By OLIVER WEBBDominic Tuohy was nominated for an Academy Award for his visual effects work on The Batman (2022). (Image courtesy of Dominic Tuohy)The role of the special effects artist is to create an illusion, practically or digitally, to enhance the storytelling. Practical effects include the use of makeup, prosthetics, animatronics, pyrotechnics and more, while digital effects rely on computer-generated imagery. With the two mediums having blended together in more recent years, the role of the special effects artist is often overlooked. Following are just a few of the many artists working today who are responsible for providing audiences with outstanding effects and immersing us in the world of film. From concept designers to special effects supervisors, they are working tirelessly behind the scenes to make movie magic happen.Neil Corbould, VES, Special Effects SupervisorMy uncle, Colin Chilvers, was the Special Effects Supervisor on Superman back in 1978. Being a big fan of Superman, I bugged Colin into taking me to see some of the sets. The first set he showed me was the fortress of solitude built on the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios. I arrived just at the right time to see Superman aka Christopher Reeves flying down the length of the stage on wire through the smoke, mist and dry ice. From that moment on, I knew that I wanted a job in special effects. After Superman, I went on to work on Saturn 3, which starred Kirk Douglas and Farah Fawcett Majors, then Superman 2. After that, I started working with a company called Effects Associates Ltd., run by Martin Gutteridge. This was an amazing place to learn the art of practical effects both in small and large-scale productions.Neil Corbould supervised this train-over-the-cliff effect for Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One (2023). (Image courtesy of Neil Corbould and Paramount Pictures)I feel that practical effects are now in a great place. I embrace all the new technologies that come along, and I am always on the lookout for the next generation of machines and materials I can use and integrate into my special effects work. YouTube has been a great source of information for me. Whenever I have any free time, I search through many clips on the platform, and its amazing what people come up with. Then I try to figure out how I can use it. With the influx of streaming platforms and the need for product, I have seen a surge in the need for more practical effects personnel. This has meant an increase of crew coming through the ranks at a fast pace, which has been a concern of mine here in the U.K. To be graded as a special effects supervisor takes a minimum of 15 years. During these 15 years, you need to have completed a certain number of movies in the various grades: trainee, assistant technician, technician, senior technician and then on to supervisor. This is the same with regards to pyrotechnic effects, which has similar criteria, with added independent explosion and handling courses that need to be completed before you are allowed to handle and use pyrotechnics and explosives. There is a worry that some have been fast-tracked through the system, which is where my concern lies. Because of the nature of the work we do, safety is paramount. You need to have completed the time and have the experience to say This is not right. This comes over time and spent working with seasoned supervisors who have been in the industry a long time. We need to create a safe working environment for everyone who is in and around a set.Dominic Tuohy, Special Effects ArtistIf you look at when I first started, everything we did was in-camera, i.e. filmed for real. It was harder back then nearly 40 years ago than it is today because we had almost no CGI and relied on matte painting and miniature work, etc. Thats where the saying, Its all smoke and mirrors comes from.Now the goal is to create a seamless collaboration between special effects and visual effects so that you dont question the effects within the film. Visual effects always have this problem: If you say to someone Draw me an explosion, your image will be different from mine. Whereas, if I create a real explosion, you, the audience, will accept it, and it grounds the film in reality. Thats the starting block of the smoke and mirrors moment. Now, using the existing SFX explosion, visual effects can augment that image to fit the shot and continue to convince the audience its real. All of this cannot be achieved without a great team effort, and thats something the British Film Industry has in abundance. [Note: Tuohy won the Academy Award in 2020 for Best Achievement in Visual Effects for his work on 1917.]Neil Corbould feels that practical effects are in a great place, and he embraces all the new technologies that come along that add to his toolkit of options. (Image courtesy of Neil Corbould)Nick Rideout, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Elements Special EffectsI am one of the few of my generation who wanted to be in SFX from