Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: VFX Supervisor Praises James Gunn’s Process for Managing Effects

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 absolutely mesmerized audiences when it debuted earlier this year, providing a fitting finale for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s misfits. A lot of elements of Vol. 3 have been praised in recent months, including the film’s record-breaking use of practical effects on the alien planet of Counter Earth. In a recent interview with ComicBook.com in celebration of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3′s home release, visual effects production supervisor Stephane Ceretti highlighted how writer-director James Gunn’s blend of practical and computer-generated work proved to be a creative asset.

“To be honest, for us it was a huge saving of time to not have to do the Counter Earth human-animals as a CG thing,” Ceretti revealed. “And that’s where James is very smart, with the way he does his movies. He just knows how to balance everybody’s work.”

“He knows exactly where he wants to put everything,” Ceretti continued. “Sometimes, there’s cases where we don’t agree or we just have to talk about it. It’s not like we don’t agree about it, but I say, ‘Hey, I think I can actually do this maybe in a better way.’ And sometimes, I’m all for practical stuff. I love what we can offer to filmmakers to tell their stories, but I come from that old school, ‘Hey, if we can shoot it, let’s shoot it’ kind of school. So I love the two. I love seeing Daniel Sudick [senior special effects supervisor, Marvel Studios], our special effects guy, blowing up some stuff on [set]. When I was a kid, I was blowing up stuff in my garden after I watched The Empire Strikes Back. I had my ping pong table covered with flour and doing stop-motion animation. So I love all that stuff. My parents didn’t, but I love all that stuff. So we’re like, ‘Oh, let’s do it.’ Even today, we were talking about something, and he said, ‘I think we can. Let’s just do it.’ So if we can do it, let’s do it. And we have our special effects guy saying, “Yeah, I’d love to do that.” I say, “Well then do it.” So that’s the way, if it comes from that. My goal when I do these movies is do what I can do and what other people can do as much as I can. But I don’t want to take the cake and say, ‘I’m going to do everything.’ Because I’m not interested in that. I want everybody, if a stunt guy can do a stunt, just do that stunt, go for it. And that’s important for me that every department can bring something that we can do together and then I’m here to help if we need help, but it’s not about me.”

What is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 about?

In Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life-a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.

Vol. 3 sees the return of Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, and Maria Bakalova as Cosmo. Joining the cast are Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, and Daniela Melchior and Nico Santos in currently-unknown roles.

What did you think of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!