In 18 months, audiences will be transported back to Pandora for Avatar 2 — and Ben Procter is one of the people who’s preparing to take us there. This concept artist turned production designer gives insight into the sequel’s seven-year production journey, as well as some of the technology his team along with Lightstorm Entertainment and Weta Digital are using to create James Cameron’s sumptuous digital world.

Ben also tells Chris about his ascent through the visual effects industry, from his early days at previz pioneer Pixel Liberation Front to The Matrix sequels, Transformers, Tron: Legacy and Ender’s Game. He reveals the organized chaos of VFX and art departments, celebrating the characters and methods that can quickly turn around and tweak incredible work. He also gives insight into how virtual production marks a return to more traditional, in-camera filmmaking processes.

Pixar’s unique fusion of cutting-edge technology with storytelling has changed the face of cinema and given us some memorable movies along the way. A key player behind-the-scenes has been Esdras Varagnolo, who contributed to lighting and compositing on Pixar movies including Ratatouille, Up and Cars 2, as well as shorts “La Luna,” “Piper” and “Lou.”

As Esdras begins a new chapter in his life, at David Ellison’s Skydance Animation, he reflects on the technical innovations he’s helped make possible, from “shampositing” at Digital Domain to integrating deep compositing and Katana at Pixar. He reveals how Pixar uses its short films as testbeds for new technology, how Incredibles 2’s production schedule was slashed by 12 months and the fascinating reason why the company’s early characters had that iconic eye glint.

Andrea Blasich’s love of sculpting began on the beaches of southern Italy and it’s taken him all the way to Hollywood, where his talents have been put to use on movies including Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Brave and Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. In this podcast, recorded at THU, he explains why time-honored techniques are still relevant in digital pipelines.

Andrea sheds light on his working process, which involves using clay in combination with 3D scanners and 3D printers to create and modify his work. He offers his thoughts on ZBrush and VR sculpting tools, talks about his experiences working on games such as The Witness and BioShock 2, and details the complexities of sculpting lips, kilts — and Mickey Mouse.

Over the past few years, the John Wick movies have breathed new life into action filmmaking, marrying balletic big-screen violence with the intricate world-building and compulsive storylines of a quality TV series. Joining Chris this week are returning podcast guests Alex Nice (concept artist) and Robert Nederhorst (VFX supervisor), who talk about their work on John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum.

If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know that glass features heavily in two major scenes, and Alex and Rob talk about the difficulties of working with (and breaking) elaborate reflective surfaces. Alex reveals how technology such as V-Ray, Unreal and virtual reality helped him plan and preview sets, while Rob discusses some of the problems he ran into on-set — sometimes literally. You’ll also find out how they digitally recreated bridges, rooftops and alleys for the movie — and why they chose a black finger sock for Keanu over a traditional green one.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a critical and box office success on its release last year, garnering critical praise and even an Oscar for its vivid, touching and inventive take on Spidey’s origin story. In this podcast, co-director Peter Ramsey tells his own tale of going from a humble, blue-collar upbringing in South Los Angeles to co-creating one of the best-animated movies of all time.

Peter tells Chris about the movies which inspired his career, including Star Wars, The Seven Samurai and ET. He also discusses how early experiences working with Francis Ford Coppola on Bram Stoker’s Dracula and second-unit-directing Tank Girl came in handy in the world of animation, and the happy accidents which led to his directorial roles on Rise of the Guardians and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. 

It’s one of the most inspirational podcasts you’ll ever hear; Peter’s free of ego and still looking at cinema with wide-eyed wonder.

Chris’s guest this week is Neil Huxley, a director whose story is worthy of its own movie. Early exposure to The Terminator inspired Neil to follow a career in the film industry but fighting back against bullies at his South London school almost lead him off the rails, until his bouncer-artist dad intervened. In a spectacular comeback, Neil studied multimedia at university and graduated with a first-class honors degree thanks to his short film.

Recorded ahead of his talk at THU, Neil recounts how his career has taken him through title design for movies such as Watchmen and Gamer, creating holographic displays for Avatar and on to Digital Domain offshoot Mothership and then production company Ruffian to direct spectacular and well-received videogame cinematics, including an epic interactive trailer for Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Now, Neil plans to make a feature film that will take him back to the South London locales where his tale began.

Mike Hill’s enviable career has seen him wear many hats on big projects in film, TV and games. He designed the formidable Retribution spaceship for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, helped conceptualize some of Game of Thrones’ most iconic sets and scenes, created the intricate Memory Orb device for Blade Runner 2049, and worked out how to unite 18 disparate episodes of Netflix series Love, Death & Robots.

But that’s not all this multifaceted film fanatic does — he’s also becoming renowned for his in-depth lectures on storytelling and visual language in films. In this podcast, he gives a concise version of his theories on Jurassic Park and its theme of parental responsibility, explains how these seep into Spielberg’s other films such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Hook, and even talks about what makes Jurassic World so morally bankrupt.

This is a fascinating podcast for anyone who looks for a deeper meaning in movies, and you’ll also find out which big-budget movie Mike’s working on next.

Gray Marshall has always wanted to tell stories. In his youth, he was inspired to pursue CG by Tron and Pixar’s Luxo Jr., but when he studied film at USC he fell in love with the physical process of filmmaking. After dabbling in motion control cameras, he joined Digital Domain as a VFX supervisor and then founded his own company, Gray Matter FX.

Today, Gray has brought all his industry experience together in his role as a colorist at the Deluxe-owned Company 3. As Gray explains, this oft-overlooked but fascinating job adds a crucial finishing touch to films, uniting scenes provided by different VFX vendors or film crews, correcting visual continuity mistakes and providing a bridge between the editor, director of photography and director.

Using examples from Ant-Man and The Wasp, Roma and Avengers: Endgame, Gray goes into a deeper technical level on the current standards of film production and distribution, and tells Chris how colorists make sure their work looks good on everything from your home TV to a state-of-the-art laser projector.

The Animatrix, Liquid Television, Ren & Stimpy - there have always been blips of mature content on the animation spectrum, but never anything like Love, Death & Robots. This new anthology kicks open the doors for adult storytelling in the medium, taking Tim Miller and David Fincher’s unique influences, and letting over 14 studios run wild through topics like racism, war, free will and human nature, as they collectively produced 18 jaw-dropping shorts.

This week, series’ VFX supervisor Jerome “Jed” Denjean stops by the podcast to talk about his own history, as well as explain how this project came together, from Tim’s initial ideas to how Blur brought in competing studios to join in on the fun. As the discussion continues, they get into bigger topics like what Love, Death & Robots means for the entertainment industry as a whole, why we could be moving away from longer-form storytelling and into bite-size chunks, and the chances of a second season.

Love, Death and Robots is streaming now.

Film and art have fascinated Loic Zimmermann from a young age: he drew all the time and built rocket ship sets in his back garden during his childhood in rural France. His fascination drew him towards studying CG at university, then onto work for innovative game studio Quantic Dream, and his clever method of getting the perfect tattoo won him a job at Luma Pictures in Los Angeles.

As well as working on visual effects for Marvel movies and many more, Loic has directed fascinating documentaries on modern art masters William Wray (Gamma Wray) and Jeremy Mann (A Solitary Mann). He tells Chris how he gets under the skin of these characters without getting in their way, geeks out about video cameras, and gives a little insight into his upcoming documentary Larry.

It’s a fascinating podcast which dives deep into the way artists and filmmakers work, and reveals the numerous connections and passions Chris and Loic have in common.