S26 - Ep 2 - 98th Oscars - Visual Effects

Continuing Below the Line’s 2026 Oscar series, the conversation turns to Visual Effects — a category that sits at the intersection of technology, craft, and storytelling.

This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Kent Seki and Chris Batty for a focused conversation about the Oscar nominees for Achievement in Visual Effects. Together, they look at how the category has evolved — and what separates technical accomplishment from storytelling impact.

As with the rest of this year’s Oscar series, this episode is available both as an audio podcast and as a full video conversation on YouTube, offering listeners and viewers a closer look at how visual-effects work is discussed, debated, and evaluated from inside the process.

Our discussion ranges across:

• The different creative demands of large-scale spectacle versus realism-driven effects
• How films like Avatar: Fire and Ash and Jurassic World Rebirth approach scale and world-building, compared to the grounded physical environments of F1 and The Lost Bus
• The challenge of integrating effects into performances, locations, and production design without overwhelming the story
• Why elements like fire, debris, and destruction require as much restraint as technical precision
• How visual effects intersect with cinematography, editorial, and sound to maintain continuity and tone
• The increasing expectation that effects choices support narrative clarity rather than novelty
• What this year’s nominees suggest about how the Academy continues to define excellence in the field

Rather than focusing on predictions, the conversation looks at how visual effects decisions are made — and how those choices shape tone, performance, and story across very different kinds of films.

🎧 Press play — or watch the full conversation on YouTube — and join us Below the Line as the 2026 Oscar series continues. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.