, and you need the tools to execute on your vision, quickly and flexibly. In this masterclass, you’ll learn how it’s done – from previsualization to environment creation, set dressing, cinematography, lighting, and post-processing. We’ll even cover visual effects, audio, and final rendering. This masterclass is designed to empower storytellers and artists like you with all the foundational Unity skills you need to tell your own stories.
Guest Speaker: Ace Ruele
Masterclass starts on 10.09.2020, AT 20:00 BST
CAVE Academy and VES London are very happy to have motion performance expert, Ace Ruele, join us to discuss his process to bring characters to life.
During this masterclass, Ace will discuss topics such as creating the back story and the psychology of your character, the importance of understanding the anatomy and physiology of your character. He will then move on to studying reference, adding your own spin and then finally becoming and embodying the character.
Whether you are an actor, mocap performer, animator or a rigging artist, this session will dig deep to pull out your inner creature.
Technicolor PULSE is a software solution for centralised and collaborative content management, storage and delivery from anywhere in the world. It has been used on over 100 shows around the world, with over 10PB of data stored worldwide and over 3bn frames rendered in VFX and DI Pulls and returns.
Recent PULSE Credits: The Old Guard, Brave New World, Avenue 5, His Dark Materials, Midway, Greyhound
Join us on Thursday 27th August at 4:00pm (BST) for an engaging presentation, demo, panel discussion and Q&A on PULSE features and benefits for your next production.
Speakers
Jeremy Stapleton, Global Head of Software, Technicolor
Jason T. Morrow, Senior Producer, Front End Services, Technicolor
Simon Frame, VFX Producer
Cristi Stoica, VFX Editor
Agenda
An introduction to PULSE – Jason T. Morrow
PULSE Demo – Jeremy Stapleton
Panel Discussion with Simon Frame and Cristi Stoica
Face the FACS When: Thu Jul 30, 2020 08:00pm to 09:00pm BST
Guest Speaker: Melinda Ozel
Abstract
Melinda specializes in the art and science of facial expressions. Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) as a descriptive device, she teaches artists, engineers, and researchers how to build and break down facial movements and emotions.
She’s passionate about sharing her knowledge, mitigating false face news, and giving people the tools they need to create or track salient expressions. Her expertise applies to any level of realism and stylization as well as any type of face – from human to creature or object.
On the tech side, she’s been working on real-time face tracking since 2016 for applications such as expression tracking for avatar puppeteering and emotion detection technology.
CAVE Academy and VES London are very happy to have Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull – the director of feature films The Beyond and 2036 Origin Unknown, and the Disney series – Fast Layne, join us to discuss his process to bringing to life his latest animated project, Battlesuit. HaZ will cover how he created the project with Unreal Engine and how real-time workflows are changing the landscape of filmmaking and storytelling from a Director’s point of view, and he will start the session by discussing how he made the transition from VFX to feature film & TV directing.
Working from actor scan data is now a common task in the VFX and gaming industry. In this masterclass, Jan Jinda will give you a quick but complete tour on how to go from a rough scan to a clean production-ready model.
Jan will first cover prepping the model and scan alignment by wrapping a base mesh to the scan data. He’ll then continue to make model tweaks to bring the geometry to a ready state for texturing and rigging. He’ll also cover testing the model with a series of FACS expression shapes to ensure it is fit for deformation and animation.
Creating a production-ready model from a scan may seem easy, but without a solid workflow in place, it can be tricky to get right. Join us for this ‘digi-double’ workflow fly-through where you’ll be able to see industry techniques at play, and worthy tips and tricks to help push your assets to the next level.
CAVE Academy are extremely excited to have Chun Chun Yang join us to run a masterclass on photoreal texturing. Observation, analysis and execution are pivotal to creating an asset that both captures the essence and looks the part. In this session, Chun Chun will discuss her approach to texturing and demonstrate some of the tools and techniques she employs on a regular basis to create believable assets.
For more information on Chun Chun and to see her amazing work and tutorials, make sure to check out her website.
Unity is quickly becoming one of the most valuable tools for creators who want to build short films, episodic animated series, and cut-scenes or trailers for other CG content. Whether you’re a director, animator, technical artist, cinematographer, or general Unity enthusiast looking to dig into Unity’s film workflows, this talk will provide the core fundamentals of Unity for Media & Entertainment with an overview of upcoming features, enhancements, packages, templates, and integrations.
Unity, the world’s leading real-time engine, is used to create half of the world’s games. Unity’s flexible real-time tools offer incredible possibilities for filmmakers, and creators across industries and applications in 2D, 3D, VR, and AR
Guest Speaker: Benjamin Radcliffe
Ben is a Media and Entertainment Technology Evangelist for Unity Technologies with 20 years experience in CG Feature Animation, Television Animation, and VFX working across the globe in North America, Asia, and Europe for a variety of high-end studios. Previous studios include Dreamworks Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Disney Feature Animation, MPC, and Industrial Light and Magic.
Prior to joining Unity, Ben spent the past 3 years working at ILM London as a Lighting Supervisor on Transformers 5, Avengers: Infinity War, and most recently Avengers: End Game. In his role at Unity, Ben is working with technical decision makers and influencers within key VFX and Animation Studios throughout the UK and the rest of Europe to advance the art and science of visual effects and animation through the use of real-time technology.
Join us for a live discussion around remote working in the VFX and Animation industry entitled Working From Home: Past, Present and Future.
Brought to you by VES London and Cave Academy, this panel discussion will consider how the industry is continuing to operate despite the obvious setbacks during the current Covid-19 crisis, and how companies have been able to tackle remote working for small, medium and large scale projects.
VES London and CAVE Academy are very excited to have Mac Moore, CEO of Conductor Technologies join us to discuss the history of cloud in VFX and how COVID-19 is impacting the industry’s adoption. Mac will also be giving a run-down and demonstration of the Conductor toolkit, and showing how studios are leveraging this technology as we quickly migrate to a new world of remote workflows.
In conjunction with CAVE Academy, the VES is happy to announce our first in a series of master classes.
A hands-on approach to writing a basic camera shader for the Arnold renderer. In this session, Zeno Pelgrims will be showing you the fundamentals of writing a c++ Arnold plugin. He will also introduce you to lens theory, which will allow you to start writing your own camera shaders. The session will take place on Monday the 27th April, 20:00 GMT and will be hosted by Ross Baxter.
Framestore have been ever so kind as to include us with an invite to their deep learning talk on Covid-19. It is being hosted on Zoom this Thursday and is open to all VES members worldwide. Please find the link to the zoom invite below (you must be logged in to see it).
So much about Covid-19 is still unknown, even after months of astonishing global research. In this informal talk, I’ll describe how the open source deep learning community is trying to help answer the urgent need for fast, accurate, inexpensive Covid-19 population screening in mobile, urgent and primary care settings. I’ll discuss designs for a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) for Covid-19 detection, but also I hope to show that each move forward with the deep learning tools we’re making bumps headlong into broad, unanswered questions. Specifically, I’ll suggest the unexpected importance of the effort towards serological tests for those without symptoms, identifying individuals who have developed an immune response by overcoming a Covid-19 infection.
