The ships look real because they're miniatures, really big ones. Around the turn of the millennium was the sweet spot where CGI wasn't capable of everything yet, so in the hands of sensible directors it would be an excellent mix of miniatures and CGI complementing each other.
I agree. The final scenes blow me away. I never watched those until a couple of years ago, and I was second guessing myself the entire time, like, "this is almost 20 years old, right?" SO impressed by that series.
scoured through the list, still surprised only one scene was ever mentioned and that was davy jones on ep 1 and 67. I was fond of DMTNT where salazar is eternally underwater.
@@michaelangelo0305 I see your point. Although the little explanations help me understand what they're talking about so I don't have to read pop ups all the time. Nicer if someone explains
To me District 9 has the most photoreal cg characters to this day. It helped that they went for creatures with exoskeletons rather than soft flesh which gave them that insect type movement.
it blew me away when i first saw it. it still holds up to this day! but there's no debate, Avatar 2 is the most realistic and convincing cgi everything! i just saw it and i was blown away the entire movie. i kept forgetting that every single shot was almost completely cgi. i never once thought anything was cgi. say what you will about the story, its not my favorite movie or anything. but the vfx from Weta FX won't be topped for another decade by any other studio.
I just left a comment asking if they had done District 9 or Chappie yet. We need to start this movement to make this a reality. In fact, they should just do a whole Neil Blomkamp episode.
IMO the cgi is the cherry on top; it's such a challenge to build a story with so little dialog. Wall-e one of the very best captivating stories that relies on amazing visuals & characters instead of talking heads. Putting it another way- to hold my then 5 year old's full attention for the whole movie & have mine as well... that's a feat.
I saw Wall-E multiple times in theater. Once in a huge XD theater and again in a huge theater in another city. Then a third time at a much smaller venue with my gf and we used mind-altering substances and Wall-E became deeply important to us for well over a year. I'm also really good at mimicking Wall-E's voice so that didn't help letting go at all.
+1, although I feel sometimes he takes over the conversation a bit and the guest gets drowned out. Love Jordan's expertise and insights but need a bit more balance with the guest.
Honestly, the first Transformers movie, I had no idea how far CGI had come at that point, and when the decepticon Blackout attacks the military base, I was blown away at how real it looked.
@@Stevenwave-I wouldn't say that. They hand painted every frame of the '3D' armour in the old Dune movie. For the worm scenes they used dangerous ultra thin glass instead of sand so that next to the models, the sand would look the correct scale. Touch that stuff and you could die
Annihilation has some pretty wild CG. Not just the bear, the little deer, the shimmer itself, the plant people, the fractal in the lighthouse, it's all pretty crazy
that bear is really freaky. ive seen the movie twice and i only realised on the second viewing that the reason it looks so creepy is because it has the skin of the womans face over its skull as they combined.
It was absolutely a movie amongst other movies and no one can take that away from those that made it. They will always be able to say "I was a part of that,,,, movie".
How To Train Your Dragon feels like there's always new details to pick up with every watching of it. A decade later, and I still see new things rewatching that film even if it's little things like mushrooms on a tree. The way it handled dragons and flying was so amazing too
I would say that Aslan is better animated than the lions on the new Lion King, I mean, the model may be limited by the technology of the time, but at least he has facial expressions.
Lord of the Rings still gave me the best jaw dropping VFX moments in my life. Gandalf battling the Balrog, Gollum descending that cliff in his intro of The Two Towers, the fall of Barad-dur. All amazing moments VFX moments. Another amazing moment was seeing Davy Jones for the first time. I remember seeing that in theaters and trying to figure out how they did the makeup!
Honestly, I always thought the CGI work on Green Lantern was pretty impressive. Rough in spots, yes, but I got what they were going for and I liked how it was a sort of a symbiosis of energy and physiology rather than just magicking a transition from street clothes to latex.
i mean his power is literal imagination, so making it crude cg suit and mask should work lore wise, but not to our eyes unfortunately, and people fail to understand that most of the time
I still remember the moment that Rachel came on screen in Blade Runner 2049 and I just went "Noooooo way!". It was the first time I'd ever seen face CGI that was 100% photoreal (that was until she dropped the physics of her body looked wonky)
I was awestruck by it too but I feel the illusion was broken the moment they had her speak and emote, brief though it was. If her face just did nothing it would've been fine but the rigging for her eyebrows and mouth didn't seem quite right.
Rango has some of the BEST visual effects. So many clever aspects to it. Almost to the point where it feels like it was a proof of concept that stumbled into becoming a movie.
I think it looks fine. Their uniforms aren't physical, so they shouldn't look physical. People are just used to comics and animation having the same style, so all costumes look similar.
You guys really need to cover ReBoot. It was literally the first all CGI TV show. The stories behind that show how they overcame obstacles to produce a weekly CGI TV show are amazing. It deserves to be covered on the couch.
Absolutely! I've just been watching again on Prime, and was explaining this to my wife the other day. Predates Toy Story (1995), first weekly-produced half hour CGI TV show. Their tools literally evolved as they did each episode, let alone the plot and tone of the series. Landmark, legendary kids series.
Wow. That was an awesome episode. Neat to see a guy that worked on some less AAA titles (G Force, Green Lantern), and hear his perspective. Humble, talented, and full of lessons learned and insights. So good.
