The 95th Academy Awards VFX shortlist has been revealed and MPC have three films in the running for Best Visual Effects, which include NOPE, Thirteen Lives and Top Gun: Maverick.
For Jordan Peele’s NOPE, MPC worked with the filmmakers from the early stages of pre-production creating concept art and previz, finally delivering more than 675 shots. MPC’s VFX work included the design and creation of the alien-entity, CG cloudscapes, a CG chimpanzee and an innovative new approach to converting plates shot during the day into night.
For Director Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives, MPC delivered 545 shots and were tasked with creating photorealistic underwater environments, CG crowds and digital set extensions for the caves.
Finally, working with Director Joseph Kosinski, MPC’s team delivered over 950 shots for Top Gun: Maverick, which brings aviator Pete Mitchell back from the past to lead Top Gun’s elite graduates on a new mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it.
Ten movies will now compete in the VFX branches’ “Bake-off” on January 14th, where VFX Supervisors will show excerpts of their work and describe the VFX challenges. Following the screenings, Academy members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar® consideration. The nominations will be announced on 24th January 2023.