We spoke with Simon Maddison, VFX Supervisor at DNEG’s Sydney studio, about his work on Mercy, the high-octane action film starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson. With over two decades of experience on blockbusters including The Avengers, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Iron Man 3, Simon helped lead the Sydney team in bringing director Timur Bekmambetov’s ambitious vision to life. As part of DNEG, one of the world’s leading visual effects studios, Simon and his colleagues combine technical innovation and storytelling expertise to create the immersive, photo-realistic environments and complex action sequences that define the film’s visual style.
How did you become involved with Mercy, and what was your involvement during the early stages of development?
I first got involved in discussions about the project back in 2023 with Guy Norris (VFX Action Designer). We first explored different concepts for Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson’s character), tested some ideas for action sequences, and explored what the visuals could look like. Before the film was officially in production, I stepped away to supervise Ron Howard’s Eden
Once that was wrapped, I was lucky enough to rejoin the Mercy team. It was a full-circle moment because I was able to take early concepts we had worked on and help bring director Timur Bekmambetov’s vision to life on the big screen.
How did the DNEG Sydney team approach such an ambitious film, and how did Timur Bekmambetov’s preparation help?
The project ran very smoothly thanks to Timur’s clear vision and careful planning. Previs and early reference gave us a strong roadmap, which made coordinating the stunts, CG, and crowds much easier. Even so, managing all the moving parts was a complex balancing act, but the result is impressive and something we’re all proud of.
Mercy features a large-scale chase through Los Angeles. From a VFX perspective, what made the sequence particularly ambitious?
The scale of the sequence was probably the biggest challenge. It moves through multiple areas of Los Angeles, so we had to create a version of the city that could support the action from many different viewpoints. The chase is seen from various perspectives – street-level drones, traffic cameras, and more traditional cinematic angles.
Production filmed a real truck driving through Los Angeles very early in the morning, when the streets were largely empty. This gave us a great base. From there, much of the surrounding activity, such as the traffic, crowd, police vehicles and destruction was added digitally. We developed libraries of CG vehicles rigged for crashes, as well as crowd systems, so pedestrians could react to the truck as it crashed through the city. Having a collection of very robust vehicles set up for destruction was key; we built and tested them extensively so that by the time we were putting them into shots, they behaved exactly as expected.
How did the team combine practical FX with digital environments to build the chase sequence?
A key piece of the workflow was a series of spherical array captures that filmed the route the truck travelled through. These were recorded using specialized cameras mounted on tracking vehicles and drones, which allowed us to capture a 360-degree view of the environment.
Those arrays became extremely useful in post-production. In some cases, they served as background plates so that we could place CG vehicles and crowds into real locations while keeping the lighting consistent. In other cases, we generated the shot entirely in CG and used the array as the surrounding environment.
Regarding the destruction, there was some great stunt work shot practically that was sometimes used as a shot with CG enhancement, or which provided exceptional reference. Every shot required a different approach, and when they were all combined in the sequence, including shots that were 100% in-camera, we found the sequence had a great flow. A fully CG sequence like that will never feel quite right in my opinion; it always needs to be a combination.
Mercy shows a version of Los Angeles that feels very close to the present day. How did the idea of a “near future” Los Angeles influence the VFX work?
The guiding principle was that everything should feel grounded in technology that already exists. This wasn’t meant to be a distant science-fiction world, but rather a believable reality that feels recognisable.
To achieve this we referenced real-world examples whenever possible. Whether it was the quadcopter, the drones in the sky, or even the way the city was populated, everything started with something tangible before being pushed slightly forward into the “near future”.
The quadcopter is a standout element in the film. How was the vehicle created and filmed?
Some of the quadcopter material was captured practically using a gimbal rig on a stage. Even though the backgrounds were replaced later on, that setup gave us very convincing lighting and reflections on the actor and the vehicle. Several of the close-up shots, especially those that feel like a dash-cam looking back at the pilot, came directly from that work.
The downdraft from the drone, when it was on set with a gimbal or crane arm, was practical and worked with great effect. Sometimes we augmented it in post with 2D elements. For wide shots, for example when the quadcopter sweeps past the truck and begins travelling backwards looking into the truck cabin, we relied on a fully digital quadcopter and a digital double of the actor, and the wind for these shots was generated in comp. The performer was scanned so we could recreate her accurately, which was particularly important for dynamic moments, such as when she’s thrown from the vehicle during the action.
The chase sequence features a lot of destruction as the truck drives through Los Angeles. How was that destruction achieved?
Most of that destruction was created digitally. Production did shoot some practical reference of vehicles crashing into obstacles, but in many cases the final shots relied on CG simulations.
Our detailed vehicle assets were incredibly important in making these shots fully believable, but that practical reference footage was also incredibly helpful as a guide for the teams, even when it wasn’t used directly in the final film.
Crowds play a big role in showcasing the scale of the chase sequence, particularly as people react to the truck racing through the streets. How were those moments created?
We built a crowd system that allowed us to populate Los Angeles with digital pedestrians reacting to the events of the chase. The crowd system was created by recording a wide range of performances at DNEG’s motion capture stage and using tools in Houdini. Those performances were then used to drive the digital characters, whether they were observing from the sidelines or trying to get out of the way of the truck.
There was also a large amount of bespoke stunt mocap provided by PROXi, which was captured during production. These sessions were the result of extensive previs they did in pre-production and gave us a collection of excellent, real stunt performances to draw from. The combination of general crowd movement and very specific action performed by stunts made for a great result.
The director also wanted the city to include homeless camps in certain areas, so we created digital versions of those and integrated them into many of the environments. All of the collisions and the action involving pedestrians were generated in CG around the path of the real truck.
VFX Breakdown
For more information, visit: https://www.dneg.com/our-work/mercy