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Behind DNEGs work on Skeleton Crew.In this interview with DNEG visual effects supervisor Chris McLaughlin, befores & afters learns about the studios involvement in Skeleton Crewfrom the Mint, to helping craft Neel shots, and the desolate surrounds of At Achrann. Includes lots of fun behind the scenes befores and afters.b&a: Tell me about the build for the Mint can you discuss the process of taking concepts and also any VAD work for this and starting the build? What kind of live action plates were filmed? What were some of the main challenges of dealing with scale, selling the vastness and adding in details, including robots and other elements?Chris McLaughlin: The Mint environment can be broken down into three main areas the landing platform and lift shaft, the Credit Maker, and the vault.For each of these areas, we were provided with concept art and a previs model. Using these references, we began by creating a blocking model, gradually adding more detail to each component.Since these were fully CG environments, the filming took place against a bluescreen, with only a few key set elements built practically the landing platform floor, the spaceship ramp, and a full-size security droid puppet. Everything else was entirely CG. The onset lighting was carefully planned to account for what would replace the bluescreen. We had many lighting cues to work with in CG for example, a strong, hard, warm light source behind Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) to represent the entrance of the vault, as well as vertical chaser lights to simulate the motion of passing lights as the landing platform descended down the lift shaft.The landing platform itself was largely pre-designed, as it had been carried over from previous sequences handled by another vendor. Our main task was to slightly increase its resolution and texture the areas closest to the camera in our shots. However, the lift shaft, through which the landing platform descends, needed to be built from scratch. The Credit Maker, visible from the landing platform in a few shots, was inspired by a piece of concept art. To effectively communicate the scale of the machinery, we animated its moving parts such as robot arms with slow, deliberate movements, making them feel heavy, as though they were struggling under their own weight. Additionally, we populated the surrounding airspace with sky sleds at varying distances to reinforce the sense of scale.For the vault, conveying its vastness and, by extension, the sheer amount of credits was crucial to the story. However, since the vaults design was relatively simple and repetitive, we relied on shot composition, depth cueing, defocus, and additional atmospheric elements to enhance its perceived size.Across all three environments, we drew inspiration from several key visual references, including the Boeing Everett Factory, Cardington Film Studios, and the Son Doong Caves. We also found valuable references within the Star Wars universe, particularly in The Last Jedi, which features incredible shots inside the Mega Star Destroyer essentially a massive hangar for the Imperial army. b&a: Can you break down how the team tackled a typical head replacement and animation shot for Neel going through all the steps from ingest to final delivery?Chris McLaughlin: In most of his shots, the character of Neel was portrayed by an actor wearing an animatronic head, created by Legacy Effects and operated by a team of puppeteers. The animatronic head featured a semi-transparent panel that allowed the actor to see, which we digitally removed whenever it was visible. Full CG head replacements were relatively rare, occurring only in situations where the prosthetic head would obstruct the actors vision or compromise their comfort and safetyfor example, when running down the ramp of a spaceship.For these shots, we ingested a Neel digidouble, created by ILM, and carefully tracked the actors body. Ensuring a precise track around the neck and shoulders was crucial so that the CG head felt seamlessly integrated with the bodys movement.Our animators primary reference was the performance of the animatronic head. We ensured that our rigs capabilities matched those of the practical version, so the CG animation never felt exaggerated or unnatural. As a final step, cloth and hair simulations added subtle deformations and movement to Neels ears, trunk, and hair, enhancing realism.Light matching was essential in blending the CG head with the practical elements, but it posed a significant challenge Neels skin coloring was quite complex, featuring a mix of blues, greys, and pinks. It took several rounds of compositing refinements to perfectly dial in the look and match the colors seamlessly.Ultimately, the team did an outstanding job across all departments, and I think it would be difficult to distinguish which shots featured a CG head and which were practical.b&a: Could you pick just one other scene/sequence/character or asset that DNEG was responsible for and talk about the particular challenges when you tackled it, what you had to solve, and why you thought it was successful?Chris McLaughlin: For our work in Episode 4, we were tasked with building the suburban outskirts of At Achrann a desolate, war-torn, region on a distant planet. We began with concept art provided by the shows art department, which set the tone for the environment. While a few practical set pieces were constructed for interaction, the vast majority of this world was entirely CG. Any surface that characters walked on or physically interacted with was a practical set, but everything beyond that from the ruined skyline to the distant hazewas digital.Our team built an extensive library of destroyed buildings, including a bombed-out school, as well as an arid, decaying forest, all meticulously crafted to enhance the war-torn aesthetic. To increase the sense of destruction, we carefully designed and textured the buildings to reflect the war-torn setting, drawing inspiration from real-world conflict zones while maintaining a distinctive Star Wars look. The concept art portrayed a landscape shrouded in fog and mist, creating an ominous and foreboding atmosphere. To match this aesthetic, our FX team developed a library of rolling mist and fog simulations, which we carefully integrated into every shot, ensuring consistency with the practical smoke effects used on set. Overgrown vegetation, scattered rubble, and dried-out, dying trees added further layers of realism.This sequence also features one of my favorite shots a moment that feels quintessentially Star Wars as Jods ship, The Ironclad, descends through the low-lying mist, its white-hot engines ignite the air, sending smoke, sparks, and debris billowing toward the camera as it touches down. All images courtesy of DNEG 2025 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.The post Making a mint appeared first on befores & afters.

