Conversations with Oscar-nominated VFX Supervisors

VFX World talks to John Knoll, Mike Fink, and Scott Farrar about their nominated movies: 'Pirates: At World's End,' 'The Golden Compass,' and 'Transformers.' (Courtesy of vfxblog.)

Fink says:

If there is a difference between 'Golden Compass' and the other two contenders for the Oscar -- and believe me, these are the ones that I voted for in the bakeoff -- I think it comes down to the fact that for visual effects 'Golden Compass' was an exercise in intimacy. And for 'Pirates' and 'Transformers,' it was an exercise in spectacle. And believe me, I think intimacy is a lot harder to pull off. So whether we win or not, I think we had the larger task of the three of us. And that’s not taking anything away from what the guys did on the other films -- I think they did a stupendous job.