an extremely early age. I was completely taken by Star Wars and Hammer [Film Productions] movies and wanted to be involved in making monsters and models for the film industry. I was lucky enough to go to art school and had the good fortune of a very honest tutor who pointed out that at best I was an under-average sculptor, but shouldnt let that stop me from pursuing a career in effects work as it is such a varied department. With that, it was a matter of writing a lot of letters and hanging in there once given a chance within a physical effects department. Weather effects, mechanical rigs, fire and pyrotechnics, it felt like the greatest job ever still does most days. I worked hard in the teams that I was part of and was fortunate enough to be alongside some of the best technicians of the time, who took the time to explain the how and why along with giving me the chance to express my ideas. Its a long road as no two days are ever the same, and even now Im not sure when you become an expert in the field as it is a constant learning curve.With all HETV, the challenges start with script expectation, directors vision versus the schedule, budget and location. The challenges can be so varied, the physicality of getting equipment onto a location, grade-one listed buildings, not having the means to test prior to the shooting day, all this before cast and cameras are present.John Richardson is proud of his work on all the Harry Potter films (2001-2011). (Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)Dominic Tuohy won the Academy Award in 2020 for Best Achievement in Visual Effects for his work on 1917. (Image courtesy of Universal Pictures)John Richardson worked on the Bond film Licence To Kill (1989). (Image courtesy of John Richardson, Danjaq LLC and MGM/UA)There are so many times that I am proud of my crew and their accomplishments. Without romanticizing our department, the pressure to deliver on the day is huge with nowhere to hide when the cameras are turning. Concentration, expertise and, at times, sheer grit get these effects over the line. Film and television production is always evolving and reinventing. SFX is at times an old technology but remains able to integrate itself with the most modern of techniques. Thats not to say we have not developed alongside the rest of the industry, but we will always be visual and physical.Max Chow, Concept Designer, Wt WorkshopI didnt know much about SFX. I wanted to try different stuff, and it just so happened that Wt Workshop had opportunities. Because Im quite new to this, learning about the harmony between physical manufacturing and the digital pipeline is very important. It is exciting to play a role or part in any of these projects at Wt Workshop. I think these limits make it relatable to us and give a realistic feel, which I think we all appreciate. Being fairly new to special effects, one of the most challenging things was storyboarding for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Seeing how great those storyboards were, I had to try my best to match that standard while learning how important pre-visualization and boarding are for VFX.Its easy to get lost and want to reinvent things and put in alternate creative designs putting a lot of yourself in it, but we have to pull back. We have to trust in our textiles and leather workers, because they know every stitch, every seam, better than us. We have to design with the realities of SFX in mind. Later, when something is made wet, when there is cloth physics applied to a design, or when rigging is applied in VFX, theres no doubt that it works, because it worked in real life. As VFX progresses, SFX is used in tandem to progress at the same rate we are using new materials, workflows, tech and pipelines for physical manufacture. The world has started to demand more of the unseen in theaters, like Avatar, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Godzilla vs. Kong, where were getting fully made-up worlds and less human ones. We pay to see something that we cant experience in real life. As that evolves, as we demand greater entertainment, theres more work needed to ground these films and make everything a spectacle but also believable.Iona Maria Brinch, Senior Concept Artist, Wt Workshop Being a fan of The Lord of the Rings books and films, and fascinated by Wt Workshops work on the films, it was a thrill when I was introduced to Wt Workshop Co-founder Richard Taylor, VES, through a friend while I was backpacking through New Zealand. He saw my paintings, pencil sketches and wood carvings that I had been creating on the road, and invited me in. I began as an intern, working through different departments before eventually landing a role in the 3D department. From there, I worked my way into our design studio, initially doing costume designs for Avatar: The Way of Water, working closely with Costume Designer Deborah Scott.I tend to lean towards the more organic and elegant side of things when designing, such as the Navi costumes, which have a natural feel