President Donald Trumps initial policy proposals raised concern at the Federal Reserve about higher inflation, with firms telling the U.S. central bank they generally expected to raise prices to pass through the cost of import tariffs, policymakers said at a meeting held about a week after Trumps January 20 inauguration.Participants at the U.S. central banks January 28-29 meeting generally pointed to the upside risks to the inflation outlook, rather than risks to job market, according to the minutes from the meeting, which were released on Wednesday. In particular, participants cited the possible effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy, the potential for geopolitical developments to disrupt supply chains, or stronger-than-expected household spending.While still having faith that price pressures will continue to ease, other factors were cited as having the potential to hinder the disinflation process, the minutes said, including the fact that business contacts in a number of (Fed) districts had indicated that firms would attempt to pass on to consumers higher input costs arising from potential tariffs.Participants also noted that some measures of inflation expectations, a key concern for the Fed, had increased recently.Financial markets were little changed after the release of the minutes, with interest rate futures indicating the Feds likely first, and perhaps only, rate cut of 2025 would occur in July.Policymakers at last months meeting agreed they should hold interest rates steady until it was clear that inflation, largely stalled since the middle of 2024, would dependably fall to the central banks 2% target.Fed staff had already changed their outlook at the December 17-18 meeting to show expected slower growth and higher inflation based on placeholder assumptions about Trumps likely actions when he began his second term in the White House. The president started providing details in his first days in office, including proposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and a lockdown of the U.S.-Mexico border.The Fed kept its benchmark interest rate in the current 4.25%-4.50% range at its meeting last month, and officials since then have said they are in no rush to cut rates again until they are more certain inflation will decline to the 2% target from current levels around half a percentage point above that level.Understanding the impact of Trumps policies has become a central part of that debate.Debt ceiling, frameworkIn another sign of how fiscal policy may impact central bank decision-making, the minutes said various policymakers noted it may be appropriate to consider slowing or pausing the Feds ongoing shrinking of its balance sheet in light of federal debt ceiling dynamics.Current federal funding runs out after March 14, and lawmakers will need to act by the summer to raise their self-imposed debt ceiling or risk a default.Fed officials used the January meeting to kick off whats expected to be a months-long review of the central banks policy framework, including potential revisions to the statements focus on the risks to the economy when the benchmark interest rate is near the zero level.They also made it clear they would not change their commitment to a 2% inflation goal, or to achieving maximum employment.The review is expected to wrap up by late summer, the minutes said.Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir, Reuters

