VFX Notes: Ep 6 – Looking back at ‘2010: The Year We Make Contact’, and, are miniatures dead?

A deep dive with Hugo and Ian on an old-school film and old-school VFX techniques.

Hugo Guerra from Hugo’s Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters discuss the miniatures, practical effects and digital effects of 2010: The Year We Make Contact, and also ask, ‘Are miniatures dead?’

Listen in at Spotify, Apple Podcasts or directly in the player below. Also, here’s the RSS feed.

Run down

01:00 – 2010: The Year We Make Contact
46:28 – Are miniatures dead?
50:32 – Interstellar miniatures
51:06 – The Mandalorian Razor Crest
55:48 – Stop motion animation studios (Laika)
57:40 – Moon miniatures
1:00:58 – First Man miniatures
1:07:57 – Blade Runner 2049 LAPD city miniatures
1:14:22 – Tenet miniatures
1:17:14 – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood miniatures
01:21:28 – Wrap up

There’s also the visual podcast version on YouTube, embedded here.

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Show Notes

Cinefex #20 – an entire amazing issue on 2010. This is out of print but available on their iPad edition.

Coverage at befores & afters on miniatures

Berton Pierce’s Sense of Scale interviews – amazing resource about miniature effects



Weta Workshop’s Blade Runner 2049 miniatures

DNEG’s visual effects for First Man, including a look at the miniatures

ILM’s Razor Crest behind the scenes

Tweet by @vashikoo on the models in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Ian Hunter, director and miniature effects supervisor

Need After Effects and other VFX plugins? Find them at Toolfarm.



2 Replies to “VFX Notes: Ep 6 – Looking back at ‘2010: The Year We Make Contact’, and, are miniatures dead?

  1. Re: the discussion about Balde Runner miniatures, the implication seemed to be that tha LAPD shot was the only full on minis shot, but that the trash mesa was not used. This is entirely false, the entirety of the trash mesa fly through was the miniature. It is true that the spinner crash was done in CG at the direction of the FX supervisor. But the trash mesa shots were all (although no doubt helped in Post with CG) using the miniature, I know this because I shot all this stuff. Thanks

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