'Justice League' VFX supervisors dish on the movie in fantastic new interview

YouTube personality Grace Randolph caught up with VFX supervisors John DJ DesJardin and Bryan Hirota this week. DesJardin has been working with director Zack Snyder since his 2009 movie Watchmen.

In this fantastic 25 minute interview, you get to learn about all the hard work that went into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and even the upcoming Justice League. There's not a ton of breaking news here, but if you're interested in how things are created behind-the-scenes, this interview is definitely worth watching!

103 comments

BatmanofEarth2

February 22, 2017

Yeahhhhh

Theclaw Yaww

February 22, 2017

Ugh I cant stand Grace

Anon
February 22, 2017
And this is coming from you....Lol talk about irony.
1. Kerk Lastnameless
  February 22, 2017
  The irony is that this guy is the definition of hater. I mean, he is mostly on "our" side when it comes to the DCEU matters, but he never ever substantiates any of his claims. In fact, this is a very typical comment of his right there --- "I hate X." And that's exactly the thing you begrudge Grace. Mistakenly.
  So that's the irony.
  1. Rust
    February 23, 2017
    You both actually made surprisingly similar comments:
    Theclaw Yaww 15 hours ago
    "Ugh I cant stand Grace"
    LegendInMyMind 14 hours ago
    "Ugh, can't stand Grace Randolph..."
    I know it's not my argument, but I can vouch for your dedication to making your point and sticking a discussion through.
R Blaze
February 22, 2017
Thank you!
Kerk Lastnameless
February 22, 2017
No, that's demonstrably false. I'm a regular, and I can vouch that she, for the most part, does substantiate her opinion.
1. ravissary79
  February 22, 2017
  I used to follow her and I completely disagree.
  1. Kerk Lastnameless
    February 22, 2017
    Well, I'll see you in court then.
2. Batsy
  February 23, 2017
  He calls her unbearable, because she doesn't jump on the hate bandwagon and is actually supportive of DC.
3. Kerk Lastnameless
  February 23, 2017
  I knew you'd give me that one..
  First of all, it's been 5 years, let it go already.
  Secondly, per your own admission, you don't watch youtube reviews. But I do, and I've seen plenty of her reviews. And I'm telling you that whether she hates or loves a movie, she usually goes into detail about her reasons. How good her reasons are is a different matter.
  So, even if the DKR thing is justified, it's an exception, not the rule.
  1. Kerk Lastnameless
    February 23, 2017
    https://twitter.com/gracera...
    I don't want to go into the tiresome "he said she said." I'm giving you a first person account of how she expresses her opinions. Take it or leave it.
    1. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 23, 2017
      You misunderstood. Ok, let's do point-by-point.
      First, you basically accused her of asspulling her reviews. As a person who watches those often, I offer you a first person account in rebuttal of that accusation. No, she does not tend to asspull, as far a I can tell. Whenever she likes or dislikes something, she makes sure to state her reasons for that.
      Second, were you there when the Twitter exchange between her and Campea happened? I was not, and I suspect neither were you. What you can have now is some hearsay on reddit about what exactly happened. She thinks Campea was a dick, Campea thinks she overreacted. Let's leave it at that.
      Third, no, she never suggested there was a vast conspiracy against DCEU. She suggested that some people had an agenda against it back when BvS was about to come out, and when Twitter got bombarded with the "BvS is 2 hours of heroes crying in the rain" message. And I sure as hell agreed with her back then. Of course, now I think that it was probably some test-screener who wanted to warn us of the looming disaster. But back then it sure did look like some people actively wanted it to fail.
      Fourth, I've already conceded the TDKR thing, but as I said, that's still only one proven instance of an egregious or dumb conduct. That's not enough for me, a regular watcher, to declare her an asspuller.
      And it's not like I'm a huge fan or something. I tend to disagree with her often, so there are no blinds on my eyes. But in interests of fairness, I gotta defend her. She especially got a lot of shit from the DCEU drones when she did a reaction to the first Leto Joker look.
    2. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 23, 2017
      Alright, find me a preserved version of their Twitter conversation.
    3. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 24, 2017
      No dude, it doesn't work that way. If you accuse a person of a sin, the burden of proof is on you. And you know it's not enough to say, "Someone on the internet told me."
      If you think one misstep with the TDKR is enough to brand a person an asspuller for life, that's your business. As far as I'm concerned, that's unfair.
    4. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 25, 2017
      Oh stop it, she never took the "Nolan is trash" position, she just had issues with TDKR. In fact, she mentions at every opportunity that unlike Marvel, DC movies scored Oscars, thanks to Nolan. Moreover, she said that the Dark Knight is one of her 3 all time favorite movies.
      The reason she keeps defending Snyder is the same reason she defended Josh Trank -- she has a soft spot for underdog directors who in her mind are daring and ambitions enough to try something unique. She sees unique and feels that it deserves adulation. That's a bad reason, but it's a reason nonetheless.
    5. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 25, 2017
      And from where I stand, you cannot judge a person's mindset based on one proven instance of misconduct. But the conversation has ran its course, I feel. Good talking to you.
      Eisenberg scored a razzie, so that's a bit of good news too.
    6. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 25, 2017
      Oh Christ, I knew this example would be thrown at me. I even considered rebutting it preemptively -- look, there's a chasm of difference between killing once and telling a lie once. One makes a murderer for life, but the other does not make a liar for life.
    7. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 25, 2017
      But that wasn't even a lie. At worst, it was a dumbass opinion. Because there WERE death threats. They were documented. But I'm not well familiar with the story, so I don't know.
4. Josh Morgan
  February 23, 2017
  my issue is that her opinions are just all over the place. There is like no consistency to her likes and dislikes. Its bizarre.
  1. Kerk Lastnameless
    February 23, 2017
    She does come off as a contrarian sometimes. But so what? I watch reviews for perspectives. Whether they line up with mine or not, is not important.
Rust
February 23, 2017
Sucks to hear that. I enjoyed this interview.

