Inexperienced directors and impossible deadlines: a VFX artist exposes the problematic working conditions with Marvel Studios

For years now, fans of the world of videogames have been seeing how, little by little, the industry has been progressively becoming more aware of how to put a stop to what is known as “crunch”: periods of time in which the teams in charge of a production work more hours than agreed in order to being on time for delivery dates that are generally less realistic than they should be.

However, over the last few weeks, we have seen how many voices from the world of visual effects have begun to rise up to give visibility to this problem while unceremoniously pointing to a company as an example of this type of malpractice. This is none other than a Marvel Studios that continues to chain productions and that has recently announced a 2023-2025 calendar in which, at the moment, there are nine feature films and six series – one of them with 18 episodes.

This grill puts on the ropes to some VFX teams whose future doesn’t look too bright and that, as far as I am concerned, it seems that they are being forced to sacrifice quality to be able to offer quantity —cases like some scenes of ‘Doctor Strange 2’ either ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ so they suggest. But, what are the keys for these professionals to have decided to dig up the hatchet and demand better working conditions?

A report published by the media vulture on July 26 has shed light on this thanks to a very interesting interview with an anonymous visual effects artist. In it, he has listed the big problems they face during the post-production processes with Marvel Studiosallowing us to better understand the weariness of many of these workers.

work overload and deadlines without sense

As expected, one of the first topics to be discussed is the endless working hours in which more hours are worked than those stipulated by contract and that end up leading to mental health problems.

“When I worked on a movie, it was almost six months of overtime every day. I was working seven days a week, averaging 64 hours a week on a good week. Marvel makes you work really hard. I’ve dyed co-workers sitting down by my side, breaking down and crying. I’ve had people have anxiety attacks over the phone.”+

Much of the blame for these marathon weeks being the order of the day are due to Marvel’s approach to filmmaking. A strategy that seems to bet on the improvisation factor more than it should.

“The other thing about Marvel is that they’re famous for asking for a lot of changes during the process. So you’re already overwhelmed with work, but also Marvel asks for a lot more changes on a regular basis than any other company does. And some of those changes are really big. Maybe a month or two before a movie comes out, Marvel will ask us to change the entire third act. They have very tight turnaround times.”

Comply or not repeat

Of course, Marvel Studios is an oasis for visual effects companies when it comes to job openings. But if one of these houses aspires to maintain a stable relationship with the film division of The House of Ideas, it had better comply with all the demands, no matter how crazy they are.

“The studio has a lot of power over the effects companies, just because they have so many blockbusters coming out one after the other. If you piss off Marvel in any way, there’s a good chance you won’t be involved in one of those future projects. So the effects companies effects are trying to bend over backwards to keep Marvel happy. A visual effects company couldn’t finish all the shots and reshoots that Marvel was asking for in time, so Marvel gave my studio the job. Since then, that company has been vetoed to get a job with Marvel.

The customer is always right?

Anyone who has worked in the audiovisual medium for a client will know that last minute changes, lack of a clear end goal and improvisation on the fly —again, with deadlines unreal—concise are more than usual. Marvel does not seem to be the exception that confirms the rule.

“I remember going to a presentation by another of the VFX companies on one of the early MCU movies, and people were talking about how they were being ‘pixel-fucked.’ pixel. Even if you don’t notice it. A customer might say, ‘This isn’t exactly what we want,’ and you keep working on it. But they have no idea what they want, so they’ll be like, ‘Can you try this? Can you try this other?’ They’ll want you to change a whole set, a whole environment, pretty late in a movie production.”

The leading factor

And finally, the elephant in the room that has been pointed out for a long time: the choice of directors with no experience in big productions loaded with action and visual effects to take over big blockbusters. A very controversial aspect that this anonymous source comments on, going a step further by revealing that the post-production phase has much less control than, a priori, desirable.

“The main problem is that most of the directors at Marvel are not used to working with visual effects. A lot of them have only just made small independent films that were shown at Sundance and have never worked with VFX. They have never known how to visualize something that they still have. he’s not there, he’s not on set with them. The other problem is that when we’re in post-production, we don’t have a cinematographer involved, so we often make up the shots. This causes a lot of inconsistencies.”

As an example, there is the highly criticized final fight of ‘Black Panther’that out of tune with the film as a whole in terms of quality and visual and narrative cohesion.

“A good example of what happens in these cases is in the fight at the end of ‘Black Panther.’ space. Suddenly, the camera is making movements that haven’t been made in the rest of the film. It all seems a bit cartoony. It breaks the visual language of the film.”

After reading all these statements, it is clear that we are facing a problem derived from deficiencies in working conditions, but also in an understanding of creativity and the cinematographic craft more typical of a Fordist industry than a means of artistic expression.