Modern Hollywood has a problem of keeping their VFX artists on a time crunch, which often equates to subpar visuals, as they had to meet the deadline set by the studios. In recent years, this questionable practice has witnessed a spike, especially in the landscape of big-budget productions, and unfortunately, Netflix’s new Avatar: The Last Airbender was not immune to it.
While visuals in the Netflix show are mostly great, with fans claiming it’s one of its best aspects, it wasn’t until the night before its premiere that the VFX team was done working on them.
The VFX Crew Wasn’t Done With Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Visuals Until the Night Before Its Premiere
With big-budget productions becoming the norm in Hollywood, the VFX teams working on certain projects are often overworked to meet the deadlines. Oftentimes, this results in the final product being not up to the mark, with some recent CBMs being its worst examples. And this could very much have been the case for Netflix’s adaptation of Avatar The Last Airbender if it wasn’t for some last-ditch Hail Mary from the VFX crew.
VFX supervisor Jabbar Raisani revealed that they didn’t even get to see the final visuals before its premiere, stating they completed the entire thing the night before its planned release. He told THR:
“Well Richard, I will tell you that you still haven’t seen the final visual effects (laughs). Only as of last night were they completed and on the server so, when you watch it tonight at midnight, you will see the final visuals. But look, yeah, it’s a challenge. I think we are always pushing the envelope of what’s possible. We’re always trying to make things better, and we’re always pushing up to the last minute, it seems.”
While the VFX crew didn’t drop the ball despite having to work on it till the last minute, the same can’t be said for the entire show, as fans aren’t quite content with its quality.
The VFX Team Took Reference From Godzilla for Koizilla in the Show
One of the best parts of the series involves the design of Koizilla, and Marion Spates, the other VFX supervisor on the show, revealed they took references from Godzilla to make it stand out. Explaining the process behind bringing Koizilla to life and what aspect took the most time to perfect, Spates said:
“We went all the way back to Godzilla for references to look at like how big Godzilla is, how Godzilla screams and yells, and how that high frequency affects his neck and his face. We really had to think about how to make a water creature feel heavy, but also get the point across that it’s a water creature. That itself took some time to figure out, getting that balance between water versus weight. Yeah, to me that one took the most time. And then all the destruction that he’s doing, the simulations, and versions and digital doubles and yeah, all of the hard things (laughs).”
Even though it’s an improvement over the last live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender, it doesn’t hold a candle to the original animated show. But on the bright side, 2025 will see the development of an animated Avatar film, serving as a sequel to the original show, and fans will hope it brings the magic of the animated show back.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is available to stream on Netflix.