Kevin Cain Bio:
Aiming to cross-pollinate computer vision with traditional archaeological techniques, Kevin Cain heads the non-profit organization INSIGHT based in California. Kevin has also founded technology companies including Photon Factory, Smart Picture Technologies, and most recently plexus3D. Kevin has organized digital cultural heritage projects in collaboration with the American Research Center in Egypt Egyptian Antiquities Project (Cairo), the Egyptian Antiquities Dept. of the British Museum (London), the Metropolitan Museum’s Egyptian Art Dept. (New York), and the American Museum of Natural History (New York), the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C. Kevin launched and directed the MFA Department of Computer Art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
RED, VES and Framestore invite you to an exceptional workshop at Framestore with very special guest Dan Duran, post-production and workflow specialist at RED Digital Cinema from Hollywood, California. This resolutely technical workshop aims to deepen the knowledge of cinematographers, but also of DITs, colorists and post-production supervisors on the internal functioning of IPP2, its colorimetry and workflows using the RED Monstro sensor. Dan will also present the latest updates and insights to from RED and answer any questions offered by attendees. The event will also include a demo and hands on experience with RED’s latest cameras.
You must RSVP to attend this event, please login to do so.
Now that the 18th Annual VES Awards season is underway, we once again invite VES members to participate in our Nomination Panels. The Nomination Event will be held worldwide on January 4, 2020.
Any active VES member who can travel to one of the cities listed below may participate.
This is your chance to determine who will ultimately walk up to the podium on January 29, 2020, to collect a coveted VES Award. A single vote may make the difference between being nominated… or not… and that vote could be yours!
Past participants know that this is the must-attend event of the awards season. Not only will you view some of the most amazing visual imagery of 2019, you’ll get to see exclusive behind-the-scenes footage while participating in the single best networking opportunity of the year. It’s a chance to see old friends, meet the best and brightest in the visual effects field, and learn new techniques that you can apply to your own craft. All of that, plus the satisfaction of knowing that you have participated in choosing what will ultimately be the Nominations announced to the press for the 18th Annual VES Awards.
Judges who register to participate will receive information about specific times and locations from their local section representatives once their applications are received. If you are ready to make a difference, please submit your Panel Judge Application BELOW. Make sure you check the box indicating which of the Nomination Event locations you are applying for.
The Nomination Event is a full-day event held on Saturday, January 4, 2020 around the globe. Nominees will be announced on Monday, January 6, 2020. We look forward to receiving your Judge Application to make this year’s Nomination Event a success!
VES Members and Their Guests in London are Invited to an Opening Weekend 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER followed by a live interactive Q&A with the Filmmakers.
Panelists will include Director J.J. Abrams as well as Visual Effects Supervisors Roger Guyett and Patrick Tubach, moderated by VES 1st Vice Chair Jeffrey A. Okun, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
In addition to the broadcast Q&A from Los Angeles, we are honored to have VES, Emmy and Academy Award-nominated Special Effects Supervisor Dominic Tuohy as well as Oscar-winning Creature Effects Supervisor Neal Scanlan on hand to introduce the screening and to answer questions after the live interactive Q&A.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Saturday, December 21, 2019 at 7:00PM
Tis’ the season for the VES London Christmas Party!
VES London is very happy to be hosting a Christmas celebration at the wonderful upstairs bar at the Porterhouse in Covent Garden called the Dingle Whiskey bar. There will be music, drink, merriment, dancing, delicious christmas treats and lots of whiskey. Please remember to RSVP for the event and bring a guest or two along for the fun.
If you would like to sign up for this event, please log in.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ DOCTOR SLEEP Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 7:00PM (DATE CHANGE)
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of 20th Century Fox’s FORD V FERRARI followed by a live interactive Q&A with the Filmmakers
Panelists will include Visual Effects Supervisor Olivier Dumont, Visual Effects Producer Kathy Siegel and Special Effects Supervisor Mark R. Byers. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP Below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 7:00PM
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ and 20th Century Fox’s TERMINATOR: DARK FATE Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 7:00PM
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ THE GOLDFINCH
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ IT CHAPTER TWO
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
Joining Gray on the film are Academy Award®-nominated cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema (DUNKIRK), production designer Kevin Thompson (who previously designed Gray’s films THE YARDS and LITTLE ODESSA), editors John Axelrad, ACE(THE LOST CITY OF Z, THE IMMIGRANT) and Lee Haugen (THE LOST CITY OF Z), music supervisors Randall Poster (INSURGENT) and George Drakoulias (DETROIT) and two-time Academy Award®-winning costume designer Albert Wolsky (BUGSY, ALL THAT JAZZ).
This invitation is non-transferable, and seats will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. You will receive a reply in a timely fashion.
A sci-fi thriller set in the future, AD ASTRA stars Brad Pitt as an elite astronaut who travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.
Directed by James Gray (THE LOST CITY OF Z, THE IMMIGRANT), from a screenplay by Gray and Ethan Gross (“Fringe”), AD ASTRA also stars Academy Award® winner Tommy Lee Jones (JUST GETTING STARTED, JASON BOURNE), Academy Award® nominee Ruth Negga (LOVING); Liv Tyler (THE LORD OF THE RINGS, ARMAGEDDON) and Donald Sutherland (THE HUNGER GAMES).
The film was produced by Plan B Entertainment’s Academy Award®-winning principals Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner (VICE, MOONLIGHT, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, THE BIG SHORT) along with Anthony Katagas (THE LOST CITY OF Z, 12 YEARS A SLAVE), RT Features’ Rodrigo Teixeira (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) and New Regency Pictures’ Arnon Milchan (GONE GIRL). Mark Butan, Lourenço Sant’Anna, Sophie Mas, Yu Dong, Jeffrey Chan, Anthony Mosawi, Paul Conway, Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer serve as executive producers.
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX and REGENCY ENTERPRISES Present In Association With BONA FILM GROUP A NEW REGENCY / PLAN B ENTERTAINMENT / KEEP YOUR HEAD / RT FEATURES / MadRiver PICTURES Production. A JAMES GRAY Film. BRAD PITT “AD ASTRA” TOMMY LEE JONES; RUTH NEGGA; LIV TYLER; and DONALD SUTHERLAND; Costume Designer ALBERT WOLSKY; Music by MAX RICHTER; Music Supervisors RANDALL POSTER and GEORGE DRAKOULIAS; Film Editors JOHN AXELRAD, ACE, LEE HAUGEN; Production Designer KEVIN THOMPSON; Director of Photography HOYTE VAN HOYTEMA, ASC, FSF, NSC; Executive Producers MARC BUTAN, Lourenço Sant’Anna, SOPHIE MAS; YU DONG, JEFFREY CHAN, ANTHONY MOSAWI, PAUL CONWAY; Produced By BRAD PITT, DEDE GARDNER, p.g.a., JEREMY KLEINER, p.g.a., JAMES GRAY, p.g.a., ANTHONY KATAGAS, p.g.a., RODRIGO TEIXEIRA, p.g.a., ARNON MILCHAN; Written by JAMES GRAY & ETHAN GROSS; Directed by JAMES GRAY.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Millenium Films’ ANGEL HAS FALLEN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ GOOD BOYS
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, August 20, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
This film is GB-15 for strong crude sexual content, drug and alcohol material, and language throughout – all involving tweens.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Wednesday, August 14, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, August 13, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
We are very pleased to announce this month’s pub night is being hosted on the roof top terrace at the Carpenter’s Arms in Fitzrovia. This is all due in part to the generosity of Unity as our official pub sponsor for the rest of the 2019 season!
