Behind the scenes: Men in Black: International

Director F Gary Gray’s ‘International’ reboots the 20-year-old Men in Black franchise with a new pair of clandestine agents to guard the Earth against alien invasion and succeed the characters Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones made famous.

Facility DNEG took the lead on the VFX-driven story creating 581 shots across 18 sequences showcasing a broad range of techniques, from the development of complex FX simulation to the creation of hero creatures.

Work on the MIB’s London HQ carried the highest shot count. This entailed extending the height and width of the physical set built at Pinewood Studios in CG and compositing in holograms, designed by London agency Territory Studio.

The main work was animating Guy and Nerlene, a pair of alien investigators. “They initially had a bigger role in the film and were the only two characters which were basically 95 per cent approved early on,” explains Alessandro Ongaro, the film’s VFX Supervisor.

The original design of Nerlene, by New Zealand’s Weta, featured a head with exposed brain textures. Considered a little too gross by the producers, DNEG modified the…