John Knoll’s work on the ghosts and skeletons in Pirates of the Caribbean impressed colleagues Joe Letteri, Stefen Fangmeier and Nathan McGuinness. © Disney Enterprises Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer Inc. All rights reserved.

With two of the visual effects nominees also nominated for Best Picture, it is clear that vfx are no longer responsible for eye-popping sequences only, but are rapidly becoming as important to filmmaking as principal photography. In the event that either The Return of the King or Master and Commander takes home the Best Picture Oscar, a significant moment in the history of film will be marked — a moment proving the ever-broadening integration of visual effects as a primary method of cinematic storytelling.

Visual effects have become so proliferate that it is my opinion that the category should be broadened, allowing more than three nominees. Indeed, as ILM’s John Knoll (visual effects supervisor on Pirates of the Caribbean) points out, “Every year now the quality of the work is really high, so the competition’s tough. There’s no guarantee that all the really good, deserving work will get beyond the Bake-Off — or even get in the Bake-Off.” Joe Letteri, visual effects supervisor on The Return of the King, adds, “You could see at the Bake-Off that all the work has hit a level of expertise that used to be something one could only strive for. Now it’s become the norm — the bar has been raised for everyone.”

Knoll and Letteri cite the flawless work in Master and Commander by McGuinness (left) from Asylum and ILM’s Fangmeier (right).

Artists on Artists
Style in vfx runs the gamut from the dead-on accuracy of Master and Commander to the more fantastic achievements of Pirates and Return of the King. In what follows, the supervisors from each of the nominated films give their opinions of their fellow artists’ work.

The Word from Weta
The Return of the King is the favorite not only in the visual effects category, but also as an overall triumph. It not only has a chance to match the record of 11 Oscars set by Ben-Hur and Titanic, but also could become the first fantasy to ever take home the Best Picture statuette.

Letteri of Weta Digital is up for his third Oscar for his work on the trilogy. His thoughts on Master and Commander emphasize the invisible effects created by Asylum and ILM. “When I saw Master and Commander my first impression of the work was that it was flawless. It made you believe the whole world of the film, really putting you back in that period. On the ship, you felt the intimacy of the surroundings and also the vastness of the ocean.”

Weta’s work on ROTK is an Oscar favorite. Here the Rohan soldiers prepare for battle at Pelennor Fields Photo credit: Pierre Vinet/©2003 New Line Prods.