Watch: Todd Vaziri Breaks Down ILM’s Excellent Visual Effects Work
by Alex Billington
October 20, 2025
Source: YouTube
“Let’s make it as cool as possible.” While making it look as realistic as possible! Every few months there is a discussion about visual effects and CGI and how Hollywood loves to hide the truth of how much work goes into each & every movie. The most outspoken advocate reminding people about CGI in movies is the social media maven Todd Vaziri – who also happens to work at the illustrious ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) in San Francisco. He’s always commenting on Twitter about how VFX happen, so Vanity Fair put together a video feature him discussing his work at the studio. “ILM’s compositing supervisor Todd Vaziri breaks down the methodical approach to the groundbreaking creations that have redefined the limits of our imagination.” He spends a few minutes on a handful of movies discussing the shots and his work on these shots, and how ILM created and finished each of these shots. It is one of the most interesting and entirely comprehensive breakdowns that actually shows what really goes into VFX shots these days. Todd has always said the most important aspect to making VFX look legit: shot composition. Which he talks about in depth in the video.
Thanks to Twitter for the tip on this video. Original intro via Vanity Fair’s YouTube: “From the breathtaking innovations in the Star Wars trilogy to the astonishing imagery in Transformers, Industrial Light & Magic has truly revolutionized visual effects in TV and movies. ILM’s compositing supervisor Todd Vaziri breaks down [their] approach to the groundbreaking creations that have redefined the limits of our imagination.” This video includes breakdowns on the visual effects from a few movies including: Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein’s Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2013), Disney+’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew series (2024), J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, and J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015). For more videos on VFX work in Hollywood, you can also watch: last year’s Why It Feels Like the End of VFX / VFX Video Discusses How ‘No CGI’ is Really Just Invisible CGI. You can also follow Todd on Twitter @tvaziri or visit his Linktree for more videos & updates. Any thoughts on ILM’s VFX work?
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