Awards Ceremony 2020: Visual Effects Recap
The Visual Effects Spectacle at the 92nd Academy Awards
The 92nd Academy Awards, set to air on February 9, 2020, will showcase a stunning display of visual effects (VFX) in the Best Visual Effects category. Among the nominees are blockbuster films like The Lion King, Avengers: Endgame, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
According to the Academy Awards ballot, courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes, other nominees for Best Picture, such as Little Women, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, 1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Parasite, also boast impressive VFX.
One of the most anticipated films in the category is 1917, which uses long-take cinematography to create the illusion of a continuous, real-time journey through World War I battlefields. The film's visual effects were crucial in stitching together multiple complex shots and digitally extending sets and environments to maintain the immersion of the "one-shot" experience.
Another standout film is Blade Runner 2049, which won the Best Visual Effects award in 2017. The film used extensive CGI to create futuristic cityscapes, holograms, and environmental augmentation, blending practical effects with digital enhancements to create a richly detailed dystopian world.
The animated film Klaus, nominated for Best Animated Feature, combines traditional hand-drawn 2D animation with CGI techniques, especially for lighting and shading. This hybrid approach gives the film a unique look that resembles a living illustrated storybook, pushing hand-drawn animation into new visual territory by merging it with computer-generated light effects.
Visual effects artists working on The Lion King, Avengers: Endgame, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker use Sapphire, Mocha Pro, Silhouette, and Continuum to help with their work. Rob Legato, a three-time Oscar-winning VFX Supervisor, is nominated for The Lion King and has won two Visual Effects Society Awards for his work on it. Legato has also worked on various films, including The Lion King, Avengers: Endgame, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
In an exclusive Ask the Artist feature, Legato was interviewed about his work on The Lion King. Laika, the illustrious stop-motion studio, also faced VFX challenges during the production of Missing Link, which is nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film category. James Pina, a senior paint artist at Laika, worked on the film.
The Best Visual Effects nominated films for the 92nd Academy Awards showcase a range of advanced visual effects techniques, including seamless long-take integration, CGI enhancements, and innovative animation methods. These techniques blend practical and digital effects, use CGI to extend environments or create impossible scenes, and employ innovative camera work combined with digital postproduction to maintain narrative immersion.
The visual effects in these nominated films showcase the cutting-edge capabilities of visual effects in contemporary filmmaking, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in cinema. Tune in to the Academy Awards on February 9 to witness the spectacle of these visual effects first-hand. The ceremony will start at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST.
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