Every year the world of film is celebrated and scrutinised with the coveted Academy Awards (The Oscars). Take a look at VFX breakdowns from the five films up for this weekend’s  Academy Award for Best Visual Effects  – the favourite Blade Runner 2049,  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2,  Kong: Skull Island, Star Wars: The Last Jedi,  War for the Planet of the Apes which cleaned up massively, and  – and each of the film’s VFX breakdown reels below.

From best actor and actress, to best animated film and documentary, each facet of the film industry has a chance to gain global recognition. The 2018 Oscars are this weekend, and here we also take a look at the films in the running for the best visual effects (VFX) awards – starting with the favourite, Blade Runner 2049.

Blade Runner 2049

VFX by: Framestore, Moving Picture Company (MPC), Rode VX, Territory Studio, Double Negative.

Blade Runner 2049 was the highly anticipated sequel to the original 1982 Blade Runner film directed by Ridley Scott. In the new Denis Villeneuve film, Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a new blade runner working for the LAPD, finds himself on a journey to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner who’s been missing for 30 years. The film’s VFX were widely praised, but the presence of overt sexism frowned upon.

The VFX for the film involved extravagant environments, such as Deckard’s penthouse and a dystopian LA. Read our in-depth guides to how MPC recreated Rachael and how Territory Studio created ‘tangible’ screen graphics.

Blade Runner 2049 also picked up the 2018 BAFTA Award for Film Special Effects, and Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature (Los Angeles) and Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project (LAPD Headquarters) at the VES Awards.

VFX breakdown reels:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

VFX by: Weta Digital, Framestore, Method Studios, Trixter Film, ScanlineVFX, The Third Floor

Peter Quill and his fellow Guardians are hired by an alien race to protect their precious batteries from invaders. When it is discovered that Rocket has stolen the items they were sent to guard, the Sovereign dispatch their armada to search for vengeance. As the Guardians try to escape, the mystery of Peter’s parentage is revealed.

VFX breakdown reel:

Kong: Skull Island

VFX by: Framestore, MPC, ILM, Rodeo FX, Hybride Technologies, fx3x, Scanline VFX, Halon Entertainment, The Third Floor.

Scientists, soldiers and adventurous explore a mythical island in the Pacific Island. They run into the mighty Kong and ignite a battle between man and nature.

VFX breakdown reels:

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

VFX by: Industrial Light & Magic (ILM),Rodeo FX, Jellyfish Pictures, One of Us, The Third Floor. 

This Star Wars film, although somewhat controversial, steps away from tradition and into the new, and even has Carrie Fisher, even if in a slightly drawn out and cheesy way. It follows Rey’s journey to learn from Luke Skywalker as she learns the ways of the Jedi forces, meanwhile the First Order lead an all-out assault against Leia and the Resistance for supremacy of the galaxy.

VFX is always heavy in Star Wars films, everything from the new porg creatures to Snoke. VFX work also includes epic space battles and enhanced environments.

VFX breakdown reels:

War for the Planet of the Apes

VFX by: Weta Digital, Stereo D and Exceptional Minds (additional VFX). 

Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer huge losses, Caesar begins a quest to avenge his kind. The Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that determines the fate of both their species.

VFX breakdown reels:

See how motion capture was used in the film:

The final five nominees were culled from a list of 10 (itself drawn from a longer list). Here’s a short VFX breakdowns from our favourite of these, Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water.

The Shape of Water

VFX by: Mr. X.

The Shape of Water, released in the UK on February 16, tells the tale of Elisa – a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. She discovers the lab’s classified secret – a scaly underwater creature from South America, and falls in love, but she must save it from the hands of the government and a marine biologist.

VFX for the film involve creating the creature itself and environments. The film mixes digital with a live-action costume for the creature, and Dennis Berardi, VFX supervisor on the film, says every shot was a hybrid of the two.

VFX breakdown reel: