Whatever other shows did, Pirates did better, more complex, at incredible scale… just plain madness. You have to know the entire process of VFX production to be able to appreciate what had to be done to achieve those FX in Pirates. First of all their water is the best so far, period. Then, having digital makeup and face applications is mind boggling. Just try to imagine match-moving and motion matching actors’ faces. Or the amount of soft body and rigid body dynamics executed perfectly on those ships. Then the gimbals for ships (largest ever), the amount of data, the amount of R&D, character animation, mocap, digital stunts, explosions, you name it.

And to top it all off, it all looks perfect. John Knoll and John Frazier and their crews outdid themselves.

I am not associated with that production in any way, but I have to say that Pirates 3 deserve an oscar this year, no doubt. One can only hope that members of the academy know what it takes to produce those FX in Pirates.

Really saw nothing special in Evan Almighty or Golden Compass (yeah, the polar bear was kinda cool but nothing worthy of a win, IMO)… haven’t seen Borne Ultimatum yet so can’t comment on that!

300, POTC 3 & Transformers were the highlights for me, each earning a nod in different areas. Would be happy to see any of them take the Oscar home!

~Scarlett