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole released over ten years ago and to this day you can take any single frame from the movie and it's a work of *art*. The scene where they fly through the storm in slow motion makes my heart race its so beautiful
The neon light scene in the first cars movie is wild, the way the reflections on the cars warp to the shape of each vehicle, the neon lights and all the rusty imperfections, it’s done so well
@@alvarostockle not true, because you can see the clip, they know what goes on, and then show the method, like they did here for the subdeviding but for the full episode
I think with this or as its own episode, practical effects people think are CGI. RocketJump did a great video essay on this. Like Mad Max: Fury Road is hailed as a practical effects movie, but there are CGI elements all over the place. Like shots with a hundred vehicles are actually composites of three or four groups of vehicles.
Agreed, it still boggles my mind how much more realistic the first Jurassic Park was compared to it's sequels. Full disclosure, I have not seen the last one.
I'm glad this was this high up in the comments. The fact that visual effects from the early 90s looks better than a lot of movies made today is just incredible.
Yup. I was gonna say the same thing. It looks more convincing than most CGI stuff today for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that it was a mix of practical and CGI so they had to complement one another and each had to be good enough to help the other. This is still about as good as it gets.
@masterofallgoons I wish movies today used practical effects more often with CG as an enhancement more than center focus. Something about really well done practical sucks me deeper into the story.
The visual effects in Annihilation are just incredible, ESPECIALLY the alien at the end. It looks like a statue that shouldn’t be able to move, and yet when it moves it doesn’t look impossible. It moves naturally. I can’t really explain it but I think that’s the point of the whole film lol
I know it doesn't have the greatest VFX of all time, but the movie that hit me the hardest and blew my mind with the world they built for the movie was Star Wars: Episode III. The opening sequence absolutely melted my brain. I still think about that feeling to this day.
pacific rim. the visuals of giant robot walking down the street with rain pouring down ontop of ti while dragging a massive boat. Just such a stunning scene which i honestly cant remember one before it being that good
Besides Avatar, the movie that hit me how wild the special effects were was Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The blend of cartoons, real action, and cartoon physics is wild.
Good point there. While technology wasn't that good back then, the cartoons were so wacky that the less than perfect blend actually fit the setting very well.
Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, being able to blend 2D + 3D + Live action, and having characters interacting with each other so seamlessly just proves how much time and effort was put in to make this collaboration as impressive as it was for the time that it came out in 1988
I feel like this is the most I have learned from one of these episodes in a long time. It might not of had as many jokes and high energy, but the information being conveyed was all the same super compelling.
I think it is primarily thanks to Jordan being on. He has fantastic insight into the technicallities of VFX and has the wonderful ability to break it down simply. While the others still all have similar technicial knowledge, they don't have the same teaching approach to explaining as such but are usually better at breaking down the problem solving process
Great episode!! I really would like to see Aaron again if it's possible!! He has a really humble teaching attitude and it's great how he sees the positive sides even on not so popular projects too. I'm interested in other stories of his work :)
I watched Saving Private Ryan at the cinemas and not once did I think CGI effects and then I saw a Making Of years later and it blew my mind how much CGI was implemented. The FX were so good I didn't even notice.
Bladerunner 2049 imo still has some of the, hands down, best vfx I’ve ever seen. Flawlessly executed, inspired effects that serve only to further the story and world, yes!
Bladerunner 2049 is my favorite. Just such a gorgeous movie and some very creative shots. Maybe not as cutting edge as Avatar 2 but I appreciate the artistry much more.
honestly I was completely blown away by the animation and artistry in Soul, something about it in my mind perfected realistic lighting and textures within an animated and stylized film.
Life of PI is one of the movies that always impressed me with its vfx. I mean a full cg tiger that has so much screen time and so many close up shots while always looking 100% photoreal is just damn impressive.
I've been repeatedly impressed by how good The Mandalorian looks. Absolutely top-notch CGI mixed with pioneering environment effects, outstanding costumes and make-up.
Lord of the Rings. The scale and high fantasy of that story seem like they would be impossible to depict convincingly in the early 2000s. But even today it's almost fully immersive. The art direction, practical/digital effects hybrid work and everything else come together in a way I haven't seen matched in anything else. I think we'll be hard pressed to see something more impressive relative to its time.
I thought the exact same thing! And guess what? 5 years after Interstellar was made, NASA came out with a graphic of what a black hole would look like from the side (the angle of it in Interstellar) and it looks extremely similar!
For the time I believe the original Jurassic Park. It was only the second movie I had ever watched in theaters and it made me jump in my seat as a kid. The wonders and nightmares it gave me stayed with me for years, I loved that movie.
I was in first grade when it came out, i had to leave the theatre for the trex scene. But I was back the next week and it immediately became a favorite movie of my childhood (compelling me to read the book, as well as other works by the author like Sphere which blew my childhood mind).
Fightclub has such amazing vfx. The intro to teh movie was groundbreaking. The shot where he walks through his apartment and all the furniture appears. Amazing work.
It is admirable how much Jordan has improved in the sponsored segment. If we compare this work with the first one she did for Corridor Crew: she really shines today! She is fantastic! ♥
YESS!!!!! I've left an annoying number of comments asking them to look at it. The first green screen movie! The first digital recreation of an actor! An incredible cast! A director who never worked again!
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" - Davy Jones, the Flying Dutchman and its crew, along with the Kraken attacks, are simply some of the most real effects even now 17 years later. An the fact that Gore Verbinski worked as a VFX compositor earlier in his career certainly helped the production reach a standard of VFX that is not often even targeted these days.
