The VFX of Civil War
Join us for a special discussion about the VFX of Civil War.
Hear from Production VFX Supervisor David Simpson, On Set and Compositing Supervisor Chris Zeh and VFX Producer Austin Aplin as they discuss what went into bringing director Alex Garland's gritty, dystopian vision to life.
Following the gut-churning body horror of Men, Framestore’s London and Mumbai studios teamed up with director Alex Garland once more for his latest thought-provoking feature - A24’s Civil War.
Meet the Speakers
David Simpson, Production VFX Supervisor
David’s most recent role saw him lead the charge on one of the year’s most talked-about films: Civil War.
His second collaboration with Alex Garland as Production VFX Supervisor, the film demanded a gritty, documentary-style approach in order to achieve the director’s distinctive, dystopian vision. From nerve-jangling action to huge environment builds - a living, breathing, Washington DC was built from scratch in CG - the film’s ‘invisible’ VFX played a huge part in its immersive power.
As well as working with Garland on the visceral, gut-churning Men, David’s other projects include Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Thor: Ragnarok, Gravity, Alien: Covenant and the first, BAFTA-winning season of His Dark Materials.
Most recently David has been collaborating with Noah Baumbach, working on set to oversee the virtual production elements for Jay Kelly.
Chris Zeh, On Set and Compositing Supervisor
Chris is an industry veteran with a career spanning over 17 years. Having studied physics in Leipzig, Germany, he had his first experience in the world of TV production which allowed him to shadow the editing team by night.
Chris joined Framestore in 2005 as a compositor for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, following stints at Cinesite, MPC and Weta. Chris has held the role of compositing supervisor for an eclectic mix of work, including Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Avengers: Infinity War. More recently he took on the role of on-set Supervisor for Alex Garland’s Civil War.
Austin Aplin, VFX Producer
A Portland native whose production career has seen him spend time in Vancouver and London, Austin is equally at home overseeing huge, tentpole projects or smaller - if no less challenging - auteur-driven works.
His time at Framestore has seen him navigate Disney’s hotly-anticipated live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid and Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder, as well as two Alex Garland projects for A24 - the BIFA-winning Men and Civil War.