“The Batman” utilized ILM’s StageCraft LED volume to add unfinished skylines to a reimagined Gothic-nightmare Gotham. Judging from the impressive animation in the teaser, Wētā appears to have rewritten the photoreal playbook once again. They also had to prevent reflections in the water from the dots and markers because of a moving mirror effect. But there were several obstacles to overcome, including shielding the light from above by placing small white balls on the surface.
The actors learned how hold their breath and were joined by aquatic performers. The oceans contain innovative water development, including first-time underwater performance capture, for which Wētā developed a new system blending underwater photography and performance capture using hundreds of cameras and markers. Letteri reunites with Cameron on “Way of the Water,” where they explore new frontiers of Pandora, particularly the sweeping oceans, which take up a large portion of the film. Under the leadership of senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri - the four-time Oscar winner for “Avatar,” “King Kong,” and the two “Lord of the Rings” sequels, “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King” - the wizards of Weta rewrote the photoreal playbook for character animation, world building, lighting, and rendering. With the original “Avatar,” Weta Digital (now Wētā FX) revolutionized virtual production and 3D spectacle, shooting in the volume with a lightweight virtual camera and a “director-centric” workflow created by Oscar-winning Rob Legato (“The Jungle Book,” “Hugo,” “Titanic”). In addition, there’s the franchise finale “Jurassic World: Dominion” (Universal), Joseph Kosinski’s high-octane “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount), the Daniels’ surprising multiverse of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24), the flipped-out spectacle of Jordan Peele’s “Nope” (Universal), and Baltasar Kormákur’s survival thriller “Beast” (Universal).Īt this stage, early frontrunners include “The Batman,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Jurassic World: Dominion,” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”Ģ0th Century Studios Welcome back to Pandora
On the Marvel side there’s Ryan Coogler’s transformational “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Sam Raimi’s trippy “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and Taika Waititi’s imaginative “Thor: Love and Thunder,” while DC offers “Matt Reeves’ noirish “The Batman,” the introduction of Dwayne Johnson as the roguish “Black Adam,” and the return of Zachary Levi in “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.” But keep in mind that there hasn’t been a superhero VFX Oscar winner since “Spider-Man 2” in 2004. Otherwise, the state of the race will focus on winnowing the other contenders, of which there are several Marvel and DC films, a few sci-fi thrillers, and other assorted action-adventures and fantasies. That is, unless it turns out to be a major disappointment. Not when it has the makings of being another industry game changer. There’s little doubt about James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century/Disney) winning the VFX Oscar, even though it doesn’t arrive until December 16.