@@teamhj275 I love that scene! And remember a little later when Davy Jones is asleep at the organ and Will comes in to steal the key hidden inside the tentacles? That stuff seems just 100% real till this day!
Im one of the few people that liked(not loved) the Green Lantern movie, and still love the VFX behind it. Ever since i watched the BTS footage I've been amazed. Good work.
I'm honestly so impressed with what they are doing with the Mandalorian. Can't even tell it is mostly on a sound stage with screens behind the actors. Like how??
The environments move in real time in accordance to the actors. The costumes are also designed to capture light beautifully, note the Mandos metal armor. That's basically the perfect design for their screen technology.
The first Sin City had me forget about the pain staking effort that went into bringing the graphic novel to life and keep the style and live in the world they created. My favorite use of CG, period. Nothing works better to deliver a particular style without taking the audience out of it.
David finchers use of computer generated effects should be talked about more, because most of it people don't even realize that what they're seeing is cg. Fincher is excellent at utilizing these tools when necessary and merging them seamlessly with in camera shots, would love to hear yall talk about that more. Social network, Zodiac, Girl with the dragon tattoo, Benjamin button, panic room, all stunningly subtle cg effects
I'd really enjoy a documentary-style series where he focuses in on a specific technology or technique and just walks through how it works, a la the Disney guide to directional lighting video they used as footage reference.
I'm gonna say Lion King live action was one of the most impressive movies for me VFX WISE! Put the pitchforks down! Yes, they don't emote, I'm speaking purely in vfx, that was astonishing, to think we actually refer to it as "lion king live action." The water scene in "I just can't wait to be king" is so impressive and for all that movies faults, as someone very into vfx, I feel defensive of it a little. Hopefully the Mufasa prequel will fix the facial emotion issues people have with it, because the tech involved in that movie deserves to be shared in the same sentence as Avatar 2, YES I SAID IT, PITCH FORKS DOWN!
The most seminal effects would have to be in "2001", but the daemons in "His Dark Materials" really blew me away: They're just *there*, and they did that level of work for a TV series.
That movie was such a surprise and became one of my favorite movies. Great combo of vfx, action, and a fun storyline. They had video game execution without an actual video game source and it worked so well.
I think the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer has the best use of VFX. It services the story well, has a unique and flashy style, is fun to watch, and holds up extremely well. I get chills watching the visuals in the final race scene
Same. It's so good. A lot of the weight is carried by the setup. It's after the T-Rex is a no-show at the feeding pen. Both the characters and the audience all want to see a dinosaur and haven't been able to yet. The lead in shot, shows the reaction first, and then stays on the actors for a long time, building up that tension, and then the payoff is so good just as the music hits. *chef's kiss* That Steven Spielberg guy knows his stuff.
I feel the hate for green lantern is a bit unfair. Sure, it wasn't a fantastic movie, but story wise most of the marvel movies are pretty much the same. And the cgi (besides the mask) mostly worked for me back then because it was some weird green fantasy magic taking various forms, so of course it will look fake. In the end it's a not a great movie, but also not super horrible.
T2 was a turning point for me personally... And even now 30 years later it still looks soo damn good... The VFX was perfect, the shooting, orgasmic, and then the cinematography... Just blended to perfection.
T2 was one of the films that made me want to get into C.G. and VFX. (There were earlier films like TRON that really influenced me also) It was about that time I realized you could do some of the same stuff on desktop computers. That's about the time C.G. for TV started shifting to using desktop computers rather than specialized workstations like SGI so it became more accessible. Now everyone uses Linux or Windows on, basically, PC hardware.
I think Ami Yamato would make a good guest for this show; she seems to know a lot about VFX, you know, with the way she edits herself into movie scenes and stuff. You guys should invite her; she said she'd be down for it!
You should check out the French film Renaissance that came out the same year. Not the most unique plot but visually still very special. Think scanner darkly meets sin city.
in my opinion, "War for the planet of the apes" has the best visual effects that i have ever seen... the emotions in the eyes of Cesar are unbelievable
Everything Everywhere All At Once - I wanted to immediately go back and see it again after the 1st time. The way the VFX are serving the story, being absolutely bonkers and at the same time well made, is just pure magic. And they're often "simple", based more on editing, rather than "waves of blue energy as people punch eachother" (they talked about that in the WIRED piece). Not to mention the fact that almost 500 shots was done by an absolutely tiny team.
Fellowship of the Ring. some things has aged, but the amount of visual effects in that movie that still look flawless, and the amount of different techniques they used makes it top for me. miniatures, mat paintings, CG, in-camera tricks, they all come together to create something magical.
despite it being over 20 years old at this point, the first lotr movie still has some of the most breath taking shots Ive ever seen, especially the establishing shots at rivendell.
The jaegers in the first Pacific Rim film just impressed me so much. I'm pretty sure you guys have covered that one already lol. But still, at the time it released they were super impressive, and I think it's still pretty damn good.
Pirates of the Caribbean, curse of the black pearl. The way they kept the skeletons dark, and the ships look so real. To this day, it looks so good.
That entire first trilogy has some of the most impressive effects ever put to screen. Phenomenal movies
The ships look real because they're miniatures, really big ones. Around the turn of the millennium was the sweet spot where CGI wasn't capable of everything yet, so in the hands of sensible directors it would be an excellent mix of miniatures and CGI complementing each other.
