James Gunn on Directing the Invisible Art

Director James Gunn has helped shift the needle for modern VFX, making fully-realised CG characters central to his storytelling. 

A frequent Framestore collaborator, the director has entrusted characters like Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Cosmo, King Shark, Weasel and Rat Sebastian to our teams in London, Montreal and Mumbai.

2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 took this trust further, making Rocket Raccoon the film’s de facto star and earning an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects along the way. 

In this new film, he explores the ‘invisible art’ of VFX animation and what it takes to truly make a CG character a living, breathing member of a film’s cast.

“Having worked with countless VFX companies and countless VFX artists, they all have the same tools available to them,” he says of his experience. “The difference is in the people. It's the craftsmanship. It's the time and effort they put into it. Those are the things that make the difference.” 

Gunn also highlights a level of performance and intuitiveness on the part of the best animators, and what they put of themselves into each character. “VFX artists are also actors,” he suggests. “They're just performing through a different medium.” 

Watch the full interview, and watch this space for news about Framestore’s latest collaboration with the director - Superman. 

Watch James Gunn: Directing the Invisible Art and interviews with Spike Jonze, or revisit The Invisible Art, on our YouTube channel now.