fxpodcast #338: Matrix Resurrections: Does it matter how you make a VFX?

 

In this episode, we speak to Huw Evans, Visual Effects Supervisor (DNEG) about The Matrix Resurrections. fxguide’s Mike Seymour starts the conversation by asking Huw “does it matter how VFX are made… or does it just matter how they look on screen?”.

Director Lana Wachowski

The Matrix Resurrections is produced, co-written, and directed by Lana Wachowski. It is the sequel to The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and the fourth installment in The Matrix film franchise. Lana Wachowski and the VFX team very deliberately did both shots ‘for real’, such as having Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss jump off a real building. But also they produced an Unreal Engine sequence to have an actual real-time simulation inside the Matrix ’simulation’. How the shots were made mattered to the director. This is a somewhat challenging meta-layer to overlay on a visual effects supervisor and effects team such as DNEG, as Hue and Mike discuss in the fxpodcast.

Huw Evans credits include Wonder Woman 1984, Jason Bourne, and Mission: Impossible: Fallout  DNEG was the lead VFX house on film and worked on over 700 shots across its London, Vancouver, and India facilities. Huw overseeing the work as DNEG’s VFX Supervisor, working with Dan Glass, VFX Production Supervisor.

Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) was visualized as one of two organic ball bearing type digi-doubles to allow their characters to manifest in the ‘real world’ as synthetic beings, capable of shape manipulation. This ‘real’ Morpheus was key in the complex Trinty escape sequence, which presented a host of VFX issues. Vast modeling, lighting, complex simulation, and integration of live-action all required tight planning and execution by the DNEG team.

One of two ‘virtual characters’ in the real world of the Matirx.
Morpheus

The Matrix Resurrections is nominated in the 20th Annual VES Awards for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature.  The Nominees: Dan Glass, Nina Fallon, Tom Debenham, Huw J Evans, and James Schwalm. The awards will be presented at the 20th Annual VES. Due to COVID-19, the VES is still considering the format and timing for this year’s show.

 

 

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