Ex Machina’s subtle sci-fi effects won over Hollywood this year, netting it the 2016 Oscar for Best Visual Effects. It was a bit of a surprise win for the movie. Ex Machina was nominated for two awards tonight, including Best Original Screenplay (which it lost to Spotlight). As a relatively under-the-radar film, it easily could have been overshadowed here by bigger names like, you know, Star Wars. It also won over Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, and The Revenant.
Oscars 2016: Ex Machina wins Best Visual Effects
A24
is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.
The team behind Ex Machina’s VFX — Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington, and Sara Bennett — specifically called out Alicia Vikander’s performance as Ava in the movie. Vikander’s eerie persona and careful movements were certainly crucial in selling the team’s effects, which had most of her body replaced with metal, wires, and mesh. It’s the type of effect that you stare at for an entire movie without being totally aware it’s in front of you, but the Academy was apparently cognizant enough of the work behind Ava’s look to vote Ex Machina to victory.
Watch Chris Rock’s opening monologue
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Most Popular
Most Popular
- The Apple Watch Series 12 is the start of a new wearable era
- OpenAI and Microsoft knew they were starting a ‘doom loop’ for the web
- The 2.5-hour AI-generated Odyssey movie is 2.5 hours too long
- The iPhone 18 Pro’s big camera update is all about the small gains
- This cartridge-playing Game Boy clone is smaller and cheaper than Analogue’s Pocket