I agree. The final scenes blow me away. I never watched those until a couple of years ago, and I was second guessing myself the entire time, like, "this is almost 20 years old, right?" SO impressed by that series.
scoured through the list, still surprised only one scene was ever mentioned and that was davy jones on ep 1 and 67. I was fond of DMTNT where salazar is eternally underwater.
The scene of the cursed crew walking under the sea is still amazing
Jordan is so humble. He has a real engineering brain that clearly understands everything he's saying, but he's great at explaining it in simple terms.
Jordan is talking way too much - this aint about him
@@michaelangelo0305 I see your point. Although the little explanations help me understand what they're talking about so I don't have to read pop ups all the time. Nicer if someone explains
He's also very handsome
@@michaelangelo0305 NO FVCK *OFF* [disintegration noises] ~ Gordon Freeman
@@michaelangelo0305 amen, dude's nice, but let the guest have a moment
To me District 9 has the most photoreal cg characters to this day. It helped that they went for creatures with exoskeletons rather than soft flesh which gave them that insect type movement.
it blew me away when i first saw it. it still holds up to this day! but there's no debate, Avatar 2 is the most realistic and convincing cgi everything! i just saw it and i was blown away the entire movie. i kept forgetting that every single shot was almost completely cgi. i never once thought anything was cgi. say what you will about the story, its not my favorite movie or anything. but the vfx from Weta FX won't be topped for another decade by any other studio.
everything except the prawn robots
District 9 came out the same year as Transformers 2 and I remember being shocked that it’s budget was about 15% of that movie.
Oh that's a good one. It was crazy when that came out
I just left a comment asking if they had done District 9 or Chappie yet. We need to start this movement to make this a reality. In fact, they should just do a whole Neil Blomkamp episode.
District 9 was the first film that came to mind when I think about special effects that impress. Still holds up incredibly well
i was gonna say this
Its the movie where practice and computer effects meet flawlessly, love it.
Yes, this is a good pick too. It was so well done.
I was gonna say this! One of my favorite movies
I didn't like it because to me the aliens looked weightless when moving around or not at least as heavy as they should
The scale of the intro shots from Wall-E still blow me away. The entire film is a masterpiece as it works for different ages on different levels.
IMO the cgi is the cherry on top; it's such a challenge to build a story with so little dialog. Wall-e one of the very best captivating stories that relies on amazing visuals & characters instead of talking heads. Putting it another way- to hold my then 5 year old's full attention for the whole movie & have mine as well... that's a feat.
I saw Wall-E multiple times in theater. Once in a huge XD theater and again in a huge theater in another city. Then a third time at a much smaller venue with my gf and we used mind-altering substances and Wall-E became deeply important to us for well over a year. I'm also really good at mimicking Wall-E's voice so that didn't help letting go at all.
Ooo good one!
Having a masterful DP like Sir Roger Deakins help out on it doesn't hurt, either.
My kids love Wall-E and I still find new visual tidbits every time I watch it with them.
Pirates of the Caribbean and lord of the rings were the two series that really brought worlds to life with CG for me
The first time Davey Jones was on screen I lost my damn mind.
You guys should have Jordan on the couch more often. He's really good at explaining complex concepts in simple language.
+1, although I feel sometimes he takes over the conversation a bit and the guest gets drowned out. Love Jordan's expertise and insights but need a bit more balance with the guest.
@@chrismanning5232 yeah he need a little self control lol hahaha
he talks too much... couldn't watch the entire thing cuz it felt irritating
@@chrismanning5232 could be the editing, but i very much agree, had to watch it in 2 sittings.
Honestly, the first Transformers movie, I had no idea how far CGI had come at that point, and when the decepticon Blackout attacks the military base, I was blown away at how real it looked.
I love Transformers CGI
It still looks good compared to modern transformers movies which is sad
@@casedistorted DOTM's CGI is better than ROTB's CGI if you compare them
yep....mind........blowing.....it looked "so" real...
@dingusguy217 yeah but rotb is a better movie
I just love Dune. The scale, how real the ships look, the worms, everything. Some of my favorite CG ever
I know right, 1984 didn't know what hit it.
@@Stevenwave- 😂
Yeah, the newest Dune was epic
Yeah, Dune. Or the new blade runner
@@Stevenwave-I wouldn't say that. They hand painted every frame of the '3D' armour in the old Dune movie. For the worm scenes they used dangerous ultra thin glass instead of sand so that next to the models, the sand would look the correct scale. Touch that stuff and you could die
Annihilation has some pretty wild CG. Not just the bear, the little deer, the shimmer itself, the plant people, the fractal in the lighthouse, it's all pretty crazy
One of my all time favorite movies
Ya lets see some VFX react to Annihilation!!!!
that bear is really freaky. ive seen the movie twice and i only realised on the second viewing that the reason it looks so creepy is because it has the skin of the womans face over its skull as they combined.
I highly recommend the book it's based off of if you enjoyes the movie
@@Torqueyeel same
Arrival is one of the most underrated movies for visual effects, they were relatively simple but had a HUGE impact on the story and brought it to life
Just watched that today its dope 👌
You're so right, great visuals and amazing story
This was one of the most educationally dense episodes. I loved it!
Green Lantern is one of the movies of all time
Absolutely
It is indeed "one of the movies"....
Of some times - sure!
