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post #61 of 97
6/5/07 at 1:12pm
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Thanks for the clarification George.

Adding to what Kevin was saying in his above post. "The Golden Compass" is considered something "new", which is another plus for it. In '05 for example, 'Narnia' bumped 'Revenge of the Sith' because it was new. While I still maintain that 'Sith' had the stronger work overall, 'Narnia' opened closer to awards season and was a surprise blockbuster. The Pirates team got their Oscar last year, as well as many tagging the movie as a disappointment, hence why I doubt they'll get a nod this year. The same goes for the Spider-Man team. They won for #2 and #3 is also being seen by many as disappointing.

"The Golden Compass" and "Transformers" seem to be the only sure-thing nods right now, especially if both are hugely successful.
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post #62 of 97
6/5/07 at 4:30pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Does Potter stand a chance with a nod? I ask that only since early reports state Order of Phoenix is more action oriented....
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post #63 of 97
6/5/07 at 5:57pm
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

'The Order of the Phoenix' definitely has a shot at that third slot, but so does "300", "Alien vs. Predator: Survival of the Fittest", "Evan Almighty", "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", "I Am Legend", and "Sunshine".

'The Prisoner of Azkaban' is currently the only Potter flick to earn an FX nod.
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post #64 of 97
7/6/07 at 7:18am
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

With "Transformers", ILM has done it again. While Digital Domain and Asylum provided a big assist on the production, ILM was the clearly the "star" of the show as they produced some of the best CGI FX I've ever seen.

The Autobots and Decepticons easily rank on the short list of greatest CGI creations ever for a major motion picture, joining the likes of Davy Jones (ILM), Gollum (WETA), Yoda (ILM), Kong (WETA), and Sonny from "I, Robot" (Digital Domain).
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post #65 of 97
7/6/07 at 5:15pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryRL
With "Transformers", ILM has done it again. While Digital Domain and Asylum provided a big assist on the production, ILM was the clearly the "star" of the show as they produced some of the best CGI FX I've ever seen.

The Autobots and Decepticons easily rank on the short list of greatest CGI creations ever for a major motion picture, joining the likes of Davy Jones (ILM), Gollum (WETA), Yoda (ILM), Kong (WETA), and Sonny from "I, Robot" (Digital Domain).

I agree Terry. The FX might just be THE best.
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post #66 of 97
7/6/07 at 5:19pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

I consider Davy Jones a more difficult creation than the Transformers. Organic is always tougher than mechanical.

I really enjoyed the VFX in Transformers, and I do not dispute the massive memory and rendering requirements of Transformers (or the difficulty matching Bay's camera), but a few scenes stood out as clearly CG (and quite a few were flawless). And again...this is merely a variation of the CG models from Pearl Harbor and the PT. Excellent, near flawless work, but at a difficulty level under that of Davy Jones.
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post #67 of 97
7/6/07 at 5:59pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Chuck,

I'd have to rank Davy Jones and the Transformers neck and neck in terms of overall look and realism. Now, if looking at the films as a whole, the effects in Transformers were far more flawless than At World's End. If we were talking about Dead Man's Chest, I might give both films (Dead Man's Chest and Transformers a near tie, giving the edge to Transformers just for the sheer complexity of the robots.)

Either way, it's pretty moot at this point. ILM, since 1999, has just done some truly remarkable work. Their best work has come in the last 2 years starting with War of the Worlds and Episode III and ending with Transformers.

ILM is pretty much a lock for Oscar gold this year.
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post #68 of 97
7/6/07 at 7:01pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cory S.
Either way, it's pretty moot at this point. ILM, since 1999, has just done some truly remarkable work. Their best work has come in the last 2 years starting with War of the Worlds and Episode III and ending with Transformers.

ILM is pretty much a lock for Oscar gold this year.
I agree with all that. Although I think their 2003 Pirates work was quite good as well. They've been on a tear.
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post #69 of 97
7/6/07 at 11:37pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Kind of forgot about Davy Jones. Yeah, he was absolutely incredible. His eye color, movement, facial expressions etc....were downright freakishly real looking. The other factor was when he was on screen, he even felt real in a tactile way. I'm not describing this very good but hopefully you get the idea.
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post #70 of 97
7/7/07 at 2:47am
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

While the work ILM did on "Transformers" is absolutely jaw-dropping, I still maintain that Davy Jones is the greatest single CGI creation ever. As Tim was saying, it is absolutely freaky how real Jones looked in both Pirates sequels.

