Prague Firm UPP Helped Blade Runner 2049 Win an Oscar for Best Visual Effects

The 2018 Oscar Academy Award for the Best Visual Effects that went to Blade Runner 2049 also appreciated the work of Czech experts from the Universal Production Partners (UPP) studio seated in Prague where some of the effects for the film were made.

“More than 200 visual-effect shots were made in the UPP,” the Czech company says in its press release.

The miniatures of the film city were created in Prague and the studio also worked on the scene of the birth of a female replicant and one of the main battle scenes in the film, directed by Denis Villeneuve.

Czech experts mainly appreciate a scene in the gallery of outdated replicants hanging on wires in empty vats. The director wanted them to be slightly moving, which the Czech team eventually achieved by a three-dimensional technique and a 3D-scan of the figures.

“So we have a few reasons to celebrate and I am proud of the whole team that under the leadership of (visual effect supervisor) Viktor Muller and (visual effects producer) Lenka Likarova has entered the top film society,” UPP director Vit Komrzy said.

The visual effects in Blade Runner 2049 also received the BAFTA British Academy Film Award in February.