VFX Notes: Recent Episodes

befores & afters

Join director and VFX supervisor Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and befores & afters editor Ian Failes in a detailed discussion of the latest in visual effects.

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In the latest VFX Notes podcast, Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes discuss the visual effects in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Many VFX studios contributed to the film, principally Weta FX, ILM, Digital Domain and Cinesite, among others.

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Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters discuss the making of VFX Oscar-nominated 'All Quiet on the Western Front.'

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Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes break down the big ticket VFX items in the new James Cameron film.

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Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes explore the extensive visual effects work in Top Gun: Maverick, which has largely not received any VFX coverage in the press so far. The use of real aerial photography mixed and matched with CG planes, environments and other elements is seamless.

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Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes discuss 'Everything Everywhere all at Once' and its unusual approach to VFX.

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Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters go back to 2009 and the release of James Cameron's Avatar, which changed the game in movie making in several ways, including stereo, virtual production and performance capture.

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Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters dive into Jordan Peele's NOPE, and the visual effects by MPC.

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This week on VFX Notes with Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes, we're looking at the stunning C-17 / car / skydiving sequence in Uncharted, featuring Tom Holland. An array of bluescreen shooting, wire work, robot arms, and even a bluescreen car stuffy, were used. VFX were crafted by DNEG.

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This week on VFX Notes with Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes, we're looking at the stunning C-17 / car / skydiving sequence in Uncharted, featuring Tom Holland. An array of bluescreen shooting, wire work, robot arms, and even a bluescreen car stuffy, were used. VFX were crafted by DNEG.

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This week on VFX Notes, Ian Failes and Hugo Guerra wrap up our coverage of the global phenomenon that is RRR. We discuss the tiger sequence, the Intermission fight, fighting with hoses, the use of Blender in the film, the tiger punch and the leopard throw, the prison break and the final forest fight.

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In this new VFX Notes episode, Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes look into the making of this incredible film, including aspects of its production and some of the major VFX moments. 

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Melting rats, goop, the Tom/Bruce Monster and Starcourt Mall are all covered in VFX Notes, with Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes.

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Melting rats, goop, the Tom/Bruce Monster and Starcourt Mall are all covered in VFX Notes, with Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes.

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This week on VFX Notes, Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters head back into the Upside Down to look back at Stranger Things, series 2. 

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This week on VFX Notes, Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters head into the Upside Down to look back at Stranger Things, series 1

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This week on VFX Notes, Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters jump into Wētā FX's visual effects for the stunning batmobile chase sequence in The Batman.

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This week, VFX Notes chats to 'Godzilla' visual effects supervisor Volker Engel about the 1998 Roland Emmerich film.

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Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes go back in time on DNEG’s VFX for Last Night in Soho. We also explore some key mirror gags and VFX shots from history. 

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Hugo and Ian are back for part 2 of our discussion of the practical and digital effects in Twister.

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In part 3 of our 'Doctor Strange' VFX Notes series, Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters delve into ILM's incredible work on the NYC mirror dimension scenes and Hong Kong reverse shots.

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Listen to part 1 of our discussion on the visual effects of Jan de Bont's 'Twister', a film that mastered the art of combining real and virtual effects. 

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In part 2 of our 'Doctor Strange' discussion at VFX Notes, Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters break down Method Studios' work on the multi-verse sequence in the film.

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In part 1 of VFX Notes' 'Doctor Strange' series, Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes review the film and also cover the amazing VFX for the whips, the eyes, the freakin' cloak and the car crash.

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Hugo and Ian talk practical and digital for the effects for 'No Time To Die'.

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Join Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes as we get into the VFX of not one but three Spider-Man in 'No Way Home'. 

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Catchphrase! Ian Failes from befores & afters and Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk explore this Ryan Reynolds film and the VFX behind it, including the incredible face replacement work.

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Ian Failes from befores & afters and Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk explore the visual effects of Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune'.

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Stef Ceretti is a visual effects supervisor with some incredible credits, most recently on Marvel films Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Dr. Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy. Previously he worked at BUF and then in some London VFX studios. Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes have some fun asking Stef about all sorts of VFX things.

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Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes look back at last year's VFX Oscar winner, Tenet, and dive into the time-bending effects work.

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Ian and Hugo discuss the visual effects of Eternals, and we also look at some other big films crafted by what were traditionally 'indie' directors.

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Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes discuss the VFX of The Matrix. We go over bullet time, miniatures, the filming and behind the scenes. We also discuss the brand new The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience.

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Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes discuss the visual effects in 'Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings'. 

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Ian Failes from befores & afters and Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk are joined by Craig Barron, creative director at Magnopus, and co-founder and VFX supervisor at Matte World Digital.

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Ian Failes from befores & afters and Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk chat to Foundry Director of Product - New Technology Mathieu Mazerolle for a special exclusive interview about the new Unreal Reader for Nuke.

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We celebrate the 10th episode of VFX Notes, and discuss the VFX of Venom 2, Halloween Kills, The French Dispatch, and the state of play of WFH in VFX.

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Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes discuss the practical, miniature, matte painting and optical visual effects behind the 1984 film, Dune. 

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This week Ian Failes and Hugo Guerra discuss David Fincher, focusing on the incredible invisible effects work achieved by his team, including from Digital Domain, on films such as Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

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Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters dive deep into the art of films based on video games (and yes we talk about...Angry Birds 2). 

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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?'

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Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters chat about the VFX in The Suicide Squad, Jungle Cruise and Old, and discuss the huge prevalence of digital de-ageing.

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Hugo Guerra from Hugo’s Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters do some deep discussion on the latest films and TV series, and talk about the latest in LED wall and real-time tech.

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Hugo Guerra from Hugo’s Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters discuss Black Widow, preview SIGGRAPH 2021, talk about why VFX artists need to know LUTs, and enter the discourse on CG vs. practical filmmaking.

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Hugo Guerra and Ian Failes discuss what they've been watching (hint, it's fast and furious), look at the major leaps in sytlization in animation, discuss z-depth and talk about the best VFX forums on the web.

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Hugo Guerra from Hugo's Desk and Ian Failes from befores & afters discuss the ethics of actor replacement like in Army of the Dead, the latest on UE5 from Epic Games, a new Unreal Engine bridge in Nuke, what gamma means and the best VFX things to check out on the web right now.