The Mill - Emilia Pérez VFX Breakdown

Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard (2024)

Emilia Pérez marks the fifth collaboration between our teams and director Jacques Audiard.

Under the overall supervision of Cédric Fayolle, The Mill (ex-MPC Paris) joined the project in its early stages in September 2023.

What makes Emilia Pérez unique? Nearly the entire film was shot against blue screens in the Paris region. One of the main challenges during post-production was to ensure visual consistency, making the visual effects seamless across more than 350 shots.

VFX Supervisor Rodolphe Zirah and 2D Supervisor Lise Fischer explain that every street, every exterior set—and often even interiors—required digital visual effects.
For example, in the opening scene with Zoë Saldaña, only a few storefronts were physically present; everything else, from buildings and trees to the ground itself, was created digitally.

Likewise, the chase sequence, largely crafted in CGI, showcases the full impact of the VFX work. This complex scene required a detailed design phase and close collaboration with the director.
To illustrate the scale of their work, Rodolphe and Lise note that over 65% of the shots featured in the trailer were digitally altered.

Digital Environments Supervisor Christophe Courgeau explains that extensive testing and iterations were needed to strike the right balance between realism and stylization. The virtual environments—designed to evoke an imagined version of Mexico—include fully CG creations like Emilia’s house, the prison, and entire landscapes.

VFX Producer Yann Nivet coordinated over 70 artists over an eight-month period, ensuring—with Executive Producer Édouard Valton—that every stage of the process met both deadlines and budget, especially for the Cannes premiere.

The close collaboration between the VFX and image post-production teams was essential. The cinematography by Paul Guilhaume was graded in Resolve by Arthur Paux. Post-production Supervisor Brice Leclert highlighted his team’s responsiveness in adapting the workflow and the smooth communication with the VFX crew.

Our teams are incredibly proud to have contributed to the creation of Emilia Pérez’s captivating visual universe, and would like to thank Why Not Productions, Jacques Audiard, and Les Artizans for their continued trust.

MORE ABOUT #EMILIAPEREZ:
https://www.themill.com/work/emilia-perez

ABOUT US
The Mill is a world