Mr. X is the visual effects company responsible for the visual storytelling of many films and television series including Vikings, Godless, mother!, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tells No Tale, Crimson Peak, and Molly’s Game.
Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water won big at this year’s Academy Awards, including Best Picture. MR. X is also the visual effects team behind the Oscar-winning film’s leading “man”–or leading sea creature, rather–and water effects.
VFX supervisors Chris MacLean and Trey Harrell along with animation director Kevin Scott and VFX producer Luke Groves joined Flickering Myth’s own Tai Freligh for an exclusive group interview before their big panel at WonderCon called “MR. X’s Guide to CGI Creature and Monster Creation”.
In this clip they talk about the philosophy behind the stinger tongues on the FX show, The Strain.
In this clip they talk about how they balance visual effects with practical effects so that the VFX don’t overwhelm or take you out of the moment.
In this clip they talk about how the visual effects and makeup and prosthetics work together and what the proper balance of the two is.
In this clip they talk about their approach to using visual effects to make the unbelievable believable.
In this final clip they talk about how they used reference points and research to come up with a believable amphibian man for The Shape of Water.
MR. X is an award-winning Visual Effects company that thrives on crafting creative solutions to seemingly-impossible scripted moments in film and television. From the outset they engage filmmakers in a true collaborative partnership to realize and deliver visuals that tell their stories.
Tai Freligh is a Los Angeles-based writer and can be found on Twitter.