So come on down to enjoy some drinks and snacks all courtesy of the wonderful people at Unity and to learn more about our new sponsor or just to catch up with old colleagues and friends, hope to see you there! Everyone is welcome!
We are very pleased to announce the official screening of Criminal Audition July 30th 2019 with Q&A from the film makers. Please join us on this evening for a very special event that will include the film, Q&A and drinks reception afterwards. Criminal Audition is a truely an indepdent film with VFX and British root, it includes writer and star Luke Kaile (NVisible) and executive producer Jeff Clifford (ex Double Negative), this film truly has it’s roots in the London VFX scene.
There will be drinks and Q&A to follow with Luke Kaile (Writer and Actor), Sam Gridley (director), Richard Osborne (DOP), Jamie Wood (VFX supe) and Janis Balodis (sound).
Already the official selection of Fright Fest, it is being touted as darkly funny, claustrophobic Midnight Movie to laugh, wince and gasp at. Check out the newly released trailer for yourself, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDOY6oGso6I.
We are very pleased to announce the official screening of Criminal Audition July 30th 2019 with Q&A from the film makers. Please join us on this evening for a very special event that will include the film, Q&A and drinks reception afterwards. Criminal Audition is a truely an indepdent film with VFX and British root, it includes writer and star Luke Kaile (NVisible) and executive producer Jeff Clifford (ex Double Negative), this film truly has it’s roots in the London VFX scene.
There will be drinks and Q&A to follow with Luke Kaile (Writer and Actor), Sam Gridley (director), Richard Osborne (DOP), Jamie Wood (VFX supe) and Janis Balodis (sound).
Already the official selection of Fright Fest, it is being touted as darkly funny, claustrophobic Midnight Movie to laugh, wince and gasp at. Check out the newly released trailer for yourself, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDOY6oGso6I.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ THE LION KINGfollowed by a live interactive Q&A with the Filmmakers
Panelists will include Director Jon Favreau, Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Legato, and Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, ASC, moderated by Michael Fink, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP Below (VES members must login to sign up.)
(Drinks reception sponsored by Unity from 5:00PM to 7:00PM) Saturday, July 27, 2019
*Drinks reception from 5:00PM to 7:00PM Screening begins at 7:00PM followed by live interactive Q&A
Soho Hotel’s Theater #1
4 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3EH Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESLIONKING, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
*Drinks reception before the screening sponsored by:
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ THE LION KINGfollowed by a live interactive Q&A with the Filmmakers
Panelists will include Director Jon Favreau, Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Legato, and Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, ASC, moderated by Michael Fink, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP Below (VES members must login to sign up.)
(Drinks reception sponsored by Unity from 5:00PM to 7:00PM) Saturday, July 27, 2019
*Drinks reception from 5:00PM to 7:00PM Screening begins at 7:00PM followed by live interactive Q&A
Soho Hotel’s Theater #1
4 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3EH Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESLIONKING, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
*Drinks reception before the screening sponsored by:
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Columbia Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, July 9, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Families are Invited to an Opening Weekend 3DScreening ofDisney•Pixar’s TOY STORY 4
Please RSVP below.
Saturday, June 22, 2019 at 2:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Focus Features’ THE DEAD DON’T DIE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Opening Weekend 3D Screening of Columbia Pictures’ MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL
Please RSVP below.
Saturday, June 15, 2019 at 2:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES London is proud to present the screening of the independent British film Criminal Audition and Q&A with writer and director Samuel Gridley, writer and actor Luke Kaile, director of photography Richard Osborne and Visual Effects Supervisor Jamie Woods (panel is subject to their availability).
Synopsis: An ex-lawyer and his team run an underworld service, providing fake criminals to take on other people’s crimes. But a new dangerous client turns their world upside down as they face lies, deceit and murder over the course of one night.
June 12th – doors open 7:00PM (CEST) and there will be beer and pizza!
ZOOM stream starts at 7:30PM (CEST)
Masterclass starts at 8:00PM (CEST)
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The VES invites you to our 3rd MEGABRAIN Masterclass where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on June 12th 7:00PM at multiple locations and will also be streamed via ZOOM.
RSVP for your specific location on the appropriate event pages please:
Efficient facial rigging tools for emotionally believable digital humans
presented by Volker Helzle – Head of Research & Development at Filmakademie
Live from Munich Using Machine-learning to classify a VFXElements Library
presented by Jonas Kluger – Pipeline TD at ARRI
Live from Berlin Camera Technology: Sensors, Noise Properties, and Raw Processing
presented by Charles Poynton, PhD
We are overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests only (except for Ludwigsburg and Cologne). No admission without registration – also at the streaming locations!
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live from (and to) Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg. For the first time we also provide direct access to the ZOOM stream for ALL VES MEMBERS around the world!
VES Germany is a proud Partner of the FMX Conference in Stuttgart.
VES London is proud to present the screening of the independent British film Criminal Audition and Q&A with writer and director Samuel Gridley, writer and actor Luke Kaile, director of photography Richard Osborne and Visual Effects Supervisor Jamie Woods (panel is subject to their availability).
Synopsis: An ex-lawyer and his team run an underworld service, providing fake criminals to take on other people’s crimes. But a new dangerous client turns their world upside down as they face lies, deceit and murder over the course of one night.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of 20th Century Fox’s and Marvel Studios’ DARK PHOENIX
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Families are Invited to a 3D Screening of Universal Pictures’ and Illumination Entertainment’s THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2
Please RSVP below.
Saturday, June 8, 2019 at 2:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Entertainment’s GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Thursday, June 6, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ ROCKETMAN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Wednesday, June 5, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
We will be hosting an unofficial pub night at the Nellie Dean on Wednesday the 29th of May, what does unofficial mean? We haven’t officially booked the pub, that’s all, expect the great fun as usual with a bit more random people.
We’re almost half way through 2019 and our new members have just been announced so we’ve decided to celebrate the addition of 21 new members with some drinks courtesy of the VES London board. All current and new members (until supplies run out) will be eligible for a round of drinks, so please join us this last Wednesday of the month for what is sure to be great times. And remember, everyone is welcome so if you’re new to the VFX industry or a seasoned vetereran thinking about joining the VES please feel to drop by and chat with our current board.
We will be hosting an unofficial pub night at the Nellie Dean on Wednesday the 29th of May, what does unofficial mean? We haven’t officially booked the pub, that’s all, expect the great fun as usual with a bit more random people.
We’re almost half way through 2019 and our new members have just been announced so we’ve decided to celebrate the addition of 21 new members with some drinks courtesy of the VES London board. All current and new members (until supplies run out) will be eligible for a round of drinks, so please join us this last Wednesday of the month for what is sure to be great times. And remember, everyone is welcome so if you’re new to the VFX industry or a seasoned vetereran thinking about joining the VES please feel to drop by and chat with our current board.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Entertainment’s POKEMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME
Please RSVP below.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
After last month’s hiatus we are back with our monthly pub night at our usual venue and time, the last Wednesday of the month in the upstairs function room at the Ship Fitzrovia. Come one, come all to talk some vfx, enjoy some drink and have a laugh with your peers. Hopefully see you there!
After last month’s hiatus we are back with our monthly pub night at our usual venue and time, the last Wednesday of the month in the upstairs function room at the Ship Fitzrovia. Come one, come all to talk some vfx, enjoy some drink and have a laugh with your peers. Hopefully see you there!