to them. So, working on the designs with Deborah Scott for the RDA [Resources Development Administration], who are a military unit in Avatar, was a fun challenge, from having to consider hard surfaces, to thinking about futuristic yet realistic-looking gear. I was part of the team that designed a lot of the female characters clothing in Avatar, like Tsireya, Neytiri and Kiri, with Deborah Scott. Getting to properly dive into the world of Pandora, then eventually see my designs go through our costume department, where theyd build them physically, was incredible. They brought it to a completely new level. You cant take ownership of a design its a collaboration that goes through so many hands, which is an absolute joy to see and be a part of.Theres a lot to consider when youre designing stuff that is going to be made digitally and whats going to look good on a screen. There needs to be volume and 3D textures, interesting shapes and silhouettes that also read well at a distance, such as adding strands that can sway in the wind, shells that can give a slight dangling sound, or certain objects that can catch the light in an interesting way. All these things make it feel immersive and realistic. Its amazing to see how SFX is blending with VFX, but how theres still a desire to make as much as possible physically. SFX adds a certain grounded-ness to the films, perhaps because there are still limits to how much you can do in SFX.On the set of Napoleon with Special Effects Supervisor Neil Corbould. Corbould believes that creating a safe working environment for everyone on and around a set is paramount. (Image courtesy of Neil Corbould and Columbia Pictures/Sony)The digital 3D modeling work for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was completed by the Aaron Sims Company with Wt Workshop designer Max Chow, who was also a concept and storyboard artist on the film. (Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)Hayley Williams served as Special Effects Supervisor on Wonka. (Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)Iona Brinch was part of the team that designed female characters clothing for Avatar, such as for Tsireya, Neytiri and Kiri, with Deborah Scott. (Image courtesy of Iona Brinch and Wt Workshop)John Richardson was the Special Effects Supervisor on A Bridge Too Far (1977). (Image courtesy of John Richardson)Abbie Kennedy, Layout and Matchmove Supervisor, ILM I had mainly focused on modeling and texturing during my Computer Animation degree, so I had no experience with matchmove or layout when I joined the industry in 2010. I distributed my showreel to the London VFX studios with the dream of becoming a texture artist and soon realized that a graduate position in that field was hard to come by. At that time, the entry-level route across the 3D departments was via matchmove. I landed a junior matchmove artist role at DNEG working on Walt Disney Studios John Carter and soon recognized the importance of this skill. You could have the most amazing textured models but if the matchmove wasnt correct, the shots wouldnt look convincing. I discovered that I enjoyed the problem-solving aspect of replicating exactly what took place on set. I decided to commit to a path in the matchmove department there, eventually progressing to Matchmove Supervisor. When ILM opened its London office, the layout department appealed to me as it encompasses matchmove and layout, satisfying both the technical and creative sides of my brain. I came in to work on Star Wars: The Last Jedi and quickly adapted to the ILM pipeline and proprietary software. The scope of work in the department is varied and each project has different challenges. One month you could be body-tracking an actor to transform them into someone else and the next youre flying a camera through space. I now manage the department as a whole, growing and nurturing a team of highly skilled career layout artists while working on really exciting projects.Layout is right at the beginning of the shot pipeline. If our work isnt complete or correct then it holds up all the other departments, so there can be a lot of pressure at the beginning of a show to output a lot of work. For layout supervisors/leads, their job is to make sure artists have all the ingredients to complete their shot work. Were processing LiDAR scans so that they are user-friendly, separating out movable set pieces so we can reposition them; solving the lens grids so we have a library of lens distortion we can add to our cameras; and liaising with production to schedule the shots in an order that allows for the most efficient workflows both in layout and downstream, to name but a few! Organization is key, and spreadsheets are my friend! The work that comes our way in the layout department is constantly evolving, and were always developing new technology to push the boundaries of what we can achieve. In the last few years, we have taken on some innovative projects such as the ABBA Voyage immersive experience. This presented many technical challenges