The John F. Kennedy (JFK) Presidential Library and Museum reopened Wednesday, with free admission, a day after the historic Boston institution was abruptly shut down after multiple employees were suddenly fired in the latest wave of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts to come to federal employees.Director Alan Price said admission to the museum will remain free in the coming days as senior employees fill in at the front desk and take over ticketing, although those employees still need to be cross-trained, reported the Boston Globe.As the Foundation that supports the JFK Library, we [were] devastated by this news and will continue to support our colleagues and the Library, the nonprofit John F. Kennedy (JFK) Library Foundation told Fast Company in a statement.In an effort to slash the size of the federal government, the Trump administration and DOGE have advised agencies to dismiss most of the 200,000 workers still in their probationary periods, working less than two years at their job.The National Archives and Records Administration, which manages many of the the nations presidential libraries, told Fast Company that the Archives staff looks forward to welcoming guests, visitors, and researchers, but had no further comment.Jack Schlossberg, JFKs only grandson, who has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration, posted on Instagramthat DOGE and The White House were behind the shutdown.Our country is under attack from our own government. They are using propaganda to steal the past away from the American people,wrote Schlossberg, whose mother, Caroline Kennedy, is honorary president of the Library Foundation. In my opinion, it has nothing to do with government efficiency, the workers who were fired today actually bring in revenue for the government, its really about stealing the past . . . so that people dont know whats really happening. (Schlossbergs post had 67,366 likes at the time of this writing.)Elsewhere on social media, one Bluesky user posted, Closing down museums and national parks isnt weeding out corruption. But it is a sign of authoritarian rule.Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren also took to Bluesky to say: Trumps shutdown of the JFK Library wont lower egg prices or make housing more affordable, but its part of a retribution tour designed to distract from his agenda to enrich the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyone else.As the New York Times pointed out, the JFK Library Foundation has previouslyhonored Trump critics including Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney. Romney, a Republican former Utah senator and presidential nominee, was the only Republican to vote to convictTrumpin hisfirst impeachment trial, while Cheney spoke out against the January 6 attack on the Capitol, making her a target of Trumps wrath and costing her Wyoming seat in the House of Representatives.

For a phone thats supposed to be the cheapest iPhone in Apples catalog, the company sure used some clever tricks to make the device feel larger than life.Take a minute to watch the iPhone 16E launch and youll notice something you really cant get your eyes off it. Even for a budget phone with one camera lens, the 16E looks dynamic and gorgeous in the video. No, it isnt the colors that make the video pop, its the camera angles. Apple deliberately used exaggerated perspectives and highly zoomed-in shots of the iPhone to make it look more outstanding than usual. And no, it isnt a new camera trick car companies have been using it for decades, giving their automobiles more 3-dimensional depth.Designer: AppleThe use of close-up camera angles creates a dynamism that makes ordinary objects look extraordinary.The iPhone 16E debuted today (ditching the SE moniker) with a design that seems to have lined up perfectly with all the rumors and speculations (but without the Camera Control button we were expecting). Apple announced a $599 price tag for the phone, which comes with a notch, a single camera lens (although Apple calls it a 2-in-1 camera), an aluminum frame, and wireless charging (without MagSafe) all in all, its a decent entry-level iPhone with nothing remarkably different so to make the phone look out of the ordinary, Apple relied on a clever optical technique called exaggerated perspective or hyper-perspective.Heres an example of regular vs. hyper perspective when compared side by side. I made the render below to perfectly demonstrate how changing your perspective literally changes the products appeal. The first shot adopts Apples exaggerated perspective technique, creating a phone that feels like its jumping out of the screen. Meanwhile, the photo on the right appears nice, but doesnt stand out.Image Credits: Sarang ShethThe reason the phone on the left looks more appealing lies in how we perceive objects. Stand at the bottom of a skyscraper and look up and it really feels grand. The same skyscraper when viewed from any normal angle a hundred yards away looks like any other building. Its because our eyes are guided by lines. The phone on the left has lines that converge at a point, while the phone on the right has parallel lines. Theres dynamism, motion, and drama in the first photo but not so much in the second one. Even though its literally the same product.Apple combined this visual trick with some brilliant cinematography. The camera movement is almost continuous with barely any breaks. Scenes are connected by the camera seemingly zooming in, hovering around, or panning across different scenarios. It feels like youre floating through Apples keynote like a hummingbird or a bee, observing the phone from an angle that makes it look much more grand than it is. The USB-C port looks massive, the braided charging cable feels thick enough to grip with your entire palm. At 5.78 inches, its literally the smallest iPhone in this entire 16 series, but the clever used of hyper perspective with those gorgeous close-up shots makes it look like the opposite.The most remarkable thing is that Apple claims its entire presentation was shot on the iPhone too, which is pretty interesting because current iPhones dont have the ability to shoot such exaggerated perspectives or such fancy close-ups. Sure, the 0.5x camera does a fairly good job of making things look more dramatic, but what Apple doesnt tell you is that theres also a lot of other equipment involved. External lenses, dramatic lighting, professional rigs, all these contribute to the incredible cinematography that weve come to expect from Apple.However, this use of unusual perspective instantly stood out (no pun intended!) as I watched the keynote. The iPhone 16E is by no means a flagship or flagship killer but everything Apple does (and says) is superlative, so the best way to demonstrate that is to make the phone look vastly more interesting than it actually is. This is also a visual trick we can use too, relying on the 0.5x camera to do more than just take ultrawide landscape shots. Know that you can use the same lense for product or even human photography too, just to make things look extra awesome!The post You Probably Didnt Notice This Clever Camera Trick In Apples iPhone 16E Video first appeared on Yanko Design.