It was absolutely a movie amongst other movies and no one can take that away from those that made it. They will always be able to say "I was a part of that,,,, movie".
at least the game was 100% fun
I love the way Pacific Rim looks. To me it makes it feel like I'm actually in that world, and it's still one of my favorite movies to this day.
My inner twelve-year-old also loves that movie. Thank you for reminding me of it's existence.
Absolutely. I still watch it every now and then. Gipsy Danger vs Otachi was such an amazing fight sequence!
The concept is so silly and makes no sense but I LOVE IT. GIANT ROBOTS PUNCH GIANT MONSTERS what more can I need?
We need more of it
Really wish the sequel was good
How To Train Your Dragon feels like there's always new details to pick up with every watching of it. A decade later, and I still see new things rewatching that film even if it's little things like mushrooms on a tree. The way it handled dragons and flying was so amazing too
You guys gotta react to the first Disney Narnia movie cgi, that shit was insanely good and still holds up today
Dude no it doesn’t
@@phil5037 it does a little
I would say that Aslan is better animated than the lions on the new Lion King, I mean, the model may be limited by the technology of the time, but at least he has facial expressions.
@@phil5037 go rewatch the final battle scene and tell me that doesn’t still look fantastic
@@phil5037 It absolutely does
Lord of the Rings still gave me the best jaw dropping VFX moments in my life. Gandalf battling the Balrog, Gollum descending that cliff in his intro of The Two Towers, the fall of Barad-dur. All amazing moments VFX moments.
Another amazing moment was seeing Davy Jones for the first time. I remember seeing that in theaters and trying to figure out how they did the makeup!
Honestly, I always thought the CGI work on Green Lantern was pretty impressive. Rough in spots, yes, but I got what they were going for and I liked how it was a sort of a symbiosis of energy and physiology rather than just magicking a transition from street clothes to latex.
i mean his power is literal imagination, so making it crude cg suit and mask should work lore wise, but not to our eyes unfortunately, and people fail to understand that most of the time
I still remember the moment that Rachel came on screen in Blade Runner 2049 and I just went "Noooooo way!". It was the first time I'd ever seen face CGI that was 100% photoreal (that was until she dropped the physics of her body looked wonky)
Well she is a robot technically so it makes sense.
@@Sci-Fi_Freak_YT agreed
I was awestruck by it too but I feel the illusion was broken the moment they had her speak and emote, brief though it was. If her face just did nothing it would've been fine but the rigging for her eyebrows and mouth didn't seem quite right.
They went all out for 2049 and I love it. Music, cinematography, acting, directing, writing, CGI, etc
Denis and the team don’t mess around
I really thought they were going to be smart about it and not show her talking... But then they did just that.
Im not seeing enough comments about Jordan in this, he killed it. His insight and knowledge in this episode was amazing, so well explained.
He is a great explainer. 👍
He talked as if he was the guest
Mad max Fury road, the marriage of immense practical effects and props with top of the line CGI is just outstanding and still blows me away!
Rango has some of the BEST visual effects. So many clever aspects to it. Almost to the point where it feels like it was a proof of concept that stumbled into becoming a movie.
This episode was so in depth to what goes into each vfx shot and the evolution. Such a great episode.
Been watching this series since the beginning and I agree this is one of their best ever episodes as far as in depth technical information
11:35 Pirates of the Caribbean still holds damn well for a 20 year old movie. My favorite of all time
The idea behind the Green Lantern suit is amazing. It's super cool how the energy traces through it
I think it looks fine. Their uniforms aren't physical, so they shouldn't look physical. People are just used to comics and animation having the same style, so all costumes look similar.
You guys really need to cover ReBoot. It was literally the first all CGI TV show. The stories behind that show how they overcame obstacles to produce a weekly CGI TV show are amazing. It deserves to be covered on the couch.
reboot and beast wars both need an entire episode just to talk about the history of cgi tv shows.
Reboot has a special place in my soul. Absolutely agree.
Absolutely! I've just been watching again on Prime, and was explaining this to my wife the other day. Predates Toy Story (1995), first weekly-produced half hour CGI TV show. Their tools literally evolved as they did each episode, let alone the plot and tone of the series. Landmark, legendary kids series.
I really loved Beast Wars back in the day, and I love the simplicity of the world in Reboot.
my god. It didnt hold up well, but Reboot was amazing at its time
Wow. That was an awesome episode. Neat to see a guy that worked on some less AAA titles (G Force, Green Lantern), and hear his perspective. Humble, talented, and full of lessons learned and insights. So good.
Niko beating around the bush when talking about Green Lantern was so freaking funny.
It wasn't that bad
@@LauS0 its just a nothing movie, its generic enough that its not even fun to make fun of
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole released over ten years ago and to this day you can take any single frame from the movie and it's a work of *art*. The scene where they fly through the storm in slow motion makes my heart race its so beautiful
I think they already did that.
They did already cover it can't remember when though might've been an animators react
The neon light scene in the first cars movie is wild, the way the reflections on the cars warp to the shape of each vehicle, the neon lights and all the rusty imperfections, it’s done so well
I'll say
I remember Rango blew me away when I was a kid. it feels like all of the characters match setting and texture of the whole movie.
I fuckin love that movie.
Another vote for Rango - I feel like that movie didn't get nearly the attention it deserved
I love dune's vfx, they are so atmospheric and immersive that sometimes you won't notice them
So awesome to see Aaron on this! Took his class at UNM a few years ago, great guy and professor!