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Annapurna Pictures’ MISSING LINK
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ PET SEMATARY
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ DUMBO
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Opening Weekend 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN MARVEL followed by a Q&A with the Filmmakers.Panelists will include Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck as well as Additional Visual Effects Supervisor Janelle Croshaw Ralla, moderated by Bill Taylor, VES, ASC. (Panelists will be announced as they are confirmed.)
Please RSVP below.
Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 6:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESCAPTAINMARVEL, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
Join us for the second VES London Pub Night of 2019!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Ship Fitzrovia to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Ship allows outside food to be eaten at the pub so feel free to order in or bring some take away with you.
Join us for the second VES London Pub Night of 2019!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Ship Fitzrovia to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Ship allows outside food to be eaten at the pub so feel free to order in or bring some take away with you.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of DreamWorks Animation’s and Universal Pictures’ HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD followed by a live interactive Q&A with Director Dean DeBlois, Producer Brad Lewis, Visual Effects Supervisor Dave Walvood, Head of Character Animation Simon Otto and Head of Effects Li-Ming ‘Lawrence’ Lee moderated by Director Bill Kroyer. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESDRAGON, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of 20th Century Fox’s ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Netflix’s ROMA
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, February 19, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Netflix’s ROMA
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, February 19, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, February 12, 2019 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
We are happy to announce that the ship is happy to host us again in 2019 and our first pub night is coming up this week. Please join us for drinks and some great VFX talk with your peers. We’ll also be picking up the bar tab for anyone indulging in dry January, that means any non-alcoholic drinks are on us. It’s also a great opportunity to be introduced into your new VES London board members, so come on down anytime after 7pm to the Ship Ftizrovia.
We are happy to announce that the ship is happy to host us again in 2019 and our first pub night is coming up this week. Please join us for drinks and some great VFX talk with your peers. We’ll also be picking up the bar tab for anyone indulging in dry January, that means any non-alcoholic drinks are on us. It’s also a great opportunity to be introduced into your new VES London board members, so come on down anytime after 7pm to the Ship Ftizrovia.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Sony Pictures Animation’s SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Friday, December 21, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Pre-Release Screening of Universal Pictures’ MORTAL ENGINES followed by a Q&A with Visual Effects Supervisor Ken McGaugh, Animation Supervisor Dennis Yoo, Visual Effects Supervisor Luke Millar and Visual Effects Supervisor Kevin Smith moderated by VES Board member Jeff Kleiser. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, December 2, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESMORTALENGINES, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Netflix’s MOWGLI followed by a Q&A with Director Andy Serkis, Animation Supervisor Max Solomon and Members of the Visual Effects Team T.B.A. moderated by VES Board member Richard Winn Taylor II, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 7:00PM
The May Fair Hotel Screening Room Stratton St, Mayfair, London W1J 8LT
(Closest tube station, Bond Street) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESMOWGLI, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Netflix’s MOWGLI followed by a Q&A with Director Andy Serkis, Animation Supervisor Max Solomon and Members of the Visual Effects Team T.B.A. moderated by VES Board member Richard Winn Taylor II, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 7:00PM
The May Fair Hotel Screening Room Stratton St, Mayfair, London W1J 8LT
(Closest tube station, Bond Street) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESMOWGLI, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
It’s the final pub night of the year so come one come all and enjoy a pint or refreshment, say hi to your boardmembers and enjoy some great VFX chat. All new members will enjoy their first pint free when they present their VES Membership card to a board member. We will also be relvealing the location of our Christmas party so hopefully see you all there and remember, everyone is welcome!
It’s the final pub night of the year so come one come all and enjoy a pint or refreshment, say hi to your boardmembers and enjoy some great VFX chat. All new members will enjoy their first pint free when they present their VES Membership card to a board member. We will also be relvealing the location of our Christmas party so hopefully see you all there and remember, everyone is welcome!
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Universal Pictures’ and Illumination Entertainment’s DR. SEUSS’ THE GRINCH
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, November 27, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ OVERLORD
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Pre-Release Screening of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET followed by a Q&A with Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Kersavage, Character Look Development Supervisor Michelle Robinson and Head of Effects Animation Cesar Velazquezmoderated by VES Board member Charlie Iturriaga. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, November 17, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in San Francisco) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESRALPH, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures’ THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Families are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, November 10, 2018 at 2:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
It’s the last pub night of the year and it’s definitely going to be a spooky one! Come one, come all to the Ship on Wednesday October 24th for what sure to be a ghoulish affair. All the regulars will be there including the Mummy, the Werewolf and of course Dracula! No need to RSVP and remember that everyone is welcome to join!
It’s the last pub night of the year and it’s definitely going to be a spooky one! Come one, come all to the Ship on Wednesday October 24th for what sure to be a ghoulish affair. All the regulars will be there including the Mummy, the Werewolf and of course Dracula! No need to RSVP and remember that everyone is welcome to join!
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ HALLOWEEN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER followed by a live interactive Q&A with Writer/Director Ryan Coogler, Visual Effects Supervisor Geoffrey Baumann, ILM Visual Effects Supervisor Craig Hammack, Additional Visual Effects Supervisor Jesse James Chisholm and Special Effects Supervisor Dan Sudick moderated by VES Board member David Tanaka. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, October 20, 2018 at 8:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in San Francisco) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESWAKANDA4EVER, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Columbia Pictures’ VENOM
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, October 9, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The VES sections from Germany, London and Paris present
VES MEGABRAIN Masterclass Vol.2
September 27th – 6:30PM at
DNEG
160 Great Portland Street, London
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The VES invites you to our 2nd MEGABRAIN Masterclass where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show breakdowns and reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on September 27th 6:30PM at DNEG, 160 Great Portland Street, London (and be simulcast to & from RISE Visual Effects Studios in Germany, and Paris).
This event is kindly supported by
and
Topics will be:
From the VES Germany
Extend Nuke’s Interface and functionality using PySide
presented by Falk Hofmann – Head of 2D at Pixomondo
From the VES Paris Photogrammetry and PBR Surface scanning
presented by Paul Parneix – CEO at scanbox.xyz
From the VES London
A Managed Approach to AOV Manipulation
presented by Greg Keech – Lead R&D Developer at DNEG
A JIT Expression Language for Fast Manipulation of VDB Points and Volumes
presented by Nick Avramoussis – DNEG
We are overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second. No admission without registration – also at the streaming locations!
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live from (and to) London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart.
RSVP for your specific location on the appropriate event pages please:
Fall is in the air, membership drive has successfully completed and we’re nearing the end of the month which can only mean one thing! It’s time for the monthly installment of the Visual Effects Society London’s pub night. Please feel free to drop by anytime between 7pm and closing time, so hopefully see you there!
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, September 25, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Sony Pictures’ WHITE BOY RICK
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
Come on down to the London VES Pub Night and Membership Drive.
This is a great chance to catch up with colleagues, old friends or come make some new ones!
If you are a VES member or have been thinking about becoming a VES member, come along! We’ll have board members available on the night to help anyone apply on the spot or just answer your questions. Come for a drink and say Hi!
All members and their guest or those who apply that night will get their first drink free*, so come on down!
