The visual effects branch of the Motion Picture Academy recently narrowed its list of VFX Oscar contenders down to 20 films, from which 10 will be shortlisted. They range from the bold Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” to Ridley Scott’s epic “Gladiator II,” the dramatic “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” and Jon M. Chu’s hit musical “Wicked.”
The branch’s executive committee will next select the shortlist, which will be announced on Dec. 17, and from there branch members will vote on the five films that will earn Oscar nominations. Already, the long list underscores the state of the art and the science.
One general trend is the large volume of legacy franchises in the mix, though that isn’t necessarily a consideration for voters. Movies that are sequels (or prequels) to films that previously won or were nominated for the VFX Oscar include “Alien: Romulus,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” “Dune: Part 2,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” “Gladiator II,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Twisters.”
As to technique, in some years the VFX branch voters have made selections that also served to highlight advances in the field, and if that applies this year, that might include de-aging/synthetic human work created by artists with the assistance of AI-driven tools. The concept isn’t totally new – “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” used machine learning as part of its process for de-aging Harrison Ford and it made the VFX shortlist a year ago – but this year there are a trio of notable contenders.
They include Robert Zemeckis’ “Here,” which deftly used techniques developed at AI startup Metaphysic (which is credited as the lead VFX studio on the movie) to create a production workflow to help age and de-age stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright over the decades of their characters’ lives. The film underperformed at the box office but it will be interesting to see if branch voters give its VFX team props for its ambitious approach.
The VFX in “Alien: Romulus” also involved Metaphysic, though overall this film involved a wide range of practical and digital VFX techniques. Metaphysic contributed to the return of the late Ian Holm, who played an android in 1979’s “Alien,” and his likeness appears in “Romulus” with an AI assist.
As part of the range of practical and digital VFX work in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” director George Miller employed a clever use of Metaphysic’s AI tech to create a resemblance between Alyla Browne, who plays the titular character as a child, and Anya Taylor Joy, who assumes the role as the story skips ahead several years. In an interview on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Taylor-Joy explained that in order to create a seamless transition, at the beginning of the movie, it’s about 35% of her appearance on Browne, and by the time that Taylor Jay is about to assume the role, it’s roughly 80%.
Should this work resonate with voters, it could be the most notable year for advancements in de-aging since 2019, when a string of contenders including “Gemini Man,” “Captain Marvel” and “The Irishman” were among the movies that were shortlisted in the VFX race. (Underscoring the trend that year, VFX supervisor Robert Legato got a big laugh at the VFX contenders “bakeoff” that year when, presenting his team’s work on Jon Favreau’s “The Lion King,” he quipped, “we de-aged Simba.”)
Strong non-human digital characters also figure prominently in this season’s long list of contenders, including Wētā FX’s work on “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” and upcoming “Better Man.” Both films built on advances from the previous “Apes” trilogy and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” though each had very different requirements.
The VFX pros further evolved their work to make their photoreal cast of emotive synthetic simians in the latest “Planet of the Apes” drama. Meanwhile, Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” stars an emotive CG monkey as the British singer songwriter. To live, believably, in the live action movie, the Robbie Williams character had to have the appearance of a photoreal chimp but otherwise be presented as a “human” character who interacts with other human characters and shows a range of human emotions.
The long list also includes VFX that were used to great effect to build fantasy worlds in films such as “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (which combined a wide range of VFX techniques) and “Wicked,” as well as worlds more grounded in realism, such as “Civil War” and “A Quiet Place: Day One.”
Contenders also include films that leaned heavily into cutting edge particle simulation while creating believable worlds, such as to develop the harsh desert surface of Arrakis in “Dune Part 2” (work led by VFX studio DNEG) and to conjure the violent tornados that endanger Oklahoma residents in “Twisters” (Industrial Light & Magic).
Typically at least one superhero movie earns a spot on the shortlist, but this year is particularly light on such films and only “Deadpool & Wolverine” advanced to the long list of contenders. When only one such title makes the cut, it’s typically the one that was best received, so that might help “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which topped $1 billion worldwide.
When a VFX nominee is also a best picture contender, that film frequently fares well in the effects race (take for example category winners such as “Hugo,” “Life of Pi” and “1917,” which might have been helped along by the fact that they were widely seen and respected titles). That might potentially give added weight to best picture contenders such as “Gladiator II” (The original 2000 “Gladiator” claimed five Oscars including best picture and VFX.)
A final note, the blurred lines between VFX and animation could also impact this year’s race. To date, the only animated features to earn VFX Oscar nominations are a pair of stop-motion movies (1993’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and 2016’s “Kubo and the Two Strings”), and, for some, Jon Favreau’s 2009 “The Lion King,” though professionals are divided on whether it should be considered an animated feature (it was made using virtual production techniques). Branch members have varying views on whether to include fully CG animated movies in the VFX race. Voters will have to wait and see if Barry Jenkins’ “Lion King” prequel “Mufasa” could follow in “The Lion King” footsteps.
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