Retro
Category
The CG side of ‘Crimson Tide’
VFX supe Pete Travers reflects on the early days of Dynamation.
The story behind ‘Cloverfield’s’ classic Statue of Liberty shot
…and why it was different in the teaser trailer.
Some VFX nostalgia: ‘Harry Potter’ quidditch and the creature shop
Effects videos from the ‘Harry Potter’ series.
The true story behind ‘Gladiator’s’ prosthetic tiger
How the practical effect formed part of the film’s classic Colosseum scene.
‘Empire Strikes Back’ at 40: How the iconic Slave 1 matte painting was done
Harrison Ellenshaw breaks down the planning, painting and compositing of the classic shot.
‘RoboCop 2’: The crazy story of how Cain got his CG puppeteered head
When real-time digital puppeteering and stop-motion combined.
‘Splosions! and ‘The X-Files Movie’
How that miniature Fed building was built…and destroyed.
The oral history of the Dinosaur Input Device
Key contributors to ‘Jurassic Park’s’ Dinosaur Input Device share their memories of working on the landmark film.
The way the opening tauntaun shot was done in ‘Empire Strikes Back’ still makes me flip
Phil Tippett explains how Dennis Muren and ILM made it happen…just.
Morphing through the ages in ‘Mission to Mars’
Looking back at ILM’s evolution sequence for the film.
Particles, ILM and ‘The Hunt For Red October’
A deep, er, dive on the early ILM particle system tool, psys.
Whatever happened to the practical creatures from ‘Pitch Black’?
Well, those animatronic bioraptors lasted almost exactly 20 years.
Looking back at ‘Sonic’ director Jeff Fowler’s Oscar-nominated ‘Gopher Broke’
The animated short was made at Blur Studio in 2004 – and it’s crazy fun.
A trip (back) to ‘The Beach’
The VFX of that steamy plankton-fuelled love scene, two decades on.
Sheena Duggal on ‘Contact’s’ memorable mirror moment
The VFX supe is being recognized at the upcoming VES Awards.
That time a CG elephant crushed a car
…and audiences went wild.
What it took to make ‘Stuart Little’s’ fur, 20 years ago
A short history of mouse fur at Sony Pictures Imageworks.
How this stylized hand-drawn-esque CG animated short was made…in 1992
All about PDI and Eric Darnell’s ‘Gas Planet’.
The stop-motion effects of ‘The Rocketeer’
‘The Rocketeer’ has a ton of incredible old-school VFX.
Talking animal VFX: the pioneering films you might not know about
Before you see ‘Lady and the Tramp’, re-visit these landmark speaking animal effects.
Some of your favorite CG ‘Toy Story’ characters actually began as clay sculpts
Inside the old-school modeling process with Pixar’s Bill Reeves.
‘Stargate’ stories
Jeffrey A. Okun reflects on the somewhat tumultuous VFX history of the classic sci-fi film.
The tech of ‘Terminator 2’ – an oral history
Everything from Make Sticky to Body Sock and painting a grid onto Robert Patrick.
You might be surprised how Thing was made for ‘The Addams Family’
‘Casting’ a hand was a tricky job.
The secrets behind the life (and death) of Titanic’s propeller guy
VFX crew from ‘Titanic’ reflect on the saddest character of them all.