The next membership application cutoff date is September 15th. – Apply HERE
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of STX Entertainment’s THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS
This film is GB-15, and is not intended for children. Click here to watch the trailer.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Focus Features’ BLACKkKLANSMAN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Wednesday, August 15, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ SKYSCRAPER
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, July 17, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ and Blumhouse Pictures’ THE FIRST PURGE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Sony Pictures’ and Lionsgate UK’s SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, July 3, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Families are Invited to a Special Fathers’ Day 3D Screening of Universal Pictures’ and Amblin Entertainment’s JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM followed by a Q&A with Director J.A. Bayona, ILM Visual Effects Supervisor David Vickery, ILM Animation Director Jance Rubinchik and ILM Visual Effects Supervisor Alex Wuttke with moderation by VES London Section Secretary Gavin Graham (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below Sunday, June 17, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating
London VES Members and Their Families are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ INCREDIBLES 2
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 2:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
With the final days in May rapidly approaching, this can mean only one thing, VES London pub night is here! This is sure to be special evening indeed and there are many reasons to celebrate as the gracious folk from RISE VFX have kindly agreed to sponsor our night and pick up the bar tab! This means drinks will be gratis for all VES members. But do not worry if you aren’t, as signing up for the pub night e-mail list will also entitle you to some freebies. So come one, come all to what is sure to be a very boisterous and fun event. No RSVP required, just join us in the function room upstairs with all your VFX peers.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm Ltd’s SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Focus Features’ TULLY
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR followed by a Live Interactive Q&A with Visual Effects Producers Jen Underdahl and Lisa Marra, Weta Digital Visual Effects Supervisor Matt Aitken, Industrial Light + Magic Visual Effects Supervisor Russell Earl and Digital Domain Visual Effects Supervisor Kelly Port with moderation by VES Board member Jeff Kleiser. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, May 6, 2018 at 8:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESINFINITYWAR, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
And as we start to near the end of the Month it can only mean one thing, VES Pub Night is upon us. The Ship Fitzrovia has been gracious enough to host us again in their incredible upstairs function room (http://www.theshipfitzrovia.com/function-room.html). Each pub night keeps getting busier so we’re hoping for an even larger turnout then last month. Come enjoy a glass of wine, beer or other beverage of your choosing with your fellow VES members and industry peers. Remember, you’re also welcome to bring or order your own food to the pub as well and everyone is welcome so please feel free to drop by and say hello.
Your London VES Board
Location: The Ship Fitzrovia – 134 New Cavendish Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1W 6YB Time: 7:00pm – late Date: 25/04/18
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ A QUIET PLACE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Amblin Entertainment’s READY PLAYER ONE followed by a Q&A with Co-Producer and Visual Effects Producer Jennifer Meislohn, ILM Visual Effects Supervisor Grady Cofer, Digital Domain Visual Effects Supervisor Matthew Butler and Digital Domain Previsualization Supervisor Scott Meadows as well as Digital Domain Virtual Production Supervisor Gary Roberts, moderated by VES Board member Charlie Iturriaga. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, April 7, 2018 at 8:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESRPO, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Universal Pictures’ PACIFIC RIM UPRISING
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Thursday, March 29, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
Come one, come all to another fantastical Pub night hosted in the amazing upstairs function room at the Ship Fitzrovia! We’re expecting better weather this time around so will hopefully see some more friendly faces. We has a blast last time so want to keep the good times rolling and for those of you not in the know, please be aware that The Ship allows outside food, so if you’re hungry, you’re more then welcome to bring food or order it there.
London VES Members and Their Families are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ A WRINKLE IN TIME followed by a Live Interactive Q&A with Visual Effects Supervisor Rich McBride and Previs Supervisor Chris Batty with moderation by VES Board member Lisa Cooke.
Please RSVP below Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 7:00PM Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK
3 Queen Caroline Street, London, W6 9PE Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in San Francisco) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESWRINKLE, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ and Netflix’s ANNHILATION
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
You are cordially invited to the first pub night of the year and spring membership drive for the London section.
With it being early into the new year we’ve decided to start things off with a new pub. The Ship Fitzrovia has graciously accepted to host us in their magnificent upstairs function room that even has it’s own bar!!! (http://www.theshipfitzrovia.com/function-room.html)
Please come one, come all to meet up with your members of the London VES board to have any questions or quandaries about the VES answered. Please bring along all eligible artists interested in joining the VES or anyone who just enjoys a fun night out.
We look forward to seeing you next Wednesday at our first monthly pub night event of 2018.
Location: The Ship Fitzrovia – 134 New Cavendish Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1W 6YB Time: 7:00pm – late Date: 28/02/18
London VES Members and Their Families are Invited to a Screening of Studio Canal’s and Aardman Animation’s EARLY MAN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 2:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures’ ONLY THE BRAVE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm Ltd.’s STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI plus a live interactive Q&A.
Panelists will include Writer/Director Rian Johnson, ILM San Francisco Visual Effects Supervisor Eddie Pasquarello, ILM Vancouver Visual Effects Supervisor Dan Seddon, Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, ASC and Editor Bob Ducsay with moderation by VES Chair Mike Chambers. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.) Sunday, December 17, 2017 at 8:00PM
Dolby’s Soho Square Screening Room
4-6 Soho Square, London W1D 3PZ
(Closest tube station: Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESLASTJEDI, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Fox Searchlight’s THE SHAPE OF WATER
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Studios’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ COCO
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guest are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures ATTRACTION followed by a Q&A session with Arman Yahin (CEO Main Road Post). Plus complimentary wine and popcorn
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guest are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures ATTRACTION followed by a Q&A session with Arman Yahin (CEO Main Road Post). Plus complimentary wine and popcorn
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
MPC would like to extend an invitation to London VES Members and Their Guests to attend a Family Screening of Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s Sing!
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 11:00AM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road)
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis (preference will be given to MPC employees). An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ THOR: RAGNAROK
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ SUBURBICON
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, October 31, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
This month, we’re back to our usual last Wednesday of the month for another London VES Pub Night!
We invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Don’t want to drink on an empty stomach? The Nellie Dean serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables reserved upstairs for those who wish to partake.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ THE SNOWMAN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ BLADE RUNNER 2049
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ AMERICAN MADE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s KINGSMEN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
This month’s Pub Night will be on a THURSDAY due to a prior booking at the Nellie Dean pub. So make note of that!!
We invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Don’t want to drink on an empty stomach? The Nellie Dean serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables reserved upstairs for those who wish to partake.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Focus Features’ VICTORIA & ABDUL
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, September 26, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ MOTHER!
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, September 19, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
As the last Wednesday of the month is approaching, we’re welcoming you to join us for another London VES Pub Night!
We invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Don’t want to drink on an empty stomach? The Nellie Dean serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables reserved upstairs for those who wish to partake.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of The Weinstein Company’s WIND RIVER
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Focus Features’ ATOMIC BLONDE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, August 1, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once again for the VES London PubNight!
We invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Don’t want to drink on an empty stomach? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
The VES London PubNight
Wednesday, 26 July 2017 7 pm ’til late
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of 20th Century Fox’s WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, plus a live interactive Q&A with the filmmakers.