Master Bruce

February 22, 2017

My friend who works in MPC told me that the flash sequences are the toughest to do. he is having a ton of ultra slomo scenes.

dugzino
February 22, 2017
My friend who works at McDonalds told me their coffee sucks, so don't go there.
1. DapperDan11
  February 22, 2017
  My friend, who has a friend in the "industry," said Wonder Woman is going to have an orange and yellow suit in the beginning of the movie.
2. Master Bruce
  February 22, 2017
  My friend in batman news said പോടാ ശവമേ
3. residentgrigo
  February 23, 2017
  A friend of mine actually worked at McDonalds. She had a middle of the road opinion.
  PS: The topical Michael Keaton vehicle The Founder is pretty good.
TGI Fridays
February 22, 2017
Don't know if I should believe you or not?: http://www.reactiongifs.com...
1. Master Bruce
  February 22, 2017
  Me too..he sai he is working in justice league.but not so happy due to heavy load.

dugzino

February 22, 2017

Zack himself as well. He build up that amazing team of artists. I wonder if the team behind WB special effects, is the same team doing the games related trailers. Like Arkham ones?

TGI Fridays

February 22, 2017

Indeed

Martinezxyz

February 22, 2017

Pass. I unsubscribed from her channel last year, so I don't really care what she has to say or who she interviewed. But, it's nice to know that the enthusiasm is still on high spirits.

IamTheOneWhoKnocks
February 22, 2017
Agreed, her voice alone is so annoying.

Anon

February 22, 2017

Lol wait for it...

IamTheOneWhoKnocks

February 22, 2017

Any predictions on Logan's box office numbers? I can't wait to see this movie next week, I've been looking forward to it for a while.