and involved putting a team of artists together to capture thousands of seconds of facial performance. Im proud of being able to give a wave of junior artists a foot in the door at ILM. I have a passion for growing emerging talent and Im excited to see what projects come our way next.Gem Ronn Cadiz, Senior Creature Technical Director, ILM I got my role as a Creature TD in visual effects when I applied for the Jedi Masters Apprenticeship program at Lucasfilm Singapore back in 2009. It was an eight-month training course that taught me all the basics for cloth, flesh, hair and rigid body simulations. I was also fortunate to have amazing mentors from ILM San Francisco who guided me and provided invaluable insights throughout the program. Their expertise and support helped me build a solid foundation, and that experience not only kickstarted my passion for VFX but also set me on the path to where I am today. It was an incredible opportunity that shaped my career in ways I couldnt have imagined.I think the most challenging aspect is making sure our simulations look as natural as possible while juggling the technical side of asset development. Its a balancing act to maintain and update those assets throughout the entire timeline of the show and still deliver quality shots within the timeframe. It can be challenging, but its also a lot of fun and very rewarding when everything comes together. As a hobbyist garment maker in my spare time and a Clo3d user, its exciting to see how our discipline is slowly evolving. The setup for simulated clothes is getting closer to proper sewing patterns, and the level of detail we can achieve now is amazing. The introduction of Houdini and its simulation solver is gradually being accepted industry-wide, which is another exciting development. Theres a strong motivation to push for physically accurate simulations and to adapt realistic techniques, which makes this an exciting time to be in this field.Hayley Williams on the set of the Alex Garland film Annihilation. (Image courtesy of Hayley Williams)Gem Ronn Cadiz served as ILM Creature Technical Director on the animated feature Rango (2011). (Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures)Hayley Williams, Special Effects SupervisorI have been around the film industry and SFX since I was a child as my father and uncles were/are in the business. I developed a love of SFX as I got older and was always very interested in the mechanical side of things, so I went to college and qualified as a mechanical engineer, then went on to become a project engineer at a company in the Midlands. After gaining an extensive skill base outside of the film industry, I felt it was a good time to use those skills in SFX. I joined my fathers team on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and built my career in SFX from there.The most challenging and exhilarating sequence I have supervised is a recent film with Steve McQueen directing, involving a huge water setup and lots of stunt choreography linked to big-scale effects. Another nail-biting effect I have been involved in is launching a military tank built by SFX out of a huge carrier down a motorway in Tenerife on Fast & Furious 6. There was only one go at this as the entire front of the carrier was breakaway and the tank would likely be damaged beyond repair once it hit the road, so we tested and prepped a huge amount to give us the best outcome possible.The world of physical in-camera effects took a hit around 10 years ago, but I believe that the desire for on-set effects is strong again, and directors along with VFX supervisors are keen to have as much physically in-camera as is practical with time and financial constraints. Advances in things like 3D printing are changing how we work all the time and allowing us faster turnarounds and the ability to test more ideas out within better timescales.John Richardson, VES, Special Effects DesignerMy father was an FX man who started in the industry in 1921, so I got into SFX through nepotism. My first film as a supervisor was Duffy in 1968. I had already worked with Bob Parrish, the director on Casino Royale (1967), the year before. There are too many challenging special effects sequences that Ive worked on to name them all, but A Bridge Too Far was challenging as was Lucky Lady and Aliens. Sequence-wise, the Nijmegen River Crossing on A Bridge Too Far and the Bond films I did were very challenging. Im proud of all 60 years of my career, but Im most proud of A Bridge Too Far, the Bond movies, Cliffhanger, Aliens and the Harry Potter films.As special effects shift more into CGI, it is sadly losing reality, which is something I have always strived to put on screen. [Note: Richardson authored the book Making Movie Magic.]John Richardson, in the red hat, with a safety climber cliffside on Cliffhanger (1993). The majority of the movie was shot in Cortina dAmpezzo, Italy, in the Dolomite Mountains, which doubled for the Colorado Rockies. (Image courtesy of Carolco Pictures and TriStar/Columbia/Sony)