Panelists will include Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Letteri and Director Matt Reeves with moderation by VES Board member Jeff Kleiser. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 8:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESWARFORTHEPLANET, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening Of Columbia Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, July 11, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Families are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ and Illumination Entertainment’s DESPICABLE ME 3
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, July 1, 2017 at 2:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Paramount Pictures’ TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Families are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ CARS 3
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, June 24, 2017 at 2:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Universal Pictures’ THE MUMMY
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, June 13, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ WONDER WOMAN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
We invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s ALIEN: COVENANT
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 2
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Paramount Pictures’ GHOST IN THE SHELL
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Lionsgate’s POWER RANGERS
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ KONG: SKULL ISLAND
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s LOGAN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, March 7, 2017 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
In the second of Double Negative’s exclusive ‘Behind The Screens’ events, Dneg’s senior crew on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be giving an exclusive presentation on their work on the show to invited guests from the VFX community. Presentation will be followed by Q&A and drinks reception with the team.
The event takes place at their London studios on Great Portland St tomorrow night.
THE VFX FESTIVAL is back for 2017 and is bigger, better and bolder, than ever before. Presented by Escape Studios, part of Pearson College London, The VFX Festival 2017, is run in London from 7 th – 9 th February 2017, in association with arts and cultural venue, Rich Mix. Whether you are passionate about VFX, animation, games or motion graphics, The VFX Festival 2017 truly offers something for everyone. This year, the festival aims to explore the crossover between these specialisms and the creative industries as a whole. As the gap closes between new and old technologies, the 2017 festival will focus on how all elements intersect, whilst in keeping with new and existing trends.
At the heart of the festival will be a series of discussions and demonstrations from the leading VFX, Gaming and Animation companies, as particular attention is paid to VR, AR and other media-sharing tech, and analyse how this informs the skillset required for the next generation of VFX practitioners.
Headliners include Framestore, MPC, Double Negative, ILM, and One Of Us, presenting work from such projects as Star Wars, Star Trek: Beyond, and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.
This year it will run throughout the day on Saturday 7th January (exact timings to be confirmed), at Molinare – 34 Foubert’s Place, London, W1F 7PX.
We usually run two sessions, morning and afternoon, serving a hot lunch in between. Late afternoon, when we have finished the judging, we usually raise a glass and toast our fantastic sponsors – Molinare and Sohonet. Some people then stay for a chat at the bar over a drink, discussing the work seen.
Those who have been before know that it’s a great day – an opportunity to view and judge the world’s best film, television and commercials visual effects along with your peers. It’s also a great way for you to support your local section.
Join us for a special Christmas Pub Night at the Nellie Dean!
For the last time this year, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar.
We will have a bar tab for VES Members, but everyone is welcome to join!
Don’t miss our popular Killer darts game. The winner goes home with a nice bottle of single malt whisky!
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister. We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm Ltd.’s ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY plus a Q&A.
Panelists will include Executive Producer and Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll and Animation Supervisor Hal Hickel with moderation by VES 1st Vice Chair Jeffrey A. Okun, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP at the link below (VES members must login to view the link.) Sunday, December 18, 2016 at 8:00PM
Dolby’s Soho Square Screening Room
4-6 Soho Square, London W1D 3PZ
(Closest tube station: Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESROGUEONE, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Pre-Release Screening of Columbia Pictures’ PASSENGERS, plus a live interactive Q&A with the filmmakers.
Panelists will include Visual Effects Supervisor Pete Dionne, Co-Producer Greg Baxter, Film Editor Maryann Brandon and Production Designer Guy Hendrix Dyas with moderation by VES Board member Jeff Kleiser. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP at the link below (VES members must login to view the link.)
Saturday, December 17, 2016 at 8:00PM
Sony Pictures Entertainment Screening Room 25 Golden Square, Soho, London W1F 9LU
(Closest tube station, Piccadilly Circus) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESPASSENGERS, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The end of November is approaching, and it’s time for another VES London Pub Night!
As always, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar.
Don’t miss our popular Killer darts game. The winner goes home with a nice bottle of single malt whisky!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister. We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Please RSVP at the link below (VES members must login to view the link.)
Tuesday, November 29, 2016 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES VR Event is an evening conference and exhibition focused on Augmented and Virtual Reality and its impact in VFX and entertainment industry.
Great networking opportunities, attendees will have access to visionary speakers and case-study led content. Hear from inspirational speakers and thought-provoking panel discussions from key players redefining the boundaries for technology.
We are proud to bring inspirational speakers from across the globe.
Speakers will include Hammerhead VR’s Yush Kalia, Virtually’s Alexander Cohen, Head of Developer Services at Sony Computer Kish Hirani, Filmmaker at VISYON Ammar Haj Ahmad, AV Reality Founder & CEO Humphrey Hardwicke, and Rewind’s Solomon Rogers.
A Limited Number of VES Members in London are Invited to a “Behind the Screens” Presentation and Drinks Reception on STAR TREK BEYOND with CG Supervisor Rick Leary
Please RSVP at the link below (VES members must login to view the link.)
Thursday, November 24, 2016 at 7:00PM
(Doors open at 6:30PM, Presentation at 7:00PM, Drinks reception at 8:30PM)
DNeg London 160 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QA
(Closest tube station, Great Portland Street) Click here for a map
Events are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Marvel Studios’ and Walt Disney Pictures’ DOCTOR STRANGE
Please RSVP at the link below
Tuesday, November 22, 2016 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ ARRIVAL
Please call +44 20 7292 8350 to RSVP(be sure to specify the date, time and location of the screening you’d like to attend) Friday, November 18, 2016 at 7:00PM
Charlotte Street Hotel 15-17 Charlotte St, Fitzrovia, London W1T 1RJ (Closest tube station, Goodge Street) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating. Click here for more studio screenings.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures’ INFERNO
Please RSVP at the link below
Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Ireland are Invited to a 3D Screening of 20th Century Fox’s MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN followed by a Q&A with Visual Effects Supervisor Frazer Churchill
Please RSVP at the link below
Saturday, October 22, 2016 at 6:00PM (There will be an introduction with food and drinks beginning at 5:15PM.)
Cineworld Dublin The Parnell Centre, Parnell St, Dublin 1, Ireland Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of 20th Century Fox’s MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN followed by a Q&A with the Visual Effects Team
Panelists will include Visual Effects Supervisor Frazer Churchill, Visual Effects Producer Hal Couzens and Special Effects Supervisors Neil Corbould and Hayley Williams with moderation by VES Board member and London Section Chair Brooke Lyndon-Stanford. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP at the link below
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Focus Features’ and LAIKA’s KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
Please RSVP at the link below
Friday, October 14, 2016 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures’ THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Please RSVP at the link below
Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The end of September is approaching, and it’s time for another VES London Pub Night! We’ve had to play with the schedule a little, so this month only, we’re doing it on a Thursday!
As always, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar.
Don’t miss our popular Killer darts game. The winner goes home with a nice bottle of single malt whisky!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister. We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
VES Members and Their Guests in London are Invited to a Pre-Release Screening of Lionsgate’s and Summit Entertainment’s DEEPWATER HORIZON, plus a live interactive Q&A with the filmmakers.
Panelists will include Director Peter Berg, Special Effects Supervisors Burt Dalton and Matt Kutcher and Lead Post-Vis Artist at ILM Keith Johnson with moderation by VES Board member Dan Schrecker. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below Saturday, September 24, 2016 at 8:00PM
Curzon Mayfair Cinema 38 Curzon St, London W1J 7TY Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in New York) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESDEEPWATERHORIZON, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
Synopsis:
On April 20th, 2010, one of the world’s largest man-made disasters occurred on the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. Directed by Peter Berg (LONE SURVIVOR), this story honors the brave men and women whose heroism would save many on board, and change everyone’s lives forever. Click here to watch the trailer
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Sony Pictures’ SAUSAGE PARTY
Please RSVP at the link below
Tuesday, September 6, 2016 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES London members are invited to London ACM Siggraph’s Tech Talks 2016
London ACM SIGGRAPH is organising the second annual TECHTALKS in association with Double Negative, sponsored by Autodesk.
