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rtificial intelligence has dramat- ically altered the course of life on Earth in The Creator, director Gareth Edwards' epic new sci-fi thriller. Set in the near future, the film depicts a reality in which a war is raging between humans and AI. After artificial intelligence is believed to have initiated the detonation of a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles, the United States and its Western allies pledge to eradicate all forms of AI to prevent the extinction of humanity. The region of New Asia resists this initiative, choosing instead to continue embracing AI technology within its borders. Ex-special forces agent Joshua (John David Washington) is recruited to locate and kill the Creator, an elusive AI architect who has developed a powerful new weapon capable of destroying all of mankind. When Joshua and his team in- filtrate AI-occupied territory, they discov- er that the mysterious, world-annihilating weapon is actually AI in the form of a young child (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). From the very beginning, Edwards set out to tell the story of The Creator with an emphasis on realism. The crew filmed in 80 different locations across Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, the US, and the UK — traveling over 10,000 miles in total. The story of The Creator is brought to life with stunning visual effects woven seamlessly into the surrounding world. Edwards aimed to keep performances firmly grounded, choosing not to utilize green screens or motion-capture suits. Rather than planning out all of the film's visual effects and design elements in ad- vance, he chose to make those decisions during post production to have more creative freedom and flexibility. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) played a major role in crafting the film's spec- tacular visual effects, collaborating closely with Edwards every step of the way. Before production began, Edwards traveled throughout Southeast Asia to shoot preliminary test footage that would capture the essence of the film's unique visual palette. The footage was shot handheld in a minimalist run-and- gun style, showcasing the natural beauty of each location. He brought the test back to ILM to begin discussing ideas for visual effects. "He had a chat with John Knoll [ILM chief creative officer], and a little mini group at ILM started layering on some ideas," VFX supervisor Ian Comley recalls. "It told me everything I needed to know in that it was going to be absolutely-stun- ning locations, beautiful photography." VFX supervisor Charmaine Chan adds, "That test footage was absolutely beauti- ful and amazing." Edwards spent the first decade of his career as a visual effects artist, giving him an innate understanding of the VFX production process. "I just love the way that Gareth works with visual effects," Chan shares. This knowledge allowed him to make suggestions that maximized the visual impact of shots. "He was able to very effectively know where to deploy visual effects," Comley recalls. Edwards trusted the team at ILM to execute his overall vision. "I think, because of the respect and the trust that he has for us, there were many large sections of the image and the effects that we were generating, that he just [gave] us free reign," Comley shares. Edwards preferred to use VFX to em- phasize subtle details that made the world feel more cohesive, rather than focusing on showing off dramatic set pieces. "You're left with the residual impres- sion that you could point a camera any- where," Comley shares. "This world has depth and this sort of visual language and beauty, and it's not gratuitous. I think many other filmmakers would probably say, 'Well, we spent time making this giant monolithic structure. Let's do a complete fly-through of the camera and show it off.' He didn't work that way, which was really refreshing." Edwards was eager to integrate new technology and techniques into the film's VFX production process. "We gave him the chance to do a virtual cam session, where he's able to essentially take an iPad-like device and use it like a camera, and frame up and compos- ite what he wants of the framing of the shots," Chan explains. "There are directors who give us briefs, and it's a fully-CG shot, where you have no idea where anything is. And he's just like, 'This is exactly how I want it. Take it, roll with it.'" Edwards communicated his visual ideas via a variety of methods. "Sometimes he went lo-fi and sent a photo to Ian of a Lego guy attached to a water bottle to represent our main char- acter, Joshua, against the missile," Chan recalls. "He is a very visual guy who's able to give you what he exactly needs. And that's something that I absolutely admire about him, because we definitely don't get that all the time." ILM worked closely with production designer James Clyne, who guided the film's worldbuilding and design language development from start to finish. "He was so familiar with what Gareth wanted, what his vision was," Chan recalls. "It was a great partnership that was also such a great resource for us, be- cause having that actual visual, physical thing that is concept art and draw-overs helps us get our assets and our environ- ments that much easier and closer to that final product." The team at ILM believed in the project and went above and beyond to bring Edwards' ideas to the screen. "Any artist who came onto the project immediately saw the richness of this world, the beautiful photography, and they were hooked and wanted to con- tribute," Comley shares. "There really was a fantastic team dynamic, all the way through the artists, the leads, the supes." "It was a huge collaborative effort from everyone at ILM," Chan adds. "There's no way we would have been able to succeed without this passion that every- one had for this project," he continues, noting that the guerilla-style filmmaking was a refreshing departure from other large-scale productions that the team has worked on. "Everyone was just very hands-on and wanting to be part of it." Comley and Chan worked closely with fellow ILM VFX supervisor Jay Cooper and on-set VFX supervisor Andrew Roberts. During production, Roberts ensured that ample reference data was captured with HDRI chrome balls and LiDAR scans whenever possible. Because of the unstructured nature of the shoot, it was not always possible to capture data. "We really had to lean on our paint and layout teams to get the job done," Comley explains. "It was heroic, the THE CREATOR BY KENDRA RUCZAK KRUCZAK@CGW.COM INSIDE ILM'S VFX FOR GARETH EDWARDS' EPIC SCI-FI THRILLER A VISUAL EFFECTS www.postmagazine.com 12 POST SEPT/OCT 2023 www.postmagazine.com 12 POST SEPT/OCT 2023