The robots of "Transformers" are close seconds in my book though. For me, they never felt fake at any time during the movie. It can also be argued that other than Shia LaBeouf, the CGI creations give far more convincing performances than most of the film's cast.

ILM once again showed why they're the top FX house in the biz. At this point in time, everyone else (Asylum, Digital Domain, Rythm & Hues, SPI, WETA, etc.) is battling for the #2 slot.
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post #71 of 97
7/7/07 at 5:13pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Mayer
What amazed in FOTR was lived-in CG and excellent compositing, similar to what Star Wars pioneered in 1977.

Yet TPM did this (i.e. lived in CG and excellent compositing, not to mention the achievement with Jar Jar) earlier and better than FOTR, which is why it should have been on the list.

Other than that major oversight, I can live with that list. Matrix is not too high.
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post #72 of 97
7/19/07 at 12:01pm
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Entertainment Weekly posted a list of their top 10 favorite CG characters.

#1 Kong from "King Kong" (WETA)
#2 Davy Jones from the Pirates movies (ILM)
#3 Gollum from 'The Two Towers' (WETA)
#4 Bumblebee from "Transformers" (ILM)
#5 Yoda from Episodes II and III (ILM)
#6 T-1000 from T2 (ILM)
#7 Woody and Buzz from "Toy Story" (Pixar)
#8 Sandman from Spidey 3 (SPI)
#9 T-Rex from "Jurassic Park" (ILM)
#10 Casper from "Casper" (ILM)

Agree or disagree?

In all honesty, there are a couple of WTF choices on this list.
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post #73 of 97
7/19/07 at 3:20pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

I agree with the top 3 in terms of technical achievement (which is wildly different criteria than favorite). After that, it gets pretty weird on any level. I love that the T-1000 is on there. The T-Rex isn't really a character.

Woody and Buzz is weird because they aren't really VFX. If you want to count Pixar, then this list is VASTLY different. As in, mostly PIXAR.

If they are going by "favorite", then Yoda is way more popular than Gollum, Kong, and Jones...but Woody and Buzz are more popular than CG Yoda (but not puppet Yoda).

They might as well call it a "random" listing.
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post #74 of 97
7/19/07 at 5:38pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Agreed, Chuck. 'Favorite' is the wrong word to use to describe that list (though even under 'technical' I would still give Davy Jones top spot).
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post #75 of 97
10/23/07 at 8:03pm
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

With only a little more than two months left in the year, I compiled my list of what I thought were the best FX flicks of the year. While the movies themselves may have lacked in terms of storytelling, they boasted top notch work from some of the best FX houses in the business.

My top five (listed with lead FX facility)...

#1 "Transformers" (ILM)
#2 "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (ILM)
#3 "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (ILM)
#4 "Sunshine" (MPC)
#5 "Spider-Man 3" (SPI)

A special shout-out also goes out to Baseblack and Cinesite's work in "Stardust", Weta's work in "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", ILM's work in "Evan Almighty", and the work done in "300" (by various houses).

ILM has had a great year thus far and are hoping to land their 16th Oscar for Best Visual FX. Next year the company's work will be featured in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", "Iron Man", "The Spiderwick Chronicles", and the new "Star Trek" flick.

Rythm & Hues is very likely going to end the year strong with "The Golden Compass". They are also handling the FX for the '08 releases "The Incredible Hulk", "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor", and "Alvin & the Chipmunks". They also may be handling the FX work on "Another Night", which is the sequel to last year's blockbuster hit "Night at the Museum", which is tentatively set for a December '09 release.
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post #76 of 97
10/23/07 at 8:23pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Good list Terry.
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post #77 of 97
10/23/07 at 9:02pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

A list where I've actually seen everything on it. Of the films, I easily prefer Sunshine the most. It has no shot at even a nom, though. Like The Fountain last year

Among the ILM noms, I prefer Pirates. I still think Jones is way harder than Optimus...and way more creative. But I imagine TF will win since Pirates 2 already did (right, or am I imagining that?).

The most seamless effects I've seen all year were in Zodiac, but that's not a VFX film.
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post #78 of 97
10/23/07 at 9:31pm
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

You're right, ILM already got awarded last year for their work on Davy Jones in Pirates 2 and "Transformers" is (right now) the odds on fave to win the award ("The Golden Compass" still looks to be their chief competition). I don't see Pirates 2 and 3 pulling a LOTR.
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post #79 of 97
10/24/07 at 6:23am

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Davy Jones remains the single most believable CGI EVER made. Ever. Not sure which thread I posted this but it was actually downright scary how awesome Jones was. His eyes might have been the best part. Freakingly great. They knocked it out the cinema park on that.

