Issue #47 of the magazine is out in print and digital.
Issue #47 of befores & afters magazine is out, and covers the visual effects of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
If you’re a DIGITAL MAGAZINE member, you’ll be able to download the digital edition from the shop post. Or, head to the shop post to buy the digital mag directly.
The magazine is also available on Amazon (details below).
In Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel’s iconic team of heroes is reimagined at a crucial stage of their journey. It introduces Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm as ambitious scientists and explorers-turned super-powered heroes owing to their exposure to cosmic rays. Soon they encounter other worldly beings, including Silver Surfer and Galactus, and must use their combined powers to stave off the end of humanity.
The world of First Steps is the 1960s-inspired retro- futuristic setting of Earth-828, demanding a very particular approach to the film’s production design and visual effects. “The tone and feel of the production design and cinematography guided the VFX development,” production visual effects supervisor Scott Stokdyk told befores & afters. “We wanted the same kind of 60’s space race retro-future look to any FX work. We kept open the possibility of shooting whatever we could in-camera, but remained technique agnostic, and tried to focus on matching the look we wanted with whatever technique was appropriate.”
That approach resulted in the film utilizing a multitude of vast practical sets that were combined with extensive digital environments. Furthermore, a practical animatronic robot on set for the Fantastic Four’s robot companion H.E.R.B.I.E., a practical Fantasticar, and a miniature build for the Excelsior spacecraft helped inform digital replicas of these important components of the film.
Meanwhile, a significant digital visual effects effort was employed to bring the many super-powered beings to life. This included Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic’s stretchiness power, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman’s force fields and invisibility, Johnny Storm/Human Torch’s fire and flying abilities and Ben Grimm/The Thing’s rock body. Then there were Silver Surfer’s own metallic surfaces and flying, and the enormous scale of Galactus. Clashes in outer space and in a retro-future New York were among some of the major visual effects contributions.
This special issue of befores & afters magazine documents the major effects moments as outlined by Stokdyk (who collaborated with visual effects producer Lisa Marra on the film), with direct contributions from visual effects supervisors hailing from Sony Pictures Imageworks, Industrial Light & Magic, Digital Domain and Framestore.
Here are the print magazine links to various Amazon stores:
USA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
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Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
Sweden: https://www.amazon.se/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
Poland: https://www.amazon.pl/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0G6VV3DX7
