Incredible films need incredible visuals. Over the past decade, Technicolor Group have used some of the latest and most innovative technologies of the time to create true movie magic. From motion-capture crafting characters, CGI animals, and more, these films represent some of the best in the past 10 years. We are proud to be a part of seven of IndieWire’s top 23 VFX Oscar winners of the 21st century and to clinch the number three spot with The Jungle Book.
Life of Pi (2012)
From visionary director Ang Lee and based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel, Life of Pi is an inspirational story of a young man who, upon surviving a shipwreck at sea, is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. MPC VFX Supervisor Guillaume Rocheron and VFX Producer Genevieve West led the team, delivering over 110 shots in native stereo. MPC’s main areas of work included creating two massive storm sequences: the sinking of Pi’s cargo ship, The Tsimtsum, and the Storm of God, the dramatic climax to Pi’s journey aboard his marooned lifeboat. Other work included animating over 20 panicked animals aboard the sinking ship, creating a CG lizard, hornbill, and Cassowaries for the opening titles and the first shots of Pi leaving India on board The Tsimtsum.
“Blade Runner 2049” (2017)
Replicating Rachael for Blade Runner 2049 was both a huge honor for MPC as well as an exciting technical and creative challenge. The team lead by VFX Supervisor Richard Clegg worked closely with Director Denis Villeneuve and Production VFX Supervisor John Nelson. MPC’s team started off with a detailed present-day scan of Sean Young’s head, captured on the ICT Light stage. This scan was used as a reference for MPC’s artists to hand model an anatomically accurate 3D skull. With the CG skull accurately recreated, it was lined it up against scenes from the original 1982 movie. During the shoot MPC’s onset team captured videogrammetry of the performance using Dimensional Imaging’s DI4D capture rig. They captured Sean Young and the body double, who both, directed by Denis, reenacted the performance for every shot.
Gladiator (2000)
MPC (previously Mill Film) won the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects for their work on Gladiator. They crafted the iconic crowds gathered around the arena to watch Russel Crowe’s iconic battles. Where filmmakers of the past were forced to spend gargantuan amounts of time and money on crowd scenes that utilized thousands of extras, Scott was able to achieve epic scale by combining human actors with digital facsimiles, turning a couple thousand people into 70,000 computer-generated performers for the movie’s massive Colosseum sequences. Several of the shots Scott designed had to traverse the entire stadium, with the most impressive a 360-degree Steadicam move that followed the gladiators as they entered the arena; for all these moments, MPC created digital fans who moved, gestured, and cheered like real extras. The Colosseum itself was a marvel of digital effects crossed with practical production design, as the craftspeople at Mill Film created seamless computer-generated extensions for Arthur Max’s awe-inspiring set.
“1917” (2019)
MPC was proud to lead the visual effects work in 1917, with approximately 600 artists contributing to the film, which was shot almost entirely outdoors on locations around the United Kingdom. MPC employed multiple digital techniques to make the stitches in the film invisible; from simple wipes to complex digital double takeovers. A few sequences also required significant digital-environment work, including No Man’s Land, the canal crossing, the burning village of Écoust and Schofield’s jump into the river. In addition to the digital environments, MPC also created character and vehicle animation, destruction, pyro, and water effects. Because the production employed long, uninterrupted takes, creating visual effects that held up to scrutiny, without cuts, across unbroken scenes and in 4K IMAX, presented MPC with unique creative and logistical challenges.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
David Fincher’s long-gestating reverse-aging passion project (adapted from the F. Scott Fitzgerald novella), starring Brad Pitt, was a breakthrough in performance capture animation. MPC VFX Supervisor Steve Preeg was specifically tasked with creating and maintaining a physically and emotionally authentic CG head and face to carry the performance of iconic actor Brad Pitt as he ages backward from 87 to 63 (physically) while maturing emotionally. Steve supervised the creation and integration of CG heads with three different body actors, while driving the character’s every move along with Pitt’s performance and facial expressions – delivering a seamless performance for 52 minutes of the movie. For his work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Steve received an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects.
Gravity (2013)
Technicolor’s teams in Hollywood and London supported the London-based production and post-production of Gravity with a myriad of globally deployed solutions and talent – led by senior supervising digital colorist Steven J. Scott working closely with Lubezki from the company’s digital hub in Hollywood. The array of services performed by Technicolor for Gravity included: digital intermediate color-grading for both 2D and 3D presentations; VFX plate-photography grading; theatrical and broadcast trailers-marketing color-timing; and finally, the film’s digital cinema DCP and home entertainment mastering. Technicolor’s Soho-based colorist Max Horton handled the mapping of 2D color grading onto the film’s 3D deliverables. Adam Mendez was responsible for the Foley piece.
The Jungle Book (2015)
Under the supervision of Adam Valdez, MPC created 54 species and 224 unique animals with new computer programs to better simulate muscles, skin, and fur for The Jungle Book. Additionally, the studio’s Bangalore facility did extensive research for the jungle before animating plants, trees, vines, and rocks along with rushing rivers, mudslides and grasses blowing in the wind. Director Jon Favreau, Production VFX Supervisor Rob Legato and The Jungle Book’s production team made the bold decision to film the movie without any outdoor locations. A new approach to filmmaking would be required, harnessing the latest technology and creative talent. In the end a team of more than 800 computer graphics artists would work for over a year to create the VFX.
To learn more about the movies on this list, you can read Indiewire’s full list of all Oscar-winning VFX films
Discover more about Technicolor’s history and legacy in filmmaking with our celebration of 100 Years of Disney.