This guy was awesome. You can tell he loves learning by how well he teaches. He's one of my favorite guests to have graced the couch so far.
One of y first thoughts was 'this guy should be teaching', he seems so natural explaining things
And he's looking into the camera like he's educating the audience.
I would love it if you guys would analyze invisible effects in vfx, I think it would make a good episode
But they wouldn't be able to watch those effects if their invisible haha good day
This is a great idea
@@alvarostockle not true, because you can see the clip, they know what goes on, and then show the method, like they did here for the subdeviding but for the full episode
I think with this or as its own episode, practical effects people think are CGI. RocketJump did a great video essay on this. Like Mad Max: Fury Road is hailed as a practical effects movie, but there are CGI elements all over the place. Like shots with a hundred vehicles are actually composites of three or four groups of vehicles.
You mean like go through David Fincher's filmography? :)
This guest was so humble and likable . Loved him
I still remember watching Dune for the first time in the cinema. Nothing has ever blown me more away than that movie
Ex Machina was a simple effect but it was executed so well and so consistently that it really sold the realism of the film
I loved how at the end he spoke about some of the joy he had working on gl. It was very pleasant to hear
Jurassic Park, for its time, was beautifully done. The perfect blend of practical effects and CGI. Still holds up today.
They've covered it many times already tho. Use the search function on their channel screen & you should be able to find & watch the vids.
Agreed, it still boggles my mind how much more realistic the first Jurassic Park was compared to it's sequels. Full disclosure, I have not seen the last one.
I'm glad this was this high up in the comments. The fact that visual effects from the early 90s looks better than a lot of movies made today is just incredible.
Yup. I was gonna say the same thing. It looks more convincing than most CGI stuff today for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that it was a mix of practical and CGI so they had to complement one another and each had to be good enough to help the other. This is still about as good as it gets.
@masterofallgoons I wish movies today used practical effects more often with CG as an enhancement more than center focus. Something about really well done practical sucks me deeper into the story.
The visual effects in Annihilation are just incredible, ESPECIALLY the alien at the end. It looks like a statue that shouldn’t be able to move, and yet when it moves it doesn’t look impossible. It moves naturally. I can’t really explain it but I think that’s the point of the whole film lol
I know it doesn't have the greatest VFX of all time, but the movie that hit me the hardest and blew my mind with the world they built for the movie was Star Wars: Episode III. The opening sequence absolutely melted my brain. I still think about that feeling to this day.
For being the newest guy, Jordan feels like he’s been there since day 1. Such a good fit with these guys
pacific rim. the visuals of giant robot walking down the street with rain pouring down ontop of ti while dragging a massive boat. Just such a stunning scene which i honestly cant remember one before it being that good
This was an especially great episode. I love when you get VERY PARTICULAR about tools and tactics. Great to see Jordan on the couch!
Besides Avatar, the movie that hit me how wild the special effects were was Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The blend of cartoons, real action, and cartoon physics is wild.
Good point there. While technology wasn't that good back then, the cartoons were so wacky that the less than perfect blend actually fit the setting very well.
Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, being able to blend 2D + 3D + Live action, and having characters interacting with each other so seamlessly just proves how much time and effort was put in to make this collaboration as impressive as it was for the time that it came out in 1988
Ex-eaquo for me with Titanic. The blend between CGI and pratical effects are perfects in theses two masterpieces.
Rodger Rabbit blew me away when I was a kid.
The amount of detailed, specific info in this one was fantastic!
The vfx movies that hit me the hardest were Pirates of the Caribbean 2+3. Any scene with Davy Jones is just mind-boggling!
I feel like this is the most I have learned from one of these episodes in a long time. It might not of had as many jokes and high energy, but the information being conveyed was all the same super compelling.
I thought the same thing. Please do more of these episodes please!
*have
I think it is primarily thanks to Jordan being on. He has fantastic insight into the technicallities of VFX and has the wonderful ability to break it down simply. While the others still all have similar technicial knowledge, they don't have the same teaching approach to explaining as such but are usually better at breaking down the problem solving process
Great episode!! I really would like to see Aaron again if it's possible!! He has a really humble teaching attitude and it's great how he sees the positive sides even on not so popular projects too. I'm interested in other stories of his work :)
I watched Saving Private Ryan at the cinemas and not once did I think CGI effects and then I saw a Making Of years later and it blew my mind how much CGI was implemented.
The FX were so good I didn't even notice.
Bladerunner 2049 imo still has some of the, hands down, best vfx I’ve ever seen. Flawlessly executed, inspired effects that serve only to further the story and world, yes!
Bladerunner 2049 is my favorite. Just such a gorgeous movie and some very creative shots. Maybe not as cutting edge as Avatar 2 but I appreciate the artistry much more.
honestly I was completely blown away by the animation and artistry in Soul, something about it in my mind perfected realistic lighting and textures within an animated and stylized film.
FACTS! The lighting is so realistic and cartoon and the same time!
yes! i 100% agree
I think about Soul everyday I love it
Life of PI is one of the movies that always impressed me with its vfx. I mean a full cg tiger that has so much screen time and so many close up shots while always looking 100% photoreal is just damn impressive.
What happened to that company is a travesty..And what hollywood did to them at the awards is disgusting.
@@benz1n3 its absolutely horrible. But the vfx are still incredible...
@@Florianski exactly - they're not credible at all. Looks like a hodgepodge of different art styles. Scenes that were generated by committee.
