The Great Gatsby: Stunning VFX/CGI breakdown

The Great Gatsby 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

There's a new artistic freedom in the way that we can now use VFX and CGI techniques to immerse us in whatever 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 costure 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.

And if you liked that, check this out: it's the VFX showreel for Boardwalk Empire