This is a two-day conference designed as a post-SIGGRAPH 2016 Conference recap for London.
The Talks will take place at the “Princess Anne Theatre” at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly Street, while the “David-Lean Room” will be hosting recruitment and exhibitor booths.
VES London members are invited to London ACM Siggraph’s Tech Talks 2016
London ACM SIGGRAPH is organising the second annual TECHTALKS in association with Double Negative, sponsored by Autodesk.
This is a two-day conference designed as a post-SIGGRAPH 2016 Conference recap for London.
The Talks will take place at the “Princess Anne Theatre” at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly Street, while the “David-Lean Room” will be hosting recruitment and exhibitor booths.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ JASON BOURNE
Please RSVP below
(RSVPs close at 5:00PM on Thursday, August 11) Monday, August 15, 2016 at 6:30PM
NBC/Universal Screening Room
(Closest tube station: Tottenham Court Road)
1 Central St. Giles, St. Giles High Street, London, WC2H 8NU Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ SUICIDE SQUAD
Please RSVP at the link below
Tuesday, August 9, 2016 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of 20th Century Fox’s ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE
Click here to RSVP
Monday, August 8, 2016 at 7:00PM
Framestore 19-23 Wells Street, London W1T 3PQ
(Closest tube station, Oxford Circus) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Paramount Pictures’ STAR TREK BEYOND
Please RSVP at the link below
Monday, August 1, 2016 at 7:00PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 2D Screening of Pixar Animation Studios’ and Walt Disney Pictures’ FINDING DORY
VES members login to RSVP below Friday, July 1, 2016 at 7:00PM
Soho Hotel’s Theater #1
4 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3EH Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 2D Screening of Pixar Animation Studios’ and Walt Disney Pictures’ FINDING DORY
VES members login to RSVP below Friday, July 1, 2016 at 7:00PM
Soho Hotel’s Theater #1
4 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3EH Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Please RSVP at the link below
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at 7:15PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Please RSVP at the link below
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at 7:15PM
The Basement Screening Room at MPC 127 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1F 0NL
(Closest tube station, Tottenham Court Road) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
VES members login to RSVP below Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 7:00PM
Soho Hotel’s Theater #1
4 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3EH Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ THE JUNGLE BOOK followed by a Q&A with MPC’s Visual Effects Supervisor Adam Valdez.
VES members login to RSVP below Tuesday, May 3, 2016 at 7:00PM
Soho Hotel’s Theater #1
4 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3EH Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ THE JUNGLE BOOK followed by a Q&A with MPC’s Visual Effects Supervisor Adam Valdez.
VES members login to RSVP below Tuesday, May 3, 2016 at 7:00PM
Soho Hotel’s Theater #1
4 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3EH Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
Don’t miss our popular Killer darts game. The winner goes home with a bottle of single malt whisky!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
The VES London Pub Night
Wednesday, 27 April 2016
7 pm ’til late
The Nellie Dean
in the private upstairs lounge
89 Dean Street
London W1D 3SU
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
Don’t miss our popular Killer darts game. The winner takes home a bottle of single malt whisky!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
Don’t miss our popular Killer darts game. The winner goes home with a bottle of single malt whisky!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
The VES London Pub Night
Wednesday, 27 April 2016
7 pm ’til late
The Nellie Dean
in the private upstairs lounge
89 Dean Street
London W1D 3SU
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
Don’t miss our popular Killer darts game. The winner takes home a bottle of single malt whisky!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
Don’t miss our popular Killer darts game. Last January, winning dartist Janis killed the competition and took home a bottle of single malt whisky!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
The last Wednesday of the month approaches and it’s time once more for the VES London Pub Night!
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
Don’t miss our popular Killer darts game. Last January, winning dartist Janis killed the competition and took home a bottle of single malt whisky!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
The London Section of the Visual Effects Society is delighted to invite you to the inaugural UK Visual Effects Society Awards celebration to recognise exceptional artistry in the fields of visual effects and filmed entertainment.
Acclaimed visual effects supervisor Steve Begg will receive the Vanguard Award for Leadership and the Advancement of Visual Effects in the UK. Distinguished actor Jim Broadbent will receive the Inspiration Award for promoting awareness of visual effects through his body of work. Highlights of the 14th Annual VES Awards held in Los Angeles will also be shown.
To give the event a breath of fresh air, the incredible team at Totally Top Hat are creating a magical fantasy night inspired by films like Labyrinth & The Dark Crystal. Dress is Fantasy Formal taking inspiration from the Labyrinth ballroom scene. Food will involve a uniquely-designed menu befitting our theme for the night. International sensation Inga Liljeström will be providing musical entertainment and our creative performance team will be injecting extra doses of fun, imagination and originality as guests enter and make their way up to the event space.
As you can see this event will be like no other and sure to kick off the UK VES Awards for years to come with an unforgettable and memorable inaugural evening!
Tickets are limited so please purchase ASAP to avoid disappointment!
Please purchase tickets below. (VES members must login in order to access the link.)
How do I get to the Tate Modern? What entrance should I use once I’m there? There are very specific instructions provided by Tate to access this event. Please click here to read.
What is the dress code? This is a formal event, but if you feel inspired, our theme is Fantasy Formal taking inspiration from the Labyrinth ballroom scene.
Is my ticket refundable? Please note all ticket sales are final.
Is my ticket transferable? Please contact us using the link below. We may be able to accommodate.
The London Section of the Visual Effects Society is delighted to invite you to the inaugural UK Visual Effects Society Awards celebration to recognise exceptional artistry in the fields of visual effects and filmed entertainment.
Acclaimed visual effects supervisor Steve Begg will receive the Vanguard Award for Leadership and the Advancement of Visual Effects in the UK. Distinguished actor Jim Broadbent will receive the Inspiration Award for promoting awareness of visual effects through his body of work. Highlights of the 14th Annual VES Awards held in Los Angeles will also be shown.
To give the event a breath of fresh air, the incredible team at Totally Top Hat are creating a magical fantasy night inspired by films like Labyrinth & The Dark Crystal. Dress is Fantasy Formal taking inspiration from the Labyrinth ballroom scene. Food will involve a uniquely-designed menu befitting our theme for the night. International sensation Inga Liljeström will be providing musical entertainment and our creative performance team will be injecting extra doses of fun, imagination and originality as guests enter and make their way up to the event space.
As you can see this event will be like no other and sure to kick off the UK VES Awards for years to come with an unforgettable and memorable inaugural evening!
Tickets are limited so please purchase ASAP to avoid disappointment!
Please purchase tickets below. (VES members must login in order to access the link.)
How do I get to the Tate Modern? What entrance should I use once I’m there? There are very specific instructions provided by Tate to access this event. Please click here to read.
What is the dress code? This is a formal event, but if you feel inspired, our theme is Fantasy Formal taking inspiration from the Labyrinth ballroom scene.
Is my ticket refundable? Please note all ticket sales are final.
Is my ticket transferable? Please contact us using the link below. We may be able to accommodate.
The first ever VES Pub Night in DUBLIN is on Thursday, 10/3 at the South William!
