Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 27, 2016. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Set extensions, spraying blood and making the two actors’ faces crumple under the blows were effects realised by Los Angeles-based Zero VFX for “Southpaw”. Here is the breakdown reel:
The production did not shoot shot by shot; instead, all the boxing rounds were filmed in one go with a total of 15 cameras. Director Antoine Fuqua placed great value on realistic footage and wanted to capture the actors’ genuine exhaustion. Not a single blue- or greenscreen was erected because Fuqua did not want to be restricted in his camera angles. Zero compensated for the lack of tracking markers and the shaky handheld-camera footage using detailed lidar scans (more about lidar in our issue 07 : 14).
Zero VFX creates VFX for commercials and feature films. Alongside “Southpaw”, the studio based at Venice Beach also created effects for “American Hustle” and “The Equalizer”, among others.
In our image gallery, you can view a few more before-and-after shots in detail:
