Ms Marvel: When RISE Worked Magic with Pixels
The RISE Visual Effects team proved that creating teenage superpowers requires both science and boundless imagination 💫. For Ms Marvel, they transformed abstract concepts into visual effects that shine brighter than Kamala's enthusiasm.
The technical challenges included:
- Intoxicating energy effects: light that behaves like cosmic putty
- Body transformations: stretches that defy school physics
- Digital New Jersey: recreating the city without its real parking problems
"We wanted the powers to feel organic, as if the laws of physics were on vacation"
The action sequences required so many layers of compositing that the artists needed maps to not get lost 🌪️. The "embiggen" effect (enlargement) consumed more render time than all seasons of Friends combined.
Fun fact: the cosmic bangles have more polygons than Iron Man's entire suit. Digital vanity exists too, apparently.
If after watching this breakdown you don't understand why Kamala smiles so much, it's because you've never seen a render finish on time 😅.