Doc G
February 23, 2017
I'm going $75 million. I've seen it. It's really good. I don't think as broadly appealing as Deadpool but I hope I'm wrong.
1. IamTheOneWhoKnocks
  February 23, 2017
  Oh wow, that's great to know. I think for my taste I will enjoy Logan more. I did not really enjoy Deadpool to be honest, not my type of movie but I can see why the larger audience loved it. Anyways, super hyped to see Logan.

jjperezz6

February 22, 2017

Justinhulk
February 22, 2017
hi?
SpaceDucks
February 22, 2017
new account who dis
1. jjperezz6
  February 22, 2017
  this is jj...your friend from...places
  1. SpaceDucks
    February 22, 2017
    who the is JJ?
    1. jjperezz6
      February 22, 2017
      idk

Justinhulk

February 22, 2017

DC sucks in general they have not had a good movie in years the best movie they made was Suicide squad because at least Jared leto's joker was way better than health's horrible job

Justinhulk
February 22, 2017
Like could he even act DAMN
1. SpaceDucks
  February 22, 2017
  "why stho therious" xD
  1. Justinhulk
    February 22, 2017
    Why so serious for a shitty movie
    1. SpaceDucks
      February 22, 2017
      the batman movie was good but Heaths's joker was just trash
    2. Justinhulk
      February 22, 2017
      Are you hyped for the new justice league??
    3. jjperezz6
      February 22, 2017
      TBH...no
    4. Justinhulk
      February 22, 2017
      We can't hate until we see ben afflecks horrible job
    5. Assassin_creed_fan
      February 22, 2017
      Why so serious
2. Vulpini
  February 22, 2017
  Not sure if both of you are dead serious or professional trolls. I'm not even mad but still.... https://uploads.disquscdn.c...
  1. jjperezz6
    February 22, 2017
    shhhhh you saw nothing from us three
  2. residentgrigo
    February 23, 2017
    "Professional", is there money to be made? As i can be bought...
Assassin_creed_fan
February 22, 2017
Hulk smack?
Bisquiteen Trisket
February 23, 2017
In defense of Leto, they left a lot of the Joker on the cutting floor for Suicide Squad and I think he was in a sense hamstrung by the creative direction of the movie. For example, they drastically changed his relationship with Harley Quinn, which was done I'm sure to "tone it down" for a wider audience, but those of us who have read the comic know that was a bulls**t move.
pw1x
February 23, 2017
And crust is the best part of pizza
1. The walking Cuban
  February 23, 2017
  If you mean real Italian pizza I'll give you that but if you mean New York style then you are WRONG, SIR!

Jeremy

February 22, 2017

Zack Snyder is one of the best things that has ever happened to batman. He managed to develop batmans character in such a fantastic way, that i'm truly amazed by his work in BvS. The development that eventually led to batman killing someone was so flawless and technical that I couldn't see any other producer ever coming close to his genius. Christopher Nolan was incompetent when it came to portraying batman in his true form, so I applaud Mr. Snyder for stepping forward and handling the job accordingly.