Green Lantern is one of those movies that starts when you push start, and then ends…truly a masterpiece
I've been repeatedly impressed by how good The Mandalorian looks. Absolutely top-notch CGI mixed with pioneering environment effects, outstanding costumes and make-up.
Yes, especially since it's an episodic TV show and not a movie!
Lord of the Rings. The scale and high fantasy of that story seem like they would be impossible to depict convincingly in the early 2000s. But even today it's almost fully immersive. The art direction, practical/digital effects hybrid work and everything else come together in a way I haven't seen matched in anything else. I think we'll be hard pressed to see something more impressive relative to its time.
They did 2 episodes on LOTR already.
@@osirex5495 I know I'm just saying it's the best VFX movie of all time
They used a combination of practical and CGI to make impressive VFX, that holf up today. Forced perspective, motion capture, battle scenes, etc.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within looked amazing to me back in 2001 when I saw it in theaters as a kid.
To me, Sin City was a great example of artistic VFX, every shot is beautiful and feels like a graphic novel.
Sin City is very underrated for the VFX, always wondered how they did the movie
agreed
Interstellar has some of the best visual effects in my opinion, it’s what inspired me to get into computer animation
The wormhole and black hole are just SO badass
I thought the exact same thing! And guess what? 5 years after Interstellar was made, NASA came out with a graphic of what a black hole would look like from the side (the angle of it in Interstellar) and it looks extremely similar!
For the time I believe the original Jurassic Park. It was only the second movie I had ever watched in theaters and it made me jump in my seat as a kid. The wonders and nightmares it gave me stayed with me for years, I loved that movie.
I was in first grade when it came out, i had to leave the theatre for the trex scene. But I was back the next week and it immediately became a favorite movie of my childhood (compelling me to read the book, as well as other works by the author like Sphere which blew my childhood mind).
Fightclub has such amazing vfx. The intro to teh movie was groundbreaking. The shot where he walks through his apartment and all the furniture appears. Amazing work.
I don't know if I mistake it with something else, but I think they've covered it already
@@derAtze Maybe i'm wrong but I don't think so.
It is admirable how much Jordan has improved in the sponsored segment. If we compare this work with the first one she did for Corridor Crew: she really shines today! She is fantastic! ♥
I hope she gets to do other stuff too not just ads. Or at least a bunch of free shoes
@@Karl_Marksman Huh? She's their producer, she finds them money, she gets to do lots of other stuff, & pick up a paycheck!
Aaron is so sweet!
He seems a bit shy at the start & it was so nice at the end when he opened up!
I honestly love the look, feel, and ambition of Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow. If that movie was made today it would be spectacular!
I worked on that movie. The rocket in the cave at the end was my baby.
I'd forgotten it existed. I'm hunting it back down to rewatch, and in a few years or so, to show my daughter.
YESS!!!!! I've left an annoying number of comments asking them to look at it. The first green screen movie! The first digital recreation of an actor! An incredible cast! A director who never worked again!
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" - Davy Jones, the Flying Dutchman and its crew, along with the Kraken attacks, are simply some of the most real effects even now 17 years later. An the fact that Gore Verbinski worked as a VFX compositor earlier in his career certainly helped the production reach a standard of VFX that is not often even targeted these days.
Davy Jones playing the organ is one of my favorite scenes ever. Ñpoks so real!
@@teamhj275 I love that scene! And remember a little later when Davy Jones is asleep at the organ and Will comes in to steal the key hidden inside the tentacles? That stuff seems just 100% real till this day!
Im one of the few people that liked(not loved) the Green Lantern movie, and still love the VFX behind it. Ever since i watched the BTS footage I've been amazed. Good work.
I'm honestly so impressed with what they are doing with the Mandalorian. Can't even tell it is mostly on a sound stage with screens behind the actors. Like how??
Cause The Volume stages use rear projection and unreal engine for real time rendering. It's not green or blue screens
The environments move in real time in accordance to the actors. The costumes are also designed to capture light beautifully, note the Mandos metal armor. That's basically the perfect design for their screen technology.
The first Sin City had me forget about the pain staking effort that went into bringing the graphic novel to life and keep the style and live in the world they created. My favorite use of CG, period. Nothing works better to deliver a particular style without taking the audience out of it.
You guys should absolutely take another look at Blade Runner 2049, particularly the use of miniatures and that Elvis scene.
David finchers use of computer generated effects should be talked about more, because most of it people don't even realize that what they're seeing is cg. Fincher is excellent at utilizing these tools when necessary and merging them seamlessly with in camera shots, would love to hear yall talk about that more. Social network, Zodiac, Girl with the dragon tattoo, Benjamin button, panic room, all stunningly subtle cg effects
I really liked the way Jordan was explaining things in this video. Would love to see him on the couch more often.
I'd really enjoy a documentary-style series where he focuses in on a specific technology or technique and just walks through how it works, a la the Disney guide to directional lighting video they used as footage reference.
I'm gonna say Lion King live action was one of the most impressive movies for me VFX WISE! Put the pitchforks down! Yes, they don't emote, I'm speaking purely in vfx, that was astonishing, to think we actually refer to it as "lion king live action." The water scene in "I just can't wait to be king" is so impressive and for all that movies faults, as someone very into vfx, I feel defensive of it a little. Hopefully the Mufasa prequel will fix the facial emotion issues people have with it, because the tech involved in that movie deserves to be shared in the same sentence as Avatar 2, YES I SAID IT, PITCH FORKS DOWN!
