Want to know the VFX secrets of the top 3D movies of the moment? Then you really need to check out our sister title 3D World magazine, the world's leading title for 3D artists and animators, which has a direct line to the industry's biggest names. But in the meantime, here's an amuse-bouche, in the form of the best VFX breakdown videos released this month.
From tightrope walkers to deep sea divers, take a look behind the scenes of some top-class visual effects, and get a unique insight into how they were created...
01. The Walk
If you haven't yet seen Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk, a thrilling reconstruction of Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1970s New York, we'd recommend you do so (ideally on a big a screen as possible and in stereoscopic 3D). Canadian effects house Rodeo FX delivered more than 100 visual effects shots for the movie, including CG reconstructions of the towers, and this breakdown provides a fascinating insight into their stellar work.
02. Black Sea
Kevin Macdonald’s Black Sea tells the story of a captain, played by Jude Law, searching for a lost submarine full of gold. Boutique London studio Union VFX handled the effects, which included incorporating a CG submarine into both surface and underwater shots. This VFX breakdown shows how some of the most impressive effects were put together.
03. Pixels
A sci-fi comedy starring Adam Sandler, Pixels is one of those films you either love or hate – but no-one can deny the effects were incredible. The bizarre story sees aliens misinterpret video feeds of an 80s arcade game tournament as a declaration of war; they then attack the Earth in the form of the video game characters. Here, Norwegian studio Storm Studios presents a VFX breakdown of one of the film's standout sequences, set at India's Taj Mahal.
04. Stromae's Quand C’est music video
Paul Van Haver, better known by his stage name Stromae, is a celebrated Belgian musician, singer, rapper and songwriter. For the music video to his latest song (top), Quand C’est, Belgian studio Benuts created some stunning monochrome visuals, for which they present an enlightening VFX breakdown above.
05. Sainsbury's Christmas ad
One of the UK's biggest supermarket chains, Sainsbury's Christmas commercial (top) has got everyone talking this season. This behind the scenes video (above) explains how veteran British studio Framestore brought the tale of Mog's Christmas Calamity to CG life, all the way from sketch to screen.
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