You remember the Take On Me music video, where the protagonist/artist enters her sketchbook, leaving the real tangible world to enter a world where everythings made out of pencil sketches? Thats how I feel looking at these keycaps from KeyGeak. Designed to look like they were sketched rather than 3D modeled, the Comic Line keycaps turn your mechanical keyboard into a comic book prop.They attach onto Cherry MX or MX-style switches, making the keycaps compatible with an entire slew of mechanical keyboard types. Each key looks like it was hand-drawn, with that classic flat-3D style comics are famous for. Each keycap has rough lines sketched for added appeal, although the fonts are still standard I wish they were in a comic typeface!Designer: KeyGeakMost gamers I know cherish their setups to the point of obsession. Everything needs to be curated and highlighted, and this keycap set seems perfect for the gamer who has an appreciation for comic art. It could be regular comic books, graphic novels, manga, or even concept art. These keycaps turn your gear into comic art, bestowing a strange 2D-ish illusion to your keyboard.Each set comes with 136 keys designed with the cherry profile. The keycaps are standard PBT (Polybutylene terephthalate polymer), and are dye-sublimated with those graphics that wrap around every corner of the keycap. The edges look like theyve been sketched out with rough lines to show the artists sketchy style. Look on the right-hand surface of each keycap and theres even a shadow sketched out, as if the nearby key is casting a shadow on your key! The attention to detail is truly staggering, and each key is unique in its sketch lines.KeyGeak sells the Comic Line in three variants the mixed variant (shown here) has color-coded keys that you can use to create macros and shortcuts, but if you want something more plain, youve got standard white keycaps with black sketch lines, or black keycaps with white sketch lines.The keycap kit starts at $59, which includes 136 keys (encompassing the entire 100% layout plus some extras) that can easily be attached to practically any compatible mechanical keyboard. The caps are opaque, which means they dont work with backlight keyboards. But they more than make up for it with their absolutely gorgeous design!The post Level Up Your Mechanical Keyboard With These 2D Sketched Comic Book-Style Keycaps first appeared on Yanko Design.

The iPhone 16e starts at $599, which is nearly $200 more than the iPhone SE it just replaced.

One developer responds to the release of Muse: We are implicitly empowering a class of people who own these tools and dont give a fuck about how they reshape our lives.

The new iPhone 16e is surely the right combination of prices and features to be a hit, but the iPhone SE range that it has replaced will always be special.The original and second generation iPhone SEHere's how significant the iPhone SE was I actually remember what I was doing when it was announced back in 2016.I wasn't working here yet. I was supposed to be going into a meeting, but instead, I stayed in my car reading AppleInsider for the latest coverage. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

With the introduction of the iPhone 16e, Apple has officially ended the nearly two-decade run of the Home Button.The iPhone SE 3 was the last of Apple's products to feature the Home ButtonOn Wednesday, Apple announced the iPhone 16e. Designed to replace the budget-friendly iPhone SE, it offers a lower price point for new and returning iPhone owners or anyone who isn't looking to drop $800 on a mainline release.All three generations of the iPhone SE featured a home button. However, we had already expected that the newest budget model would move to Face ID. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums