This document lists and describes the 7 greatest CGI aliens as featured in popular sci-fi films. It provides details on the film, visual effects studio, supervisor, and director for each alien entry. Quotes from visual effects supervisors are also included to highlight the creative challenges and successes in bringing these iconic CGI aliens to life.

1. PRESENTS:
THE 7 GREATEST
CGI ALIENS
DISCOVER THE ALIENS THAT TOOK VFX TO NEW DIMENSIONS
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2. A new breed of CG aliens
is being born. Here we
reveal the 7 greatest ever
CGI aliens!
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3. • Movie: Man of Steel
• Year of release: 2013
• VFX by: MPC
• VFX Supervisor: Guillaume
Rocheron
• Directed by: Zack Snyder
7
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SEE NEXT TO
DISCOVER HOW
MPC MADE
SUPERMAN FLY!
SUPERMAN

4. “Superman himself is full CG on
wide shots and a mix of live
action and CG on the closeups.”
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SEE HOW MPC
MADE SUPERMAN
FLY HIGH
WATCH NOW!
Guillaume Rocheron, VFX supervisor at MPC

5. • Movie: Starship Troopers
• Year of release: 1997
• VFX by: Tippett Studio
• VFX Supervisor: Phil Tippett
and Craig Hayes
• Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
6
THE BUGS
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SEE THE
LEGENDARY
PHIL TIPPETT’S
ALIEN
CREATION!

6. “My favorites were Star Wars,
Jurassic Park and Starship
Troopers. George Lucas, Steven
Spielberg and Paul Verhoeven are
all wonderful directors to work for.”
Phil Tippett, VFX supervisor on Starship Troopers
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7. • Movie: Pacific Rim
• Year of release: 2013
• VFX by: Industrial Light &
Magic
• VFX Supervisor: John Knoll
• Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
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CREATING THE
KAIJU FOR
PACIFIC RIM
WATCH NOW!
KAIJU

8. “The monsters were very
important to Guillermo. So he
wanted to make sure that
every one of them had their
own personality.”
John Knoll, VFX supervisor on Pacific Rim
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9. • Movie: Men in Black II
• Year of release: 2002
• VFX by: Industrial Light &
Magic
• VFX Supervisor: John Berton
• Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
4
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SEE THE MIB
WORM GUYS IN
ACTION
WATCH NOW!
THE WORM GUYS

10. “Everyone was keen to work on
the Worm Guys because they
had a lascivious, anti-social
and colorful attitude to them.”
Tom Bertino, animation director at ILM
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11. • Movie: The Abyss
• Year of release: 1989
• VFX by: Industrial Light &
Magic
• VFX Supervisor: John Bruno
• Directed by: James Cameron
3
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SEE ONE OF
CGI’S MOST
ICONIC MOMENTS
WATCH NOW!
PSEUDOPOD

12. “The Abyss is very cool. The
amount of data storage available
then was like 6 gigabytes. That’s
what we had to make that movie.
And it still holds up.”
John Bruno, VFX supervisor at ILM
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13. • Movie: Avatar
• Year of release: 2009
• VFX by: Weta Digital
• VFX Supervisor: Joe Letteri,
John Bruno, Dan Lemmon
• Directed by: James Cameron
2
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WATCH 7 VIDEO
BREAKDOWNS AT
THE WETA DIGITAL
WEBSITE!
NA’VI

14. “Jim wanted real-time capture.
Jim’s big thing was, “I’m going to
be on the stage, and that’s where
I’m directing this movie”, so I need
to see everything real-time.”
Joe Letteri, senior VFX supervisor at Weta Digital
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15. • Movie: District 9
• Year of release: 2009
• VFX by: Weta Digital and
Image Engine
• VFX Supervisor: Matt Aitken
and Dan Kaufman
• Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
1
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WATCH THE
PRAWNS
BREAKDOWN
FROM IMAGE
ENGINE
PRAWNS

16. “We spent a lot of time
trying to make sure that
these creatures could emote
properly for the camera.”
James Stewart, creature supervisor at Image Engine
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