If you’re curious about the VES, or want to mingle with VFX professionals in your area, come meet Irish VES London Board Member Ed Bruce to learn about becoming a member.
The first ever VES Pub Night in DUBLIN is on Thursday, 10/3 at the South William!
If you’re curious about the VES, or want to mingle with VFX professionals in your area, come meet Irish VES London Board Member Ed Bruce to learn about becoming a member.
The Visual Effects Society London Section invites all members and a guest to a screening of award-winning Canadian-British-Irish drama Room, directed by Lenny Abrahamson and written by Emma Donoghue, based on her novel of the same name. The film stars Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers, and William H. Macy. Featuring visual effects by Screen Scene, Dublin.
Thursday, 10th March 2016
6:30 pm: Doors and drinks
7:00 pm: Programme starts
The Moving Picture Company
127 Wardour St
London, W1F 0NL
In addition, we’re excited to be showing two short films just before the feature to honour the careers of two actors who sadly passed away recently from cancer: David Bowie and Alan Rickman.
Both feature a compelling visual effects component.
First up is Blackstar (dir. Renck), then Dust (dirs. Ockrent & Russell). Dust will be followed by a live Q&A with the filmmakers.
London VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ ZOOLANDER 2
Please RSVP below
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 7:00PM
Molinare Screening Room
34 Fouberts Place, London, W1F 7PX Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ ZOOLANDER 2
Please RSVP below
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 7:00PM
Molinare Screening Room
34 Fouberts Place, London, W1F 7PX Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s DEADPOOL
Click here to RSVP
Monday, March 7, 2016 at 7:00PM
(Join us for drinks from 6:30PM.)
Framestore 19-23 Wells Street, London W1T 3PQ
(Closest tube station, Oxford Circus) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s DEADPOOL
Click here to RSVP
Monday, March 7, 2016 at 7:00PM
(Join us for drinks from 6:30PM.)
Framestore 19-23 Wells Street, London W1T 3PQ
(Closest tube station, Oxford Circus) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
With this year’s membership application deadline fast approaching, we would like to invite all VES members and their colleagues to a membership social.
Instead of this month’s Pub Night, we’ll be at The Visual Effects Company on Warren Street. Drinks are on us!
If you have any friends or colleagues with at least five years of experience in the VFX industry, please invite them over. We’ll show what the society is all about and how they can join.
Of course, the VES is defined by you, the members. Even if you’re not bringing anyone along, please do come by and show everyone who we are. It’ll be a great chance to catch up with fellow members, and to meet new people from all areas of the industry.
With this year’s membership application deadline fast approaching, we would like to invite all VES members and their colleagues to a membership social.
Instead of this month’s Pub Night, we’ll be at The Visual Effects Company on Warren Street. Drinks are on us!
If you have any friends or colleagues with at least five years of experience in the VFX industry, please invite them over. We’ll show what the society is all about and how they can join.
Of course, the VES is defined by you, the members. Even if you’re not bringing anyone along, please do come by and show everyone who we are. It’ll be a great chance to catch up with fellow members, and to meet new people from all areas of the industry.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Special Commemorative Screening of Lucasfilm’s, the Jim Henson Company’s and TriStar Pictures’ LABYRINTH followed by a Q&A with the Filmmakers.
Panelists will include Art Director Terry Ackland-Snow, Storyboard Artist Martin Asbury, Matte Photographer Martin Body, Animator Peter Chiang, Rotoscoping Artist Peter Field, Camera Operator Tim Field and Tim Walton with moderation by VES London Board-member Gavin Graham.
Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 3:25PM
Prince Charles Cinema
7 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BY London, United Kingdom Click here for a map.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Special Commemorative Screening of Lucasfilm’s, the Jim Henson Company’s and TriStar Pictures’ LABYRINTH followed by a Q&A with the Filmmakers.
Panelists will include Art Director Terry Ackland-Snow, Storyboard Artist Martin Asbury, Matte Photographer Martin Body, Animator Peter Chiang, Rotoscoping Artist Peter Field, Camera Operator Tim Field and Tim Walton with moderation by VES London Board-member Gavin Graham.
Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 3:25PM
Prince Charles Cinema
7 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BY London, United Kingdom Click here for a map.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
This year, we’re excited to bring back our popular Killer darts game. A bottle of single malt whisky awaits the winner!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
Once again, we invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
This year, we’re excited to bring back our popular Killer darts game. A bottle of single malt whisky awaits the winner!
As always, this is open to everyone, no need to RSVP, so bring your friends.
Feeling peckish? The Nellie serves gourmet award-winning pies from Pieminister! We’ll have dining tables set up upstairs for those who wish to partake.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Click here to RSVP Friday, January 22, 2016, drinks at 4:30pm, film at 7:00PM
Cineworld Dublin
The Parnell Centre, Parnell St., Dublin 1, Ireland Click here for a map
A big thank you to our sponsors Autodesk and eurotek, who are generously providing pre-screening drinks and food.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Click here to RSVP Friday, January 22, 2016, drinks at 4:30pm, film at 7:00PM
Cineworld Dublin
The Parnell Centre, Parnell St., Dublin 1, Ireland Click here for a map
A big thank you to our sponsors Autodesk and eurotek, who are generously providing pre-screening drinks and food.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members And Their Guests Are Invited To A 70mm IMAX Film Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, plus a Q&A with the visual effects team.
Panelists will include Visual Effects Supervisors Roger Guyett and Pat Tubach, Special Effects Supervisor Chris Corbould and Creature Effects Supervisor Neal Scanlan with moderation by VES Chair Mike Chambers. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESSTARWARS, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
London VES Members And Their Guests Are Invited To A 70mm IMAX Film Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, plus a Q&A with the visual effects team.
Panelists will include Visual Effects Supervisors Roger Guyett and Pat Tubach, Special Effects Supervisor Chris Corbould and Creature Effects Supervisor Neal Scanlan with moderation by VES Chair Mike Chambers. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESSTARWARS, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
We’ve got a magical VES holiday party planned with all the necessary ingredients: food, drinks, decorations, prizes, super surprises and special secrets. We will be returning to the fabulous and unique venue from last year, a Grade I listed Georgian mansion in a very exclusive Central London address. The only thing we’re still missing is you and your guest!
VES Members and Their Guests in London are Invited to a Pre-Release Screening of Disney’s and Pixar’s THE GOOD DINOSAUR followed by a Q&A with Director Peter Sohn and Producer Denise Ream
A Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release of a Disney presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios production. Produced by Denise Ream. Executive producers, John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Andrew Stanton. Directed by Peter Sohn. Screenplay by Meg LeFauve; story by Peter Sohn, Erik Benson, Meg LeFauve, Kelsey Mann, Bob Peterson; Director of PhotographySharon Calahan, Mahyar Abousaeedi; Editor Stephen Schaffeer; Music by Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna; Character art director, Matt Nolte; Sets art directors, Noah Klocek, Huy Nguyen; Effects supervisor, Jon Reisch; Sound designer, Craig Berkey; supervising sound editor, Shannon Mills; re-recording mixers, Michael Semanick, Tom Johnson; Casting, Kevin Reher, Natalie Lyon.
Voice cast:
Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Padilla, Ryan Teeple, Jack McGraw, Marc
Now that the 18th Annual VES Awards season is underway, we once again invite VES members to participate in our Nomination Panels. The Nomination Event will be held worldwide on January 4, 2020.
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