Ad Astra is a science fiction adventure film produced, co-written, and directed by James Gray. The film stars Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland. The film follows an astronaut who goes into space in search of his lost father near Neptune, whose experiment threatens the Solar System.
Filming began around Los Angeles that August, lasting through October. The film has been compared to Heart of Darkness (1899) for its plot, as well as being to outer space what Apocalypse Now (1979) was to the Vietnam War. Read our fxguide story here.
The fxguide planets that aligned for this episode were:
- Mike Seymour @mikeseymour
- Matt Wallin @mattwallin mattwallin.com
- Jason Diamond @jasondiamond www.thediamondbros.com
The visual effects included (in no order), Method Studios, MPC, Mr X, Weta Digital (the ‘Space-Ape’ scene), Brainstorm Digital, ILM (who initially sketched out the VFX approach of the film), Atomic Fiction, Soho VFX, Branch VFX, Legend VFX, Lola VFX, and Vitality VFX amongst others.
(DISCLAIMER: Please note regarding this week’s show that fxguide neither recommends nor supports ‘yacht rock’ in any form).