Haven't seen Sunshine.

Order of Phoenix probably had the best effects so far in the HP series.
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post #80 of 97
10/24/07 at 7:19am

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

As a note, (for my money) the second best effects shot in Pirates 3 was the ship exploding around Lord whatever...and that was a Digital Domain shot. I agree that Jones is the most technically perfect CG creation at this time (until Avatar).

TF just left me a bit cold. In the end, it was a huge chunk of pixels fighting a huge chunk of pixels, much like Van Helsing. The pixels were a lot better, I suppose (and so was the film, but that's partially because VH was execrable).

That said, since Pirates 3 won't get it, TF is next best choice by far.

Tim, no one saw Sunshine. It's a people movie, not an effects movie, but the effects are excellent, and better than the frontrunners on the conceptual front.
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post #81 of 97
10/24/07 at 8:13am

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Are you sure that ILM is the lead on Harry Potter? From listening to a VFX podcast about it I got the impression that an England-based studio was lead with work farmed out to lots of different houses including ILM.
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post #82 of 97
10/24/07 at 8:41am
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

I was under the impression that ILM served as lead FX house for HP5. I know that Baseblack, Cinesite, MPC, and various other houses did work on the movie as well as ILM. I could be wrong, but I thought ILM served as lead. Whatever the case may be, I'm in total agreement with Tim that HP5 had the best FX work yet of the Harry Potter franchise.

The FX work in "Sunshine" was more seamless than many other FX flicks this year, but as Chuck pointed out, not a lot of people have seen it. Still, while "Transformers" is getting all the glory, Davy Jones still remains the measuring stick for which other CG characters are going to be judged by from here on out in my opinion. ILM really raised the bar with Jones, despite what Michael Bay says.
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post #83 of 97
10/24/07 at 10:43pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Well, Michael Bay is saying alot of things lately

One shouldn't be surprised but in some ways I am-of how inconsistent some films are with FX. Not just from film to film but there are moments in King Kong for example that aren't that good, but then there's Kong. Wow. Big Wow. Spidey 3 just misfired on me so much that I was looking at the FX on my watch rather than the screen.

5 years ago we had Yoda in AOTC, & Gollum in TTT. Both solid entries...until one sees Davy Jones and thinks, man how did they do that.

Cameron's Avatar should be exhilirating. JC has that rare knack to mix 1st rate FX with 1st rate story/directing.

I know I'm rambling here but for me & it's probably not fair, but it's hard to take a film's quality or lack of out the equation when judging these things. When a film just misses and doesn't connect, I REALLY notice flaws or fakiness of the effects. When I'm connecting, those things blend in...
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post #84 of 97
10/25/07 at 1:50pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

According to Wikipedia, Double Negative was the lead effects house on HP5, doing 950 of 1400 shots. That matches with what I heard before. ILM did the dementor effects IIRC, which is strange because I thought they were much worse than their appearance in HP3 but that might have just been due to the design change.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_P... isual_effects
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post #85 of 97
10/25/07 at 6:26pm

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Going way back to the first post of the thread...a minor correction.

The Planet P. attack in Starship Troopers and basically all shots with the bugs in that movie were done by Phil Tippett Studios, not ILM. Pioneering and stunning work to say the least- it's amazing how well SST effects hold up 10 years later. I wonder if PTS still exists, or if they went under- they certainly kicked the industry's ass with their work in that film- which, at the time, was easily the most believable CG ever put to film IMO- and much of it done in broad daylight!

-Dennis
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post #86 of 97
10/25/07 at 11:26pm
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Kevin, thanks for the clarification.

Dennis, PTS does still exist. They are among the FX houses doing work on the upcoming films "Enchanted", "The Golden Compass", and "The Spiderwick Chronicles".

Tim, I'm totally with you on your assessment of Davy Jones, as well as James Cameron's upcoming "Avatar". Some have already conceded Weta the '09 FX Oscar based on the reputations of both the director and the FX house.
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post #87 of 97
10/26/07 at 6:35am

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Well Terry, great minds think alike. ...and you're coming along nicely.
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post #88 of 97
10/27/07 at 12:25pm
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses



Thank you sir.
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post #89 of 97
11/8/07 at 8:43am
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Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

Looks like SPI will be the principle FX company on the upcoming "Justice League" movie. Weta, Animal Logic, and other houses are currently bidding on various shots of the movie, but SPI will handle the majority of the work.
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post #90 of 97
11/8/07 at 9:32am

Re: The best of the best: The SP-FX houses

I hope they can CG some B-listers, because JL is looking ragged on the casting front
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