In The Expendables, director Sylvester Stallone harks back to the gritty and explosion-filled action films of days gone by to follow a team of mercenaries helping to overthrow a South American dictator. We talk to visual effects supervisor Wes Caefer about the practical and digital effects work in the film.

In Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the title character woos his new girlfriend by battling her seven evil exes in Japanese Anime-style fights punctuated with video game-like on-screen graphics. Visual effects supervisor Frazer Churchill oversaw more than 1200 shots for film. We take a look at the work by Double Negative and Mr. X.

The original Magic Bullet Colorista brought the 3-way color corrector to After Effects and improved upon the one built into Final Cut Pro. With the recent release of Colorista II and the addition of secondary color correction, more flexible masking, and UI refinements the plugin has solidified its place as our go-to favorite for grading within those desktop applications.

Phillip Noyce’s SALT takes audiences on a thrill ride with title character and CIA agent Angelina Jolie, who may or may not be a Russian spy out to assassinate the U.S. President. Visual effects supervisor Robert Grasmere oversaw the work of several vendors to provide hundreds of invisible shots for the film. We take a look at the effects by Framestore and CIS Vancouver.

In Mike Newell’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (out soon on Blu-Ray &DVD), rogue Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) safeguards a magical and sought-after dagger that can reverse time. We look at a few of the major effects sequences by Cinesite, MPC, Framestore and Double Negative, & the previs work by Nvizage. VFX supervisor : Tom Wood.