Working on Marvel programmes is incredibly challenging, and this is widely acknowledged throughout all the visual effects studios. I put in nearly six months' worth of daily overtime on one movie. I was working seven days a week, putting in, on average, 64 hours every week. Marvel actually puts a lot of effort into you. I've had colleagues sob while seated next to me at work. people have called me while experiencing panic attacks.

Because the studio has so many blockbuster movies coming out one after another, it has a lot of influence over the effects studios. There's a very strong risk you won't get those projects in the future if you offend Marvel in any manner. Therefore, the effects studios are making every effort to satisfy Marvel.

The houses bid on a project to get work; they are all attempting to come in exactly under one another's bids. Marvel is content with this partnership since it saves it money because the bids for Marvel are frequently considerably lower. But the reality is that all Marvel projects frequently have insufficient employees. On one Marvel film, I had two VFX artists, including myself, as opposed to the ten I would typically have on a non-Marvel film. Therefore, everyone is working harder than necessary.

The other issue with Marvel is that it is renowned for requesting several alterations throughout the production. You are already overworked, therefore Marvel's requests for revisions on a frequent basis far exceed those of any other customer. Some of those modifications are also quite significant. Marvel may ask us to modify the entire third act of a movie a month or two before it is released. There are incredibly short turnaround times. Therefore, the whole scenario is not good. One visual effects firm was unable to complete the quantity of shots and reshoots that Marvel requested in time, therefore Marvel was forced to assign the work to my studio. Since then, that house has essentially been barred from receiving business from Marvel.

People were talking about getting "pixel-fucked" when I attended a presentation by one of the other VFX studios about an early MCU film. We use that phrase in the business when a client will scrutinise every single pixel. even if you aren't aware of it. Even if a client tells you that it's not precisely what they wanted, you keep working on it. However, they are unsure about what they want. Therefore, they will ask, "Can you simply try this? Could you please try that? They'll ask you to change the entire environment or scenario quite late in the film.

The biggest issue is that the majority of Marvel's directors lack experience using visual effects. Many of them have never used VFX and have only made small independent films at the Sundance Film Festival. They lack the ability to envision something that is not yet present or present on the set with them. Marvel therefore frequently starts to want what we refer to as "final renderings." We will send unappealing but accurate work-in-progress photos as we advance through a movie. It takes a lot of time when Marvel requests that they be supplied in a considerably higher quality very early on.