‘Dune’ VFX Supervisor Talks Creating Epic Sandworm Sequences
Daron James Denis Villenuve’s “Dune” is a visceral epic, propelled by practical and visual effects that shape the destiny of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) following a vengeful plot that kills his father, Leto (Oscar Isaac), on the spice-producing planet Arrakis.The approach for visual-effects supervisor Paul Lambert was to avoid “fixing something in post” but to find ways on set that provided the “best base” to create any necessary elements. One such moment is a stirring scene in which Paul and Leto visit a spice harvester only to be attacked by a terrifying sandworm.The sequence was a massive collaboration among the behind-the-scenes artisans and starts with the characters flying an ornithopter, a dragonfly-like helicopter, which was practically built from blueprints by production designer Patrice Vermette.