Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Diving back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I got opportunity to work with Wētā FX to introduce a new set of characters with “ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021). Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, this film was recognised by its industry peers, being nominated for many visual effects awards including the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature Visual Effects Society award and winning the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production. This project was lots of fun and it turned out to be an incredible addition to the lineup of Marvel films.
‍
My role involved helping animate the films leading cast, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung), Xu Xialing (Meng'er Zhang), firing rings, ropes and arrows at each other in the epic conclusion battle of the film. My work also included bringing to life a gigantic majestic water dragon, animating terrifying beasts and causing chaos with a soul sucking, tentacle flinging demon from the darkness. This incredible battle combined live action characters with their CG digital double versions, seamlessly blending into each other and back again. Live action plates were combined with full CG creatures and FX. This work was a masterclass in modern VFX film making techniques. Performances were a mixture of fully keyframe action, heavily edited motion capture and match moved stunt actors.
‍
Below is a showreel of some of the shots taken from that film that I worked on.
‍
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on IMDB »

Watch the films trailer »