Minor spoilers for The Flash lie ahead.
The Flash has been in theaters for over a week now, and it’s made a serious impression on moviegoers, for better and for worse. Reviews of the DC flick have been mixed to positive and, for the most part, general audiences seem to have enjoyed it. However, the film has also received its fair share of critiques, with the biggest one arguably being over the visual effects. Many haven’t held back their discontent with the CGI and have seemingly wondered what contributed to it. Well, amid the chatter, a crew member has weighed in, providing an honest take on what’s to blame for the “poor” VFX.
Zach Mulligan is a visual effects artist that’s worked on several high-profile movies, including The Bad Guys and Black Adam. When it comes to the latest superhero movie he’s worked on, he’s seen the criticisms of the visual effects. So he took to TikTok to share a couple of videos in the hopes of shedding some light on the behind-the-scenes matter. Mulligan clarified in one of the clips that despite his experience as a VFX artist and animator, he was actually a production coordinator on the Scarlet Speedster’s long-awaited solo film. In that position, however, he was still able to communicate with artists regularly and get a sense of the tough working conditions. On that note, Mulligan attributes the lackluster effects to the collaboration process between effects companies and entertainment studios:
The way that VFX companies work is that [entertainment entities] will approach VFX companies and say, ‘Hey, I have 2000 shots I need for this sequence,’ and the VFX studios will place a bid based on that quantity of shots. But here’s the catch – the amount of work per shot varies dramatically. So one shot could have a wire removal, another shot could have wire removal, smoke [simulation], fire [simulation], face replacement [and] green screen. Despite the difference in workload between those two shots, they both are considered just one shot each. Because of this, VFX artists are forced to work relentless hours, overtime almost every day including weekends.
The animator made note of the vast number of superhero movies that are being pumped out these days and that studios have “reduced the time to make them.” Zach Mulligan – who left the production after three months – also argues that as a result of that, VFX companies are forced to hit “insane” deadlines or risk losing contracts to competitors. He added:
When you’re putting out this many projects with shorter turnarounds, the VFX will always look worse. So if it looks like a VFX shot in The Flash was made in a week, that’s probably because it was.
The industry vet noted in his caption that the “bad CGI” in DCEU flick is “just the tip of the iceberg” and that “poor” effects are “too common” at this point. This discussion on subpar computer animation has gained significant momentum in recent months, and a number of people have made allegations regarding unsatisfactory working conditions for artists. Certain studios have been criticized for purported practices, including Marvel Studios. An Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania artist claimed the movie suffered due to unreasonable deadlines. And just this past week, animators on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse spoke anonymously about their own working environments. They claim that because of a haphazard creative process, the upcoming sequel, Beyond the Spider-Verse, will be delayed.
As for The Flash, director Andy Muschietti has addressed the effects and argued that they were presented as intended. He argued that this direction was due to the fact that audiences are seeing a number of things from Barry Allen’s distorted perspective. Still, fans have taken issue with a few key moments, including the opening action sequence that sees Barry saving heavily CG’d babies and another involving a host of multiversal cameos. Fans will likely stick to their opinions on the effects for the DC movie and other high-profile titles. And one may assume that all the while, artists like Zach Mulligan will continue to share their experiences working on said productions.
You can see The Flash for yourself, as it’s now playing in theaters as part of the schedule of 2023 new movie releases. Fans can also read up on information regarding upcoming DC movies.