Let me start with saying that I’m going to withhold judgement on the actual movie until it comes out on November 13th. Which yes, that is Friday the 13th, and yes it’s ok to roll your eyes now. But no matter how good or bad the film ends up being, I think we can safely say now that the VFX work done on the new Roland Emmerich film, “2012” is EXTREMELY impressive. So because of that fact, and the fact that this is a Visual Effects blog, I wanted to post a few videos released by the production that briefly talks about the effects created for the destruction of LA (earthquake) and Washington D.C (tidal wave). First up though, my impressions…

The videos that were put on YouTube give you that classic ankle deep explanation of how everything was done. And are the type that I grew up watching and loving. Full of quick clips, sound bites, and the usual talking head interviews with the Producers, Supervisors, and Director talking about how great the film is. Pretty typical honestly when you get down to it. But what I was very surprised with was when I heard Mr. Emmerich say, and I quote, “I was really nervous about that (the visual effects), because there you hand your destiny pretty much over to some visual effect people.”

Think about that for a second. Let it sink in. The man who directed “The Day After Tomorrow”, “Independence Day”, and “Stargate” was worried that the overall quality of visual effects being done for his film might not be good enough. Which if so, would be the sole factor on whether or not his film was going to be any good. Not the Writing, not the Acting. Not even the Directing! But the Visual Effects. Says a lot doesn’t it? I think so. That’s his freakin’ bread and butter!

Anyways, marinate on those words while you watch the videos below. And try to decide if they spark the urge to shell out $10 at your local cineplex when “2012” debuts on Friday (*sigh*) the 13th.

Tidal Waves

Destruction of LA

Practical Effects