“We had to create a huge part of New York as a digital object to manipulate and transform it.”Īccording to Ceretti, Derrickson and nearly every other person involved with the scene offered up a wide variety of suggestions regarding the dimensions Doctor Strange would pass through along his journey – enough ideas, in fact, that the sequence initially ran for 7 minutes of reality-warping action.Īmid all of the trippy visuals, though, Ceretti acknowledged that the focus of the sequence needed to stay on Cumberbatch’s character – and that using him as the anchor for the effects-laden journey is what really makes it work.
“We went pretty deep on that, figuring out the shape of the sequences and the dimensions – especially in the ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ which is the big sequence where he gets pushed through all these worlds.” “We had a lot of work to do with the art department and production designer in terms of figuring out what each world would be like,” he recalled.
Using some of that imagery as a jumping-off point, Ceretti and the team of visual-effects artists were faced with the task of creating a series of unique dimensions that actor Benedict Cumberbatch’s titular sorcerer would traverse at various points during the film. “Scott had some visuals to show us, and we looked at some work from the comics, obviously – particularly the work Steve Ditko had done in the ‘60s and the ‘70s, all these very psychedelic images.”
“We had some things that had been done in the Marvel universe before that had some relationship to what we were working on, like the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man,” Ceretti told Digital Trends. Previously nominated for his work as the lead visual effects supervisor on Guardians of the Galaxy, Ceretti was tasked with crafting not only the visual representation of the sorcery wielded by the film’s characters, but also entire dimensions where the laws of physics don’t apply. Strange is tossed through a series of distinctly different dimensions that open his eyes – and his mind. The task of bringing these elements to life fell to director Scott Derrickson – no stranger to the occult, having helmed the 2005 horror thriller The Exorcism of Emily Rose and 2012’s Sinister – and a talented visual effects team led by Academy Award nominee Stephane Ceretti. Where the latter film extended Marvel’s movie-verse into space, however, Doctor Strange brought it to new dimensions – literally – with supernatural, occult elements unlike anything the franchise had previously explored. The decision to bring the superhero sorcerer to the big screen in last year’s Doctor Strange was just the latest gamble for Marvel, which previously rolled the dice on a cosmic team of C-listers in Guardians of the Galaxy and saw their bet pay off far beyond expectations. One of the many reasons for the studio’s winning ways is its willingness to go in bold directions with its stable of characters, and you’ll find few superheroes more unique than Doctor Strange, the gatekeeper to the occult corners of Marvel’s fictional universe. Marvel Studios has seemingly found the formula for success with its cinematic superhero universe. Now we’re exploring the reality-bending sequences that earned Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange an Oscar nod. Previously, we looked at the visual effects in real-world drama Deepwater Horizon, which recreated a terrifying disaster by combining a monstrous set, highly advanced software, and advanced practical effects. In recognition of these five films - and one of our favorite Oscar categories - we’re putting the spotlight on one “Visual Effects” nominee each day leading up to Sunday’s broadcast, and taking a closer look at what made them stand out. Each of the projects nominated this year offer a unique, inside look at the amazing tricks filmmakers and their talented effects teams use to pull off the visual spectacles that make for a big-screen blockbuster. Fitbit Versa 3Įvery year, five films are nominated for an Academy Award in the “Visual Effects” category.