Gus Ribeiro and the AI Elephant in the Room
The Harbor UK VFX supervisor looks back on breaking into the industry, the future of real-time technology, and recent work with Save The Children, as part of LBB’s VFX Factor series.
Gus Ribeiro is an accomplished VFX supervisor, bringing over a decade of experience in high-end visual effects across film, television, and advertising. His career includes tenures at renowned studios such as Framestore, The Mill, Absolute, and Untold.
Gus’ portfolio boasts collaborations with esteemed directors like Dougal Wilson, Sam Pilling, and Chris Balmond. Notable projects include John Lewis’s ‘Excitable Edgar’ and Amazon’s ‘An Unlikely Friendship’. In television, his work on Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ stands out, contributing to its VES Gold Stick award for visual effects.
His film credits feature major titles such as ‘Paddington 2’, ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’, and ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, the latter earning both Oscar and BAFTA nominations for VFX.
LBB> What’s the biggest misconception people have about VFX?
Gus> That we can fix everything in post! Sure, VFX can do a lot, but it's not magic. Artists often end up working really hard to fix things that could’ve been avoided with just a bit more planning. The best results always come when the VFX team is involved early on.
LBB> There are two ends to the VFX spectrum — the invisible post and the big, glossy 'VFX-heavy' shots. What are the challenges that come with each of those?
Gus> I think the big, glossy VFX shots are a bit more forgiving. When you’ve got a giant robot fighting a monster, people know it’s not real, even if it looks amazing. The real challenge with those kinds of shots is the complexity. You’ve got multiple teams, animation, FX, lighting, comp, all working on different parts, and everything must come together and feel like it belongs in the same world.
Invisible effects are a whole different challenge. The goal is for no one to notice them, which means you’ve got to be super precise. You need a good eye for what looks real and the technical skills to recreate all the little details, lens distortion, grain, subtle lighting changes, haze, reflections. It takes a lot of subtlety and control to pull those off without drawing any attention.
