The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for its big budget movies that transfers us to worlds beyond our imagination. These worlds do no exist in real life but that doesn’t stop these movies from from showing us marvelous imagery that soothing to the eye. The spectacle that we see on screen in any Marvel movie is thanks to the humungous VFX team behind so many effects involved in the scene. Marvel movies really are pushing the boundaries of cinema when it comes to the numerous VFX technologies they’ve employed to get their desired result. While this is one way to say another way would be- Marvel is harassing their VFX department for unreasonable things. These are not my words just somethings that have been circulating online. This would be one of the rare scenarios where Marvel is being found with its pants down in the public.
This is big news it isn’t one disoriented person’s allegations, there are several. Everyone saying it in different words, some lenient while some harsh but all account to the same. Marvel is harassing their VFX artists. Let’s take a look in the matter.
VFX Artists Don’t Want to Work for Marvel?
These allegations were made on subreddit r/VFX, with not one word of praise or defense by anyone on the thread. Almost all VFX artist here share their negative work experience about the employer. This seems to be an industry wide experience. Many have said that the money power and star power the employer has is not worth sticking around in such horrible working conditions. In a thread titled,
“I am quite frankly sick and tired of working on Marvel shows”, expressed their frustration with the studio. “Marvel has probably the worst methodology of production and VFX management out there”, they write. “They can never fix the look for the show before more than half the allocated time for the show is over. The artists working on Marvel shows are definitely not paid equivalent to the amount of work they put in.”
This was the thread that started it and others were quick concur it and share their experiences with the studio. “On Thor they ask for a complete mini-sequence 2 or 3 weeks before deadline”, says samvfx2015. Another user wrote, “I request to not work on [Marvel] movies and TV shows. Unfortunately, they’re becoming our biggest client. They expect a smorgasbord of options so they can change their mind three more times.”
Many claim that this isn’t a recent happening rather this has been practice for a long time, “I’m on almost three years straight of Marvel. Welcome to the seventh level of hell”. Another user shares that their time at Marvel has been a “black hole of sleep deprivation and eating bad”. Another thread from three months has even more overt accounts of Marvel’s terrible behavior where the VFX artists planning to not work for Marvel and their peers assuring them it was not their loss.
“I am on my third Marvel project in a row and literally just woke up 5:30 am on a Saturday with stress going ‘I don’t want to do this anymore'”, writes RANDVR. “It’s 6 am now and I am making a reel to apply someplace that has projects other than Marvel because I can’t do this anymore.” Another user has vented out what appears to be something he has been keeping to himself for a long time.
“Marvel has seen grown men punch walls and throw monitors from stress. I broke down a couple of times and have seen the strain it can put on marriages. But hey the $$ was fantastic. Fuck Marvel as a client, the credit name is not fucking worth it.” Raistlinuk agrees: “It took me over six months to recover from WandaVision’s crunch. It’s not worth it. Not when there’s better run projects that look just as good out there.”
It has to be seen whether Marvel will address these allegations as they’re spreading like wild fire now. Given the type of movies Marvel make I don’t think so this is something new but rather something that has been going for too long and thus surfacing online as people can’t take it anymore. It would interesting to see Marvel’s take on it. I hope it is a form of an apology and a change in the working pattern. Marvel is heavily depended on VFX artists and they currently have their very best.
They wouldn’t want to lose out on them and cause more problems for them. Keep your assets happy Marvel. Let me know your thoughts on this? Do you believe these allegations? Have you had a similar experience? Do you think VFX Artists should stop working for Marvel?
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