Farrar noted that in addition to ILM’s 1,000 effects shots, Peter Pan reflected the contributions of several companies, including Digital Domain, Sony Imageworks and R!OT. After screening the reel, Farrar and Pinney were joined by visual effects supervisor Mark Forker, who described the CG set extensions done by Digital Domain. “They were like Legos that snapped together. PJ could basically art direct each shot individually — and he did! It turned out we needed all of the overbuild that we did.”

The red light flickered on before ILM animation director Jenn Emberly got to speak. But she sparked the audience’s laughter when, in a Tinker Bell-like move, she pulled Farrar away from the podium and back to his seat.

These Terminators were created completely in the computer for T3. Photo by ILM - © 2003 IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. 3 Produktions KG.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
The first thing that ILM visual effects supervisor Pablo Herman did when he took the stage was remind everyone that it’s been 12 years since the last Terminator movie. He observed that the challenge of re-visiting the franchise required that they develop new approaches, especially with digital doubles and animatronics.

While ILM worked with computer experts from Stanford to help with the CG metal transformations, new developments were also happening on the practical effects side. Special effects coordinator Allen Hall, (an Oscar winner for Forrest Gump) explained that a new electro-hydraulic system for cars made it possible to create the demolition vehicle chase that’s one of the film’s centerpieces. To get what director Jonathan Mostow wanted required “a marriage between digital and practical effects,” said Hall, “with breakaway poles and buildings. Of course, to our crane, everything was breakaway.”

The T3 reel opened with ILM’s ingenious mushroom cloud animations, and barreled along with a non-stop mix of physical and digital sleight-of-hand. Herman noted that along with the year-and-a-half ILM spent on this project, the film also contained contributions from a variety of effects houses, including Digiscope, Sandbox, CIS, Digic Pictures and R!OT.

But ILM’s chief collaborator on T3, as it was on T2, was Stan Winston Studios. Winston effects supervisor John Rosengrant was clearly happy with the animatronic breakthroughs they achieved for the latest film. “We got to build real robots that could fly, and rise up to 10 feet high!”

The collaboration with the Winston crew, added ILM animation director Dan Taylor, made it possible “to maintain the performance between animation and puppeteering.” While Taylor was responsible for animated effects that surpassed what ILM had ever done, he stressed that “a blend is always the best solution. It’s never one or the other.”

X2’s effects ranged from the complex to the simple. ™ & © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox. Unless noted otherwise, photo credit: Kerry Hayes/SMPSP.

X2
When visual effects supervisor Michael Fink reached the podium to introduce X2, he acknowledged that it presented a different kind of challenge from the X-Men effects he’d supervised. While he was again working with director Bryan Singer, it wasn’t possible to regroup his original team. And there was always the unspoken requirement that the sequel’s effects should top those done before.

X-Men had utilized a plethora of effects houses and so did X2, including Rhythm & Hues, Asylum, CIS, Cinesite, Hammerhead, Grant McCune, Kleiser-Walczak,, Pixel Magic and Pacific Title. Fink recalled that the original breakdown of the script suggested between 800 and 1,000 shots, and despite some initial reservations, the film “ended up requiring 850 effects shots and 150 digital fixes.” Adding to the pressure, observed Fink, “was that they were still shooting two-and-a-half weeks before delivery.”

Having previously garnered an Oscar nomination for Batman Returns, Fink was experienced with “fanciful” effects in a stylized film such as X2. In setting up the reel, he highlighted the volumetric CG that enabled the Nightcrawler character to appear and disappear in a swirl of black smoke. He also pointed out the film’s extensive mix of real and digital pyro.