I totally agree. So much of the movie is photo realistic and I don't believe it deserves the hate
The most seminal effects would have to be in "2001", but the daemons in "His Dark Materials" really blew me away: They're just *there*, and they did that level of work for a TV series.
Mad Max fury Road was one movie that really impressed me with its mix of practical and visual effects.
A lot of the VFX stuff goes over my head but I'm still addicted to watching. Much Love Corridor Crew!!
I wouldn't say it hit me the hardest, but I was pretty blown away by the quality of the vfx, action scenes and creature execution in Edge of Tomorrow
I still go back and rewatch that from time to time. :)
Honestly it’s one of my fav movies to watch from time to time, just a good ol’ fashioned alien invasion
Ah man I watched some compressed rips. I didn't noticeue anything particular about the CG quality.
That movie was such a surprise and became one of my favorite movies. Great combo of vfx, action, and a fun storyline. They had video game execution without an actual video game source and it worked so well.
I love this movie
Pacific Rim. It's just so good, the rain obstruction, the camera and art direction. 2013 and still holds up with a vengance
I think the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer has the best use of VFX.
It services the story well, has a unique and flashy style, is fun to watch, and holds up extremely well.
I get chills watching the visuals in the final race scene
For me my first wow moment with CGI was the original Jurassic Park. That scene where they see the brachiosaurus still gives me the heart flutter.
Same. It's so good. A lot of the weight is carried by the setup. It's after the T-Rex is a no-show at the feeding pen. Both the characters and the audience all want to see a dinosaur and haven't been able to yet. The lead in shot, shows the reaction first, and then stays on the actors for a long time, building up that tension, and then the payoff is so good just as the music hits. *chef's kiss* That Steven Spielberg guy knows his stuff.
Niko being so uncomfortable when they mention Green Lantern 🤣
"Just say it"
I feel the hate for green lantern is a bit unfair. Sure, it wasn't a fantastic movie, but story wise most of the marvel movies are pretty much the same. And the cgi (besides the mask) mostly worked for me back then because it was some weird green fantasy magic taking various forms, so of course it will look fake. In the end it's a not a great movie, but also not super horrible.
Flight of the navigator from 1986! the ship changing shape really made young-me love that movie a lot.
T2 was a turning point for me personally... And even now 30 years later it still looks soo damn good... The VFX was perfect, the shooting, orgasmic, and then the cinematography... Just blended to perfection.
T2 was one of the films that made me want to get into C.G. and VFX. (There were earlier films like TRON that really influenced me also) It was about that time I realized you could do some of the same stuff on desktop computers. That's about the time C.G. for TV started shifting to using desktop computers rather than specialized workstations like SGI so it became more accessible. Now everyone uses Linux or Windows on, basically, PC hardware.
I think Ami Yamato would make a good guest for this show; she seems to know a lot about VFX, you know, with the way she edits herself into movie scenes and stuff. You guys should invite her; she said she'd be down for it!
she'd probably vfx her avatar into the video lol
Yes, more women in the vfx industry in general would be great! Need to inspire the new generations 👍
Aaron Estrada was a epic guest with a epic beard man. Hope you guys get him back at some point.
I don't know if it's considered VFX, but A Scanner Darkly has one of the most unique and interesting visual styles of any movie I've ever seen.
I agree completely. One of my absolute favorite films and pieces of art in general.
You should check out the French film Renaissance that came out the same year. Not the most unique plot but visually still very special. Think scanner darkly meets sin city.
@@jordanfoxwell4256 thanks!
YES FINALLY G-FORCE IS GETTING THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES
G force enjoyers are eating good today 😎
They made a pretty badass video game for this movie too.
in my opinion, "War for the planet of the apes" has the best visual effects that i have ever seen... the emotions in the eyes of Cesar are unbelievable
Rouge One blew me away with how good the visual effects looked
Scott Pilgrim has some of my favorite VFX. It feels like reading a comic book, but in motion and with real people.
Everything Everywhere All At Once - I wanted to immediately go back and see it again after the 1st time. The way the VFX are serving the story, being absolutely bonkers and at the same time well made, is just pure magic. And they're often "simple", based more on editing, rather than "waves of blue energy as people punch eachother" (they talked about that in the WIRED piece).
Not to mention the fact that almost 500 shots was done by an absolutely tiny team.
I'll have nightmares of the hot dog fingers...
Fellowship of the Ring. some things has aged, but the amount of visual effects in that movie that still look flawless, and the amount of different techniques they used makes it top for me. miniatures, mat paintings, CG, in-camera tricks, they all come together to create something magical.
despite it being over 20 years old at this point, the first lotr movie still has some of the most breath taking shots Ive ever seen, especially the establishing shots at rivendell.
War for the Planet of the Apes had some incredible realistic fur, especially in the wet and cold and snow.
Honestly I'm still blown away by how good the dinosaurs look in early Jurassic Park movies
Because they used alot of practical effects.
The first Lord of the Rings was pretty incredibly well done. Still holds up today
Yes, but. ;) There's a few moments/scenes that are lacking a bit of convincing effects if you look at them carefully.
Surprised they haven't done Everything Everywhere All at Once
The jaegers in the first Pacific Rim film just impressed me so much. I'm pretty sure you guys have covered that one already lol. But still, at the time it released they were super impressive, and I think it's still pretty damn good.