The Great Gatsby: Stunning VFX/CGI breakdown
You really can’t believe what you see these days. And that’s even more true for historically-set dramas where to recreate authentic 360 degree retro environments would be so expensive as to severly limit the scope of the productions.
We here at Shoot The Centerfold can relate due to numerous Playmate sets between 1990 – 2000 were also built in similar ways using massive backdrops in high-ceiling studios. Not that the production scale can compare, but ours were just as interesting – well, if not more – among our fans! If you think that as a photographer you should not relate or be concerned about video and film production, think again! The industry and clients demand more and more video along with your photos and frequently use 4K video frames for the actual print pictorials.
There’s a new artistic freedom in the way that we can now use VFX and CGI techniques to immerse ourselves in whichever period we like. Ironically, it probably all started in a big way with Sci-Fi futurism, but has perhaps found its most effective home in costume dramas.
And what bigger statement could retro-oriented VFX make than to be the backdrop to a vast number of scenes in Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby.”
You can only guess
It’s so well done that you can only guess at which parts are real, which are CGI. Some people have said that it all looks slightly unreal, but we think it’s more a case of the whole “look” of the film being unreal as a result of artistic choices – not technical limitations.
Ghris Godfrey was the VFX supervisor and has put together this “Before and After” reel.
We have nothing more to say about this one except to say that it’s absolutely stunning.
Update – we’ve heard that for some people this clip won’t play because “the author has prohibited it from being embedded”.If you are getting a message like this – just click on this link and it will take you directly to the Vimeo page.
This is what I want to do in the future!