jjperezz6
February 22, 2017
that's not your real name but...hi Jeremy
JoshDen
February 22, 2017
Lol
Kerk Lastnameless
February 22, 2017
Can't tell if this is a very subtle high brow sarcasm or pure dumbassery...
1. SpaceDucks
  February 22, 2017
  no this is just a very true fact :)
2. Jeremy
  February 22, 2017
  Sorry that I have a more artistic and intellectual understanding of modern day production value. Maybe next time you should pay more attention to the movie instead of eating your milkduds.
  1. Kerk Lastnameless
    February 22, 2017
    I wasn't eating milkduds, I was chugging beer* cause I could not handle the cringe coming at me from the big screen.
    1. SpaceDucks
      February 22, 2017
      how do you chug a bear?
    2. Kerk Lastnameless
      February 22, 2017
      Corrected.
  2. UltimateEdition
    February 22, 2017
    Upvoted for milk duds
  3. Johnathon
    February 22, 2017
    Yeah keep telling yourself that.
    1. Jeremy
      February 22, 2017
      looks like someone ran out of milkduds
3. OGmacrazy
  February 23, 2017
  This guy may just be the best "kinda troll" of all time, though. This was pure genius. I really think he is joking and baiting because he is using all the "arguments" these guys usually come up with, but in a slightly more exagerated tone, and definitely some comedic value. Either that, or he's in big time denial.
Macarena:primo do Catena
February 22, 2017
You're so retarded I can't even write a comment, I'll just say one thing that proves you wrong: "oh, save martha"
Shah
February 22, 2017
I think Christopher Nolan got everyone's attention to take Batman to the masses and take the characther seriously instead of a joke (the Schumacher series).
But yes I agree with you on Zack's take on Batman.
Jimmy Two Times
February 22, 2017
If this is genuine, stick to your guns! And some of the people who constantly have nothing but negative things to say about the DCEU should never bitch and complain about being harassed by the angry fanboys, because a lot of you cannot take a contrasting opinion without throwing out plenty of your own insults and vitriol. Everybody just wanting to play victim... welcome to comic fandom 2013-2017! Disgraceful.
Rust
February 22, 2017
As with Zack Snyder (but obviously to a far lesser degree), there is a faction of fans who feel the character was mishandled - mostly later on in the trilogy.
I would more phrase it as 'very untapped potential that is subjectively necessary to tap by the end of Batman's career for the interpretation to be generically complete enough to be satisfactory on all fronts'.
Kind of a mouthful.
Nolan was very competent; he just didn't have the same character portrayal priorities as a considerable number of fans, so there was some whiny - and somewhat deserved - dissatisfaction.
Almost everything else from his films was both classy and masterful, so, while I can agree that his Batman never fully blossomed in every major facet I wanted, I have quite a big bone to pick with anyone calling Nolan 'incompetent'. Same deal with Snyder; it's simply unfair, and willfully ignorant of what was done (very) well.
Batman Begins is still extremely high among my favorite interpretations of the character - frankly, it may even be king of the mountain. :)
1. dugzino
  February 23, 2017
  Batman Begins being the best solo Batman so far. I totally agree with your thoughts. Zack's Batman is just better in every way. Affleck and Bale are both awesome actors but Affleck looks the part. And the character development of Zack's Batman is way more profound, that explains why some goons like 'Abhi' couldn't understand.
  Zack is way more fit for these kind of movies than Nolan. And I'm saying this on basis of the 3 DC movies they each directed. Batman Begins was great, TDK was "OK" and TDKR, just awful. Now, I'm not saying this to troll. This is my opinion (and my entourage's as well) about the recent DC movies.
  1. Ábhi
    February 23, 2017
    So, I'm a goon because I don't agree with your pure bias, and don't follow Snyder with my eyes closed and pants down like you do? Did my criticism of BvS hurt you that hard?
    You have audacity to write 'TDK' was "OK" and 'TDKR' was "awful" and yet you would still go on to any limit defending MOS and BvS, out of which the former was trashed by critics and left fans divided and latter was trashed by both critics and fans alike (not counting the proud members of Snyder's "kiss my arse" club like you).
    By the way, your 1st paragraph would sound a lot better if you replaced the word 'profound' with 'idiotic'.
    1. dugzino
      February 23, 2017
      You just proved how much I was right. "Trashed by critics" you said.
      Nothing more to add. XD
    2. Ábhi
      February 23, 2017
      Just because I wrote 'trashed by critics', it doesn't prove you were right about anything, Jack. If you seriously thought otherwise, then you might have seriously damaged your brain cells while defending Snyder for all those years. That was Snyder-esque logic.
      I don't care too much about critics, and I clearly also mentioned MOS received mixed response from the audience, and BvS received mostly negative response from the audience. But, you completely ignored them. That was Snyder-esque plot hole.
Ábhi
February 23, 2017
What character development are you talking about? The cerebral Batman who doesn't mind killing goons with his Batpod and plane, hell bent on killing Superman, suddenly leaves him alive because Superman's mother's name resembled to Batman's? Yeah, that was a fantastic character development, I don't think Nolan could ever pull it off. In fact, I don't think this brilliant piece of idea can even come into his dumb head as he's not as genius as legendary Snyder.
"Christopher Nolan was incompetent when it came to portraying batman in his true form,"
