Oscar shortlist for visual effects category announced
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the shortlist of films in the running for this year's Visual Effects Oscar.
The executive committee of the Academy's Visual Effects Branch winnowed down the list of eligible films to 10. Members of the branch will attend a special screening on January 10, 2015 -- the celebrated "bake-off" -- to view 10-minute excerpts from each film, before voting for the final five nominees.
To watch clip reels and behind-the-scenes footage from FX houses detailing the creation of some of this year's most spectacular imagery, click on the embedded video players below.
In alphabetical order:
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
This Wired magazine video featurette explores Industrial Light & Magic's 3-D computer animation for the crashing helicarrier.
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes"
In this IGN interview, visual effects supervisor Erik Winquest of Weta Digital explains how the creation of digital simians of the "Apes" franchise has evolved since "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."
"Godzilla"
An FX-shot breakdown by visual effects house MPC of the animated beasties and layered effects in "Godzilla."
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
VFX house Method Studios produced this breakdown reel of shots, showing the compositing, green screen and animation work from the latest Marvel Comics adventure.
"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"
No behind-the-scenes features yet on the effects from the concluding chapter of Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" trilogy (it's still to open), but here is an extended trailer, showing Middle-Earth in lots of trouble.
"Interstellar"
This featurette about the theoretical plotting that went into the design of the wormhole in "Interstellar" contains a generous helping of stunning shots from the finished film, though not necessarily an explanation of how they were created. We'll just have to take their word for it.
"Maleficent"
This Wired featurette details Digital Domain's process of realizing fully-digital characters.
"Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb"
Like "The Hobbit," no featurette yet on this Christmas film, but the trailer shows off plenty of shots involving animated characters, lava flows and, yes, a peeing monkey.
"Transformers: Age of Extinction"
This featurette from Paramount Pictures details the creation of the Dinobots.
"X-Men: Days of Future Past"
Digital Domain's process for transforming Jennifer Lawrence's character Mystique is detailed feather by feather. We also see how Magneto razes an entire stadium.
Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
The 87th annual Academy Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood.
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