Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/915639
www.postmagazine.com 11 POST DECEMBER 2017 OSCAR CONTENDERS his past year saw a number of huge, block- buster films featuring some outstanding visu- al effects work, including War for the Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Earlier in the year, Disney released its highly antic- ipated, live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, which Post covered in our March issue. According to director Bill Condon, who was initially hesitant about taking on the animated classic, "It is 25 years later and technology has caught up to the ideas that were introduced in the animated movie. Now, it is possi- ble, for the first time, to create a photoreal version of a talking teacup on a practical set in a completely realistic live-action format." In total, 27 large-scale practical sets were built (production designer Sarah Greenwood), while visual effects producer Steve Gaub headed up the 1,800-plus visual effects for the film, bringing to life such beloved characters as Lumière, Mrs. Potts, Garderobe and, of course, Beast! Taking the box office, and summer, by storm was none other than Diana Prince. Otherwise known as Wonder Woman, the Warner Bros. hit, which was also notably directed by a female director — Patty Jenkins — grossed more than $412M and is only number two to Beauty and the Beast ($504M) as the top-grossing movie of the year. According to visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer, Jenkins "really wanted to keep things grounded" when it came to the film's visual effects shots. "It's a superhero movie, but every- thing is through the eyes of Diana — if Diana was walking across a frame, Patty wanted all eyes to go to her. She didn't want anything to overpower her. Towards the very end we get there, but Patty wanted to feel it building to that point. She didn't want the effects to be too over the top." In total, Westenhofer says there are about 1,800 visual effects shots, created through the combined efforts of VFX studios Double Negative, MPC, Pixomondo, UPP, Platige and Weta. Despite the number of visual effects shots in the film, Westenhofer says, "I don't really look at this as a typical, heavy visual effects superhero movie. The effects and the action sequences you expect are all there, but playing a nice sup- porting role. There are great action sequences, that's not to be denied, but it is first and fore- most a journey of Diana and Steve and that was really nice." Closing out the year was Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok, which required VFX supervisor Jake Morrison to not only oversee the completion of more than 2,700 visual effects, but also work with a director (Taika Waititi), who portrayed one of the film's CG characters (Korg). Prior to the film's release, Morrison explained, "I think that every frame of the film will, at some point or in some small way, go through the VFX department." He told Post that the film is about "97 or 98 percent VFX." "There's not a rock un- turned here," he adds. "There are huge set pieces with fully-animated characters all the way down to motion-capture characters delivering lines. We visit multiple worlds, intersteller travel, space ships, huge scale destruction. I think at the moment, it's clocking in as Marvel's biggest picture yet." It's really anyone's game, who will be nominated, but these three are undoubtedly strong contenders. BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, WONDER WOMAN, THOR: RAGNAROK T BY LINDA ROMANELLO hree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, written and directed by Academy Award winner Martin McDonagh (In Bruges), is a dark comedic drama from Fox Searchlight Pictures that takes place months after the murder of Mildred Hayes' (Frances McDormand) teenage daughter. In response to what she feels has been a less-than-stellar effort from police to catch the killer, Hayes makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), an immature mother's boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement is only exacerbated. The film, which was shot on-location in North Carolina, is dependent on an outstanding screenplay and strong performances. To bring his story to the screen, McDonagh relied on a talented team that includes DP Ben Davis and editor Jon Gregory. According to Gregory, who was on-location for several months during the shoot and who then finished up the edit in the Soho section of London, the biggest editing challenge for him was how the film turns quickly from quite dramatic to humorous in a matter of moments. "I think the biggest thing that we had to think about really was the timing of the jokes — so the laugh- ter didn't step on other jokes." "I think [the film] turned out better than I ex- pected," adds McDonagh. "The performances just knock the whole thing out of the park — they just take it to a whole other level. I think it's a beau- tiful film that's not just performance based. The balance of the humor with tragedy, we weren't sure was going to work. But people seem to love Frances and the characters and want to go on her journey." Visit postmagazine.com for the full article. BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST FILM EDITING: THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI T BY LINDA ROMANELLO Beauty and the Beast Thor: Ragnarok Wonder Woman