Paul Franklin, visual effects supervisor, Double Negative.

BD: Paul, what did you think of Digital Domain's achievement on Benjamin Button?

PF: DD's work on Benjamin Button is very impressive. As a professional vfx artist, I spent the first 15 minutes of the film looking for the joins but then I forgot about the vfx and just watched the character because that's what was up on screen. The rejuvenation or "youthification" of the actors [by Lola] is also very well done and opens up a whole range of possibilities for filmmakers in the future. The film certainly represents a significant advance in vfx and cinematic technique in general.

BD: What did you think, Ben?

BS: I really admired the film greatly. Obviously they got the key thing, which was the effect of the aged Brad Pitt. That was seamless -- you really don't question it as you watch the movie, even as an effects professional. And I enjoyed the cinematography and so it's definitely one of my favorites of the year.

BD: Eric, what were your impressions of The Dark Knight and Iron Man?

This year, all three nominees successfully and seamlessly enhance the performances of the protagonists, including Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button.

EB: That's one of the reasons I'm so nervous: the work across the board this year was outstanding and there's really a lot of great work in both of those films. I know when I watched them both on the big screen, I was really excited. With The Dark Knight, it's not just about the great performances, but they also did a good job in taking traditional special effects and integrating it into a superhero movie that makes it feel like it's traditionally shot and not a fantastical film. And with Iron Man, another great performance with Robert Downey that's enjoyable to watch and, my god, when they assemble the Iron Man for the very first time, that was amazing. And coming from the design background that I have, I loved all the little detail of things and how it was assembled. It's just beautiful. And I happen to know one of the guys that worked on that, Russell Paul [a digital artist at ILM], and they did an awesome job.

BD: It's interesting how all three nominees successfully enhance the performances of the protagonists.

EB: And seamlessly. That's always the goal. With Benjamin, if anyone saw that it was a special effect, then we lost. Our job was to never take the viewer out of the moment and the performance. I think potentially that's where this type of work will go, in that there are stories out there that can be told. It only takes one film to launch the idea that we can do this now at other companies and push a certain technology. It's much like when we first saw the dinosaurs walk in Jurassic Park and everyone said it can be done now and can take it to the next level.