Yep, because a Batman, who doesn't feel any remorse while killing local goons with bullets, missiles, crushing them with his Batpod is his 'true form'. Hail Snyder.
Josh Morgan
February 23, 2017
the only issue with the Nolan films was the super grounded "real world" factor. For me it left quite a bit to be desired. It lacked the fantasy aspect which is why this new DCEU batman and the potential for Ben's movie is so exciting. Ben is THE batman we have all been waiting for, and ya I do think Snyder did some things better than Nolan. TDK movie were fun suspenseful crime thrillers with a bat costume wearing ninja like vigilante but the DCEU batman is the real deal. He is actually frightening, fights like someone trained by the league of assassins, and he is hardcore af. He literally took on the man of steel and almost won. Ben is the god damn Batman
1. Ábhi
  February 23, 2017
  No arguments over Ben's Batman being shown as a more skillful fighter, but highly disagree with Nolan's films being grounded and having a real world feel was any type of issue. If anything, it was a plus point, as it helped us connect with the characters better and engage in the story better. It received universal praise from all over the world for it's realistic approach to Batman and realism. The main goal was to resurrect Batman after it was nearly destroyed in 1997 with 'Batman & Robin', and to get audience care about Batman and Bruce Wayne, and it was very well achieved.
  Snyder tried to do same thing with MOS, but failed.
  1. Josh Morgan
    February 24, 2017
    it was a plus point at the time because we needed to see how hardcore a batman movie could be after the bad taste people had in their mouths due to the embarrassing 90s run. People often say that Nolans films were the "batman movies we needed but not the ones we deserved". As in they were the ones we needed to get the franchise going again for people to take batman and comic book movies seriously. YOu could argue we deserved them too since they were great movies but thats besides the point. Now that thats over with, we have gotten the Batman that we have all wanted to see in live action for so long. A true comic book Batman that feels really cool at the same time. As I stated before, Nolan's run left much to be desired because of how "real world" they were. A nerfed Bane, no monsters like Killer Croc or Man Bat, and the fighting wasn't nearly as good as Affleck's.
    And no, Snyder didn't fail at all with Man of Steel. He actually succeeded quite a bit. Not sure where you are getting taht he failed form... The guy made Superman cool and modern. That was literally the movie that made me like SUperman and I know many other people that feel the same.
    1. Ábhi
      February 24, 2017
      "batman movies we needed but not the ones we deserved"
      That's completely wrong. Batman Begins is probably best origin movie of all time, one of the best at worst case, while The Dark Knight is universally called as the best superhero movie ever made, and transcended CBM genre. I'd say they were more than we deserved. Yes, some people may not like characterization of Batman in it, mostly hardcore comic book fans, but mind you, casuals loved it and formed an emotional bond with the character, like Maguire's Spidey. Garfield's Spidey was closer to comics, but it couldn't have same impact. The fact is every character in every superhero movie are tweaked in one way or other to fit them according to premise. Marvel and Fox have done it, too, with most of their characters. Snyder tweaked Affleck's Batman, too. He made Batman kill people DELIBERATELY without even trying to hold back to make his premise work. It definitely not looked cool and this is not what the Batman from the comics does. I don't know why people don't have problem with this? I remember people complaining about even Bale's voice, then why does Snyder get a pass? While, Affleck looked the part as a Batman, but I'm not particularly happy with the way it was characterized.
      That's another debate, but you said you said a grounded Batman (a human) movie set in real world was an issue, but you are okay with Superman (an alien) following the same part, irrespective of failing or succeeding, as it's objective. Don't you think you are contradicting a bit?
    2. Josh Morgan
      February 24, 2017
      some people have a problem with the killing, but most people were not overly bothered by it because it served the narrative and showed a really interesting character arc for Batman. He wasn't just killing people for no reason. There was actually a story there.
      Maybe I misinterpreted what you said about Man of Steel. Snyder modernized Superman for a live action universe similar to what Nolan did with Batman. What I mean by super "grounded" and realistic" is that in the Nolan films there was no fantasy aspect to it. The mythos was portrayed in a way to make it seem as though you could almost imagine these things happening in real life. Like if these characters existed in the real world, this is what they would be like. Batman is already a more grounded character, but Nolan took it to a new extreme. With Affleck, we have a cool modern live action Batman that also exists in a true comic book universe. Where you have super powers, meta humans, mutants, arkham video game style fighting, unrealistic abilities like Deadshot never missing, and probably a version of Bane that is more accurate to the comics. I had a feeling you would misinterpret my "deserve but not need" comment. That wasn't a diss to the Nolan films. But the idea is, if they were as good as they were but didn't take place in the super grounded reality that they did, they would have been perfect. When people say they were not the ones we "deserved", this is what they are referring to. Its all stretch...and nobody is denying the quality of those movies, but lets be honest you can make a better Batman movie than The Dark Knight Rises

jjperezz6

February 22, 2017

you know what I think the movie will be a rip off for anyone who wants to see the movie I mean this is going to be the worst movie ever

Justinhulk
February 22, 2017
Lots of money is being spent in this movie to and they couldn't even find a good director.....
1. jjperezz6
  February 22, 2017
  ikr

John Johnson

February 22, 2017

That bit about the changes in format and technology (plus the frame-by-frame examinations going on now), and how that's affected trailer-making was fascinating! Great interview!

dugzino
February 23, 2017
I thought it was pretty interesting as well.

UltimateEdition

February 22, 2017

I'm very "meh" about grace... for everything good she ever says it's followed up by 2 things spoken directly from her butthole

Ezee23
February 23, 2017
I dont mind her when it's comic-book movie related, she's been fair with the DCEU. And she hasn't held back when criticizing Marvel, she's been a breath of fresh air in this regard when you compare her to other YouTube personalities who seem to have nothing but positive words. Her trailer breakdowns are pretty good too.
I can't stand how ultra critical she can be at times, especially because she's basing her opinions on a trailer most of the time. Other than that, she's a pretty cool person and her comic-book knowledge is worth listening to.

Carver

February 23, 2017

Ioan Gruffudd as Hal jordan anyone?

dugzino
February 23, 2017
I think Armie Hammer would look amazing as Hal.

Bisquiteen Trisket

February 23, 2017

Based on the last several DC movies (save for Lego Batman, which was PHENOMENAL regardless of whether you have kids or not, lots of references to the TV show and movies), I'll be cautiously optimistic.

If Justice League and Wonder Woman don't absolutely destroy it this year, then I think WB needs to seriously just focus on making DC Comics Lego movies and call it a day.

Ábhi
February 23, 2017
i think they will continue with it as long as these movies earn money, which they will. Besides, I'm highly optimistic with Wonder Woman and Aquaman, though both are much more riskier than BvS or MOS, but I feel they are in safer hands. I wish Batman could find a great director as well.
1. Bisquiteen Trisket
  February 23, 2017
  I'm cautiously optimistic.
  I think WW is in good hands, and think it's going to be a movie on par with Guardians of the Galaxy in that people won't expect much, but it will be great and very well received. I never read the Aquaman comics much and the only real memory I have of his character was through Superfriends cartoons in the 80s when I was a kid. I figure Momoa is going to play him pretty straight given his brief appearance in the JL trailer, and he looks the part of a salty sea king.
  I wish that Affleck could direct The Batman, but I imagine it's hard enough to act in a movie, much less be in charge of its direction. I thought he killed it in BvS and he really has a love for the character and history behind him.
  1. Ábhi
    February 23, 2017
    Aquaman is not only such a bada$$ character (so is Mamoa), but also it will bring a completely different concept in CBM genre, something which hasn't been explored yet, a breath of fresh air (water). James Wan is also capable of telling a good story and has amazing track record.
    Wonder Woman is considerably more popular than Guardians (prior to the movie), it could be huge if it finds acceptance among all age groups and gender due to its tone and the fact she's the most iconic female superhero of all time. It still needs to be a good movie, though. Biggest concern is its release date, it faces tough competition from 1st week itself throughout the summer.
    1. Bisquiteen Trisket
      February 23, 2017
      on an unrelated note, I saw some clips from SKull Island. That looks pretty damn good. I realize it's not superhero .

IgboNation85

February 23, 2017

Grace Randolph.. she's just unbearable.

BRUCE WAYNE

February 23, 2017

The way they describe how Zack is working and the tones of work he is involved in, makes a lot of sense to me why Affleck stepped down as Batman director. It's way too much work for one man to write, star and direct a Batman movie and get in character

Sense

February 23, 2017

Good interview and that Grace is very cute

Batman News Archive

'Justice League' VFX supervisors dish on the movie in fantastic new interview

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