Marvel Studios recently released the VFX breakdown of the second series in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In the video, Marvel Studios VFX supervisor Eric Leven can be seen detailing the vision behind the scenes that helped bring some of Sam Wilson’s high-flying action scenes to life.
Talking about the overall vision for the big action sequences, Leven shared, “What I really wanted to do for the big action sequences was as much as possible make things feel like they’re grounded in reality. So obviously we don’t have Anthony Mackie flying around in a real jet-pack with real wings; but we wanted to make it feel like if he actually was, so how would we film that. There are people who can actually fly. You have wingsuit pilots who jump out of airplanes and they all have little helmet cameras. Kari Skogland, the director, really wanted to bring that language to our show as well. So we actually have many shots where we’ve got an action-cam in front of Sam’s face or on the wingtip and as he moves, we see the entire world move around him and that was a really interesting new visual language to bring to the show that we haven’t brought before.”
The VFX reel showcases a fabulous breakdown of the extraordinary sequence when Anthony Mackie’s character flies in tight quarters against enemies in flight suits and literal helicopters. It also dives into the small details that makes the kind of action sequences so breathtaking and visually-alluring. It is amazing to see how the imagery was created on celluloid with the help of VFX.
For the unversed, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is an American television miniseries created by Malcolm Spellman based on the Marvel Comics characters, Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). The events of the series take place after Avengers: Endgame (2019) where both the characters team up in a global adventure that tests their abilities—and their patience. The series is produced by Marvel Studios, with Spellman serving as the head writer and Kari Skogland directing.
The VFX are made by Cantina Creative, Crafty Apes, Digital Frontier, Industrial Light & Magic, QPPE, Rodeo FX, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Stereo D, Technicolor VFX, Tippett Studio, Trixter and Weta Digital.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is currently streaming exclusively on Disney+.