Gareth Edwards' The Creator: A new approach to VFX? | VFX Notes Podcast Ep 56

(chapters available) This week we continue with covering all the Oscars' nominees for best VFX. Ian from @beforesmag and I discuss Gareth Edwards' The Creator. We break down the production of the film, the creative vision, the unique shooting style, and the unconventional approach to VFX. Enjoy,
Chapters:
00:00:00 - intro
00:02:35 - first impressions
00:09:39 - not a huge hit but potentially will become a cult movie
00:11:02 - great performances
00:13:33 - different perspectives regarding AI
00:15:27 - americans are the villains here
00:16:47 - Gareth Edwards appreciation moment
00:22:41 - the collaboration with DOP Greg Frasier
00:26:35 - the Sony Alpha FX3 camera
00:32:40 - are productions bloated by equipment?
00:36:43 - limitations drive creativity
00:37:54 - a different approach to making VFX
00:38:20 - the camera as the viewfinder and the lens used
00:39:47 - a super economic way of filming
00:40:58 - the many locations of the shoot
00:42:52 - the VFX where openly discussed and pushed in the marketing
00:44:01 - so many companies on the credit
00:44:39 - a more 'old school' approach to the VFX
00:46:12 - VFX is so much more advanced these days. Off-the-shelf software
00:49:22 - making clean plates from scratch
00:50:20 - not telling actors which ones would be robots
00:55:16 - village attack
00:56:56 - the shot design is excellent
00:57:31 - the nomad
00:58:25 - virtual camera scouting
00:59:07 - stagecraft volume work
01:03:24 - not using mocap suits onset
01:05:51 - the ILM CG test renders
01:10:35 - the film almost had an AI soundtrack
01:11:26 - asking ILM if they used AI on the film
01:13:32 - Podcast supporters’ credits
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#thecreator #cgi #vfx

[@HugosDesk]

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[@beforesmag]

Thanks everyone for watching our episode! In the video I mention something about ILM outsourcing work to a number of vendors and supervising those shots (as they may have done on other projects). I've learned this was not the case. Some assets were shared, of course, but these vendors (11 additional ones) came on board when shot counts increased. I have to say, those vendors did an awesome job too...definitely seek out some of the breakdowns they've been able to release (for example from Fin, Folks, MARZ and several others). - Ian

[@tyleradams3490]

I really enjoyed the movie. I was a little torn though! On one hand I thought it was brave to let Joshua be prejudice and apathetic towards Alphie for so much of the journey and stay very selfish and one track minded about his wife... BUT I also would have enjoyed seeing a father-daughter-bond form much sooner, for more sentimentality and emotion. Making the lead "unlikeable" is a gamble. So I think it was a mix of an apathetic lead and a slightly clunky plot. All that said, it's definitely one of my favorite sci-fi films. And it was gorgeous, and I thought the world-building was top notch. I'm a big fan of Neill Blomkamp's District 9 and Chappie. And as a VFX artist I really admire the application and execution of CGI in tighter budget high concept story telling!

[@sidneykuehn6665]

Another great episode you guys! Didn't get a chance to see this when it was in theaters but I'm definitely going to have to pick it up on blu-ray now

[@HugosDesk]

Thanks so much for watching. The BluRay is great, it included the Disney Plus doc!

[@tyleradams3490]

An added bonus of the fx3 compared to the fx9 is the sensor readout speed. 8ms vs 22ms respectively. I love my a7s iii for that fast readout, it's just nice to have a more stable image in terms of rolling shutter distortions for more accurate tracking. Disney+ has the making of, I hear they used an Atomos to record Prores Raw for their capture - That bypasses the sony noise reduction that is forcefully applied to 12800 ISO footage AND of course they'll get the max bit depth. Rogue One is probably the best of Star Wars, it's been a while since I've seen it though. Very good.

[@ukmonk]

Great video thank you! It kinda is about the FX3 though as even Gareth praises it in so many interviews! A lot of other cameras couldn't shoot in those conditions, even Gareth admits this, hence why he chose it.

[@alexanderk8150]

Hurray for John Knoll! Great episode, thank you.

[@villepakarinen8323]

I could not get past the first 20 minutes of The Creator due to the laziness of the storytelling, but it's an awesome 80 million dollar VFX reel, and hats off to that!

[@pablo-zn1mg]

50:45 I never understood this shot in the film. The giant ship is crashing on earth yet they're all running towards it.. why ? did they want to get squished? it would make sense for everyone to be either looking from afar or running away from it ?

[@isaacbedford3644]

Hugo, please talk more about Fusion (compared to Nuke) please. (And Blender compared to Maya)

[@AhmedYasser-np6tt]

How can I fix Rolling Shutter Properly ?

[@WarrenPeaceOG]

I loved the movie. The VFX were so good I cried a couple times😭

[@AhmedYasser-np6tt]

Please! How can I fix rolling shutter in my plate ? Because it affect badly on camera tracking. when the camera move fastly it makes a skew or warp effect. The Foundry made a plugin to fix that before. But now it isn't available. And when the camera is static The rolling shutter still affect moving things It makes geometry tracking hard The things that moving fast make a shift and skew effect. Please help me to fix rolling shutter. Thanks ! ❤

[@deegees73]

No disrespect to Oren and Greg, who did a great job, but credit should also go to the colourist and colour scientist(s) who definitely helped create the look of the film.

[@berhunt]

is this different from shooting Top Gun, like shooting jets which are then exchanged totally later and then rotoscope everything ?

[@HugosDesk]

It’s different since they knew they where replacing the jets and on The Creator they did the performances first and then picked what actors would be robots. So they did not know what was being replaced until months later

[@DrBipolar]

Is there gonna be a befores and after book for creator ?

[@keysignphenomenon]

thanks

[@HugosDesk]

You're welcome!

[@msstg6078]

The reason why I personally haven't seeing it yet (as I just realise which movie it is) it's due to it's title, to me "The Creator" would be another analogic Bible based story... and religions are not my cup of tea!! But Thanks I will surely watch it now!! At least for the VFXs!!

[@kevin2028]

People do want new stories but what people have always wanted from movies are good stories well told. This movie look beautiful but was very flawed.

[@candlebougie]

Not a fan of the movie but love the visuals. I think it would be better if Edwards adapted scripts from others instead of writing stories himself.

[@WarrenPeaceOG]

'Apocalypse Now meets Bladerunner'😹

[@tyleradams3490]

Maybe KZbin has turned it into something else but isn’t that the beauty of them sharing that information with us? They shot on the fx3 because it was the right tool for the job and there’s something quite novel and exciting for filmmakers that it is so accessible these days to make movies. Gareth definitely comes from a DIY indie background. I recall Rian Johnson shouting out the GH2 back in the day, said his DP was all about it when they were on the set of Looper. I think these guys are nerds like us.

[@HugosDesk]

I completely agree with you, but just look on KZbin, people obsess too much about tech. Cameras and lenses don't make good movies, only good stories and good performances do! The Creator looks great because of Gareth and his team, not because of the camera. Anyway, thanks so much for watching the Podcast

[@kathybrooke5443]

Promo sm 😞