Vfx supervisors increasingly important
Tech pros move up in film production hierarchy
Not so long ago, visual effects were an isolated corner of post-production, a "black-box" process headed by amiable engineers who kept largely to themselves.

Dirt adds realism to CG creations
Schmutz makes visual effects more convincing
The latest and greatest CG creations for film are borne from their digital wombs so perfectly and pristinely that they're nearly unbelievable -- and that's just the problem.

Should Oscar honor animation effects?
Vfx pros insist cartoon toils should be eligible
For many, the idea of honoring visual effects in animated films elicits a simple reaction: "Huh?"

Furnishing Miller's Spartan vision
Effects supervisors add digital elements to '300'
When visual effects supervisor Chris Watts started working on "300," he realized his department would be setting elements of scenes in some unusual ways.

ILM, Digital Domain ride out the storm
Companies create water effects for 'Pirates'
When it came time to create the water effects for "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," both Industrial Light & Magic and Digital Domain generated inhouse fluid simulations to be sure there was no digital body of water too narrow to keep helmer Gore Verbinski from the look he wanted.

Raimi unravels effects web
Director discusses digital impact on filmmaking
Variety asked helmer Sam Raimi how the filmmaking process has changed since the introduction of CGI and digital tools.