As Chris is tied up with a really cool Chaos project, we’re revisiting some of the older episodes of the CG Garage podcast. And we’re starting big with true luminaries of Hollywood revealing how they got their projects off the ground.

First up is Doug Trumbull, the 2001: A Space Odyssey VFX genius who went on to direct Silent Running and continually innovated Hollywood motion picture technology. Recorded shortly before his death in 2022, Doug talks about getting Brainstorm made and gives a prescient perspective on home theater.

We follow with a seminal live show that celebrated the podcast’s 100th episode with a pair of VFX experts turned blockbuster directors: Joe Kosinski and Tim Miller. Recorded at Gnomon School, Joe talks about how he leveled up Tron: Legacy and brought Oblivion’s stunning visuals to life, while Tim talks Deadpool and reveals some of the interesting choices that led to the beloved but very R-rated superhero movie.

VFX visualization might just be the closest you can get to being a film director without stepping behind the camera. This technology has become a key part of the VFX process, with previz storyboarding growing into pitchviz (to get movies greenlit), techviz (to figure out logistics), and postviz (to create temporary VFX). It’s an area Casey Pyke has become an expert in via his role at Halon Entertainment, which has helped visualize movies including The Batman, Pinnochio, Argylle, and John Wick: Chapter 4.

Casey breaks down how the technology required for visualization differs from that for VFX — speed is of the essence, but looking good is increasingly important. He also talks about how his background as an amateur filmmaker helped him understand what directors want and the satisfaction of recognising his work on the big screen. Casey concludes with his experiences using LED walls and AI tools in visualization pipelines.

Richard Crudo began his career in New York City, learning from some of the best in the business, including László Kovács and Gordon Willis, and helping shoot movies such as Ghostbusters 2, Raising Arizona, and Broadway Danny Rose. He then served as cinematographer on movies including American Pie, Out Cold, and Brooklyn Rules, as well as television series such as FX Network’s Justified, The CW’s Jane the Virgin, and CBS’s SWAT. 

In this podcast, Richard discusses the transition of motion pictures from film to digital, and the concurrent rise of new visual effects techniques. He also talks about being president of the American Society of Cinematographers, the popularity of dark shots in Netflix TV series, and the rise of artificial intelligence and the democratization of movie making.

It’s an enlightening and entertaining discussion, and it’s great to get another perspective on the filmmaking process.

2024 gets off to an explosive start with this week’s guest: CG supervisor Jonas Ussing, who is on a quest to give visibility to the VFX artists and studios who create invisible effects. He’s doing this via his YouTube channel, The Movie Rabbit Hole, where his impeccably researched and presented arguments have racked up over a million views.

Jonas and Chris talk about how studios are making it seem like films such as Oppenheimer, Top Gun: Maverick, and Mission: Impossible 7 favored practical effects, undermining VFX studios’ hard work and even making it hard for artists to get hired. They also talk about the politics of VFX, from Jurassic Park’s celebrated dinosaurs to Andy Serkis’ controversial take on his performance as Gollum. Jonas also reveals how to get the public on board with CG again.

After being inspired by Star Wars to pursue a career in entertainment law, Joshua Lastine helped with clearances on everything from American Idol to The Man in the High Castle to Midway to the Hulkbuster armor in Avengers: Age of Ultron and weapons for TV series Echo 3. Today, Joshua runs Lastine Entertainment Law, which drafts bespoke agreements for everything from YouTube videos to big-budget movies, and he teaches law at Los Angeles Film School.

In this podcast, Joshua covers all the hot topics in the film and TV industry, including AI, the causes of the writers’ strike, digital celebrities, and the effects of streaming media. Joshua offers an informed perspective on where the industry is going, details the strengths and weaknesses of artificial intelligence, and explains how copyright law applies to everything from code to works of art.

This week, Chris takes a trip to Pandora to delve into the design of Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron’s latest jaw-dropping cinematic epic. His guide is Ben Procter, the super-talented production designer who specializes in creating vehicles and environments for Avatar antagonists the RDA — to the extent that he thinks of himself as the “bad guy” of the art department.

Ben goes into a fascinating deep-dive into the design and construction of the S-76 SeaDragon, the formidable whaling ship that becomes the setting for the film’s final act. Ben talks about how the design process works between the writers, other artists, VFX studios, and James Cameron himself. Ben also gives his thoughts on artificial intelligence and how it’s going to change a generation.

Is Huxley the new Star Wars? This week, Chris chats to Ben Mauro, the film and game concept artist who single-handedly created Huxley, a comic book set in a richly detailed post-apocalyptic sci-fi universe. Thanks to the power of NFTs, Huxley has evolved beyond the pages of a graphic novel into something far bigger, with a film from Marvel producer Avi Arad in the works, plus trading cards, a potential TV series, and much more. 

Ben talks about the incredible journey of Huxley, from how he found motivation and inspiration to single-handedly create the comic book, to how NFTs have empowered him to focus on the project, to its exciting future. Ben also shares his savvy knowledge of how NFTs work and gives his thoughts on how big media franchises are cashing in on their astonishing rise, as well as explaining how to avoid rugpulls.

Joining Chris for this week’s podcast is Matteo Santoro, an energetic, enthusiastic, and versatile filmmaker who might just be revolutionizing the way movies are made. After graduating from art college, Matteo created opening titles and VFX for film including The Incredible Hulk, Aliens vs Predator - Requiem, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. At the same time, he created his own sci-fi IPs, including the short film Offline and the feature Higher Power.

Now, Matteo is working on SIFT, an ambitious sci-fi feature film constructed through NFTs, allowing fans to own parts of the movie and even shape its direction. Matteo discusses SIFT’s richly detailed world and how he built a practical robot to inhabit it. He also talks about The Sunflower Kid, a series of NFTs that aim to raise money for charity and promote world peace.

This week’s podcast features a truly legendary guest: Douglas Trumbull. Over the past 50 years, Douglas has pushed the boundaries of filmmaking via stunning effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and directed his own films including Silent Running and Brainstorm. 

Today, Douglas still works tirelessly to enhance the cinematic experience at home and in theaters. His intricate understanding of cameras and projectors led to the creation of the Showscan format which has now evolved into Magi, delivering high-framerate films without the soap-opera look. In this podcast, he gives exclusive insight into his experiences in the movie industry and explains his involvement in Ang Lee’s Gemini Man as well as Kevin Margo’s CONSTRUCT.

Glenn Derry began his career in practical effects, creating advanced puppets for movies, including A.I. Artificial Intelligence. As CG took over filmmaking, he transferred his skills into visual effects via films such as The Aviator, Real Steel, The Jungle Book and Avatar — for which he coined the phrase “virtual production.”

In this discussion with Chris, Glenn talks about the rise of virtual production in filmmaking and his role in making it happen, as well as how real-time and rear-projection, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, have the potential to transform the movie-making process. He also talks about Technoprops, the company he set up to create bespoke motion-capture systems, and how he’s introducing a new generation of directors to old-school filmmaking techniques.