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Every year, five films are nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Visual Effects category. The projects nominated each year offer a unique perspective on the VFX artistry filmmakers use to take audiences to new worlds, turn back the clock, and make all manner of movie magic. In recognition of these five films — and one of our favorite Oscar categories — we’re putting the spotlight on one nominee in the Best Visual Effects category each day leading up to the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 12. We’ll take a closer look at what made them stand out through interviews with the artists responsible for each film’s most memorable visual effects elements.
How VFX powered Spider-Man: No Way Home’s villain team-up
The visual effects studio behind some of Spider-Man: No Way Home's memorable moments explains how VFX made the film's sinister team-up happen.
The visual effects studio behind some of Spider-Man: No Way Home's memorable moments explains how VFX made the film's sinister team-up happen.
How visual effects shaped Free Guy’s GTA-inspired world
Free Guy swept audiences into a Grand Theft Auto-style universe that blurred the line between virtual worlds and reality with its amazing visual effects.
Ten rings and imagination: Behind Shang-Chi’s VFX magic
What did it take to bring 10 magic rings, two dragons, and an epic adventure to life in Marvel's Shang-Chi? Find out from Weta Digital's VFX supervisor.
How No Time To Die’s hidden VFX brought James Bond to the Oscars
James Bond films aren't known for their visual effects, so here's how No Time To Die's "less is more" approach to VFX earned it an Academy Award nomination.
10 Films that should’ve won an Oscar for Visual Effects, but didn’t
These 10 celebrated films and franchises broke new ground with their innovative use of visual effects, but they still didn't take home an Academy Award for VFX.
9 things you might not know about the Oscars VFX award
Best Visual Effects is one of our favorite Oscar categories, so here are some things you might not know about the Academy Award category honoring VFX artistry.
A ballet of blood and 3D printing: Behind the visual effects of The Midnight Sky
Sci-fi drama The Midnight Sky leaned on a blend of real-world tech and visual effects magic to bring its gripping tale to the screen. Here's how they did it.
How visual effects brought The One and Only Ivan’s animal stars into our world
Bringing the talkative animals of Disney's The One and Only Ivan to the screen was no easy task. It took a mix of virtual production and visual effects magic.
How visual effects took Love and Monsters’ sweet creature feature to the Oscars
Love and Monsters is a creature feature with heart and also an Oscar nominee, thanks to the work of a visual effects team led by VFX supervisor Matt Sloan.
How visual effects made Mulan’s battles bigger and its hero fly higher
Disney's Mulan has epic battles, spectacular choreography, and beautiful sets, and they all benefited from the work of its talented visual effects team.
How Christopher Nolan’s Tenet used visual effects to invert time
Christopher Nolan's sci-fi spy thriller Tenet made creative use of visual effects to turn back time and create a visually stunning adventure.
How VFX brought Leia back, gave us Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’s best battle
The visual effects team for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, one of 10 films contending for a VFX Oscar nomination this year, explains how they brought the late Carrie Fisher back as Leia for the sequel trilogy's concluding chapter, and what went into creating one of the film's most memorable battles.
The Irishman’s FX team invented bleeding-edge tech to subtly de-age De Niro
Acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and a talented visual effects team led by Pablo Helman turned back the clock on Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino for the hit Netflix film The Irishman, using brand-new, hands-off technology to keep the performances pure. Here's how they dit it.
How 1917’s single-shot style changed the game for visual effects
Director Sam Mendes' war drama 1917 chronicled a pair of soldiers' journey through enemy territory during World War II with a single-shot format that pushed its visual effects team to throw out what they knew and come up with fresh ways to create movie magic without any cuts.
How The Lion King visual effects team used VR to go inside Disney’s CG adventure
The Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor on Disney's The Lion King explains how the film's creative team and cast used virtual reality to blend modern filmmaking techniques with an old-school aesthetic in order to bring Simba's journey to life on the screen in a realistic way.
How visual effects made battles bigger and Hulk smarter in Avengers: Endgame
Avengers: Endgame brought Marvel's Infinity Saga to an end and delivered some of the most spectacular moments in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film's visual effects supervisor, Dan DeLeeuw, explains how VFX brought some of the film's most memorable scenes (and characters) to life.
Why First Man’s Oscar-winning visual effects are a giant leap for filmmaking
Damien Chazelle's film First Man made the 1969 moon landing feel as powerful today as it did 50 years ago thanks to innovative visual effects techniques that blended old footage with new material. We spoke to visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert about his Oscar-winning work on the film.
How big screens and small explosions shaped the VFX of Solo: A Star Wars Story
Solo: A Star Wars Story brought the early years of the Star Wars saga's famous smuggler Han Solo to the big screen. It earned an Oscar nomination by finding ways to reinvent the old and make it new again, with some help from the Industrial Light and Magic visual effects team led by Rob Bredow.
How ‘invisible’ effects brought Winnie the Pooh to life in ‘Christopher Robin’
Merging the world of Winnie the Pooh and the rest of A.A. Milne's wonderful creations with postwar London pushed the limits of visual effects in 2018's Christopher Robin and earned the film an Academy Award nomination for studio Framestore and visual effects supervisor Chris Lawrence.
To drive its giant virtual world, Ready Player One needed a custom A.I. engine
In order to bring Ready Player One to the screen, director Steven Spielberg and a visual effects team led by Roger Goyett had to build an entirely new universe populated by a host of familiar characters, while still maintaining a powerful emotional depth in their CG creations.
How Avengers: Infinity War’s Oscar-nominated VFX team made Thanos a movie star
Visual effects studio Digital Domain helped turn Avengers: Infinity War villain Thanos into one of the film's breakout roles and earn the film an Oscar nomination. We spoke to members of the film's visual effects team to find out how they made the purple-skinned titan such a fascinating character.
How the ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ FX team created a realistic ape army
'War for the Planet of the Apes' visual effects supervisor Dan Lemmon explains how monkey business raised the bar for visual effects in the Planet of the Apes trilogy's final chapter.
Behind the breathtaking visual effects of ‘Blade Runner 2049’
Visual effects supervisor John Nelson explains the breathtaking VFX that made Blade Runner 2049 so memorable and earned it an Oscar nomination.
How the ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ FX team crafted its skin-crawling villain
How the Oscar-nominated visual effects in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' brought Supreme Leader Snoke to terrifying life and created the saga's quietest collision.
Where Baby Groot’s dance moves came from, and other FX secrets from ‘Guardians 2’
It took some complex mathematics and a lot of sweet dance moves to create the groundbreaking visual effects that earned 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' an Oscar nomination.
How the ‘Kong: Skull Island’ FX team built a bigger, better King
The visual effects supervisors on 'Kong: Skull Island' explain how they brought the biggest version of King Kong ever to the screen with Oscar-nominated effects.
How ‘Rogue One’ brought a famous actor back to life, and changed movies forever
A combination of innovative, hands-on filming techniques and groundbreaking advances in facial mapping earned Rogue One an Oscar nomination, and a place among the year's best visual-effects experiences.
How the studio behind ‘Kubo’ went high tech to make stop-motion look astonishing
Step behind the scenes for a hands-on look at state-of-the-art animation studio, Laika. The studio's mix of 3D-printing, stop motion, and CGI to create the breathtaking film Kubo and the Two Strings garnered two Oscar nods for Sunday's ceremony.
How ‘Jungle Book’ did the impossible, and made the entire animal kingdom talk
The visual-effects team responsible for bringing talking animals to life in The Jungle Book explains how they created the creature FX in the Disney blockbuster, one of five contenders for this year's Visual Effects Academy Award.
How M.C. Escher inspired the magical, mystery world of ‘Doctor Strange’
The VFX producer on Marvel's Doctor Strange explains the process behind creating the mind-bending, physics-defying visuals that earned the film an Oscar nomination.
How ILM built, and destroyed, one of the largest sets ever for ‘Deepwater Horizon’
Peter Berg's Deepwater Horizon combined one of the biggest sets of all time with high-tech fire created from practical and digital effects to produce an Oscar-nominated disaster film.
The Force Awakens did CG so well, not even the FX artists can spot it all
Take a look behind the scenes at the Oscar-nominated visual effects at play in J.J. Abrams' sci-fi sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
How The Revenant made that brutal bear mauling so wincingly realistic
The Revenant's bear attack was one of the Oscar-nominated film's most memorable moments. Here's how the VFX team created it.
Contributing Editor, Entertainment
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and emerging technology, Rick has been writing for Digital Trends since 2011.
Over the years, Rick has served as an editor for MTV News and Wizard Magazine, as well as a columnist for Time Inc., Movies.com, Fandango, and IFC.com. He is a member of Critics Choice Association and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic for films and television series. A voracious consumer of movies and TV series, as well as a lifetime fan of comic books, video games, and all manner of geekery, his work can also be found in Mental Floss, Space.com, and various other print and online outlets.
Dubbed a “Professional Geek,” Rick has appeared on Spike TV, MTV, ABC, CBS, Fox Business, and NPR to offer commentary on entertainment and pop culture trends. He served as co-producer and host of WAMC Northeast Public Radio’s “RetConned” podcast, interviewing a wide spectrum of pop-culture personalities and creators from 2016-2018.
A native of New York’s Capital Region, Rick began his journalism career at the alternative newsweekly Metroland. He was named the New York Press Association’s Writer of the Year while covering local, state, and national news around New York’s capital city and surrounding region.
Rick attended college at SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Albany, earning degrees in Computer Science, Environmental Science, and Journalism. He is a proud father of two great kids, husband to an endlessly patient partner who tolerates his love for “The Transformers: The Movie,” and a big fan of good beer.