Andrew Whitehurst's guest appearances

Andrew Whitehurst

Fantasy/Animation

DARK: Chats About Space

Brian Cox

William Brown

Rupert Read

Peter Adamson

Edith Hall

Francesca Stavrakopoulou

David Ayer

Paul Wells

Richard Dyer

Paul Lambert

Ron Clements

John Musker

Marc Forster

Neil Brand

Todd McGowan

OwlTail

Episode 34 sees Chris and Alex focusing on the pleasures, politics and posthumanism of science-fiction parable Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014). To help untangle the circuitry of Garland’s film, they are joined by Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Andrew Whitehurst. Andrew is currently the Creative Director and VFX Supervisor at the Double Negative (DNEG) studio in London, with credits that include Troy (Oliver Stone, 2004), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (David Yates, 2007), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2010), Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012), Paddington (Paul King, 2014), and Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018). In this latest episode, Andrew talks about his role as Visual Effects Supervisor on Ex Machina, a film for which he received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 2015. Listen as they discuss the relationship between visual effects and production design; the film’s digital construction of bodies (via facial shapes, skin simulations, and data sets for physiognomies); questions of hybrid performance in the animation (movement, walking, gesturing) of humanoid robot Ava; the erotics of technology; and what Ex Machina has to say about the broader ethics and morality of creativity.

Episode 34 sees Chris and Alex focusing on the pleasures, politics and posthumanism of science-fiction parable Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014). To help untangle the circuitry of Garland’s film, they are joined by Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Andrew Whitehurst. Andrew is currently the Creative Director and VFX Supervisor at the Double Negative (DNEG) studio in London, with credits that include Troy (Oliver Stone, 2004), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (David Yates, 2007), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2010), Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012), Paddington (Paul King, 2014), and Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018). In this latest episode, Andrew talks about his role as Visual Effects Supervisor on Ex Machina, a film for which he received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 2015. Listen as they discuss the relationship between visual effects and production design; the film’s digital construction of bodies (via facial shapes, skin simulations, and data sets for physiognomies); questions of hybrid performance in the animation (movement, walking, gesturing) of humanoid robot Ava; the erotics of technology; and what Ex Machina has to say about the broader ethics and morality of creativity.

Ex Machina (2014) (with Andrew Whitehurst)

Andrew Whitehurst is the Oscar Winning Visual Effects expert who has worked on Ex_Machina, Annhiliation and Brian Cox's live tour - we had a conversation at DNEG's offices about working with Brian Cox, the technicalities of creating black holes and his work on Alex Garland's wonderful 2018 film Annihilation.  As always, this podcast is brought to you by my very own book DARK: The A To Z Of Astronomy And The Cosmos - it's part universe explainer, part graphic design coffee table fodder with a bespoke piece of artwork by Andreas Brooks for each and every letter of the astronomical alphabet.  You can pledge for a copy here and help it to get to 100%!  www.unbound.com/books/dark

Andrew Whitehurst is the Oscar Winning Visual Effects expert who has worked on Ex_Machina, Annhiliation and Brian Cox's live tour - we had a conversation at DNEG's offices about working with Brian Cox, the technicalities of creating black holes and his work on Alex Garland's wonderful 2018 film Annihilation.  As always, this podcast is brought to you by my very own book DARK: The A To Z Of Astronomy And The Cosmos - it's part universe explainer, part graphic design coffee table fodder with a bespoke piece of artwork by Andreas Brooks for each and every letter of the astronomical alphabet.  You can pledge for a copy here and help it to get to 100%!  <a href="http://www.unbound.com/books/dark" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.unbound.com/books/dark</a>

Ep 7. Chatting Ex_Machina, Annihilation & Brian Cox's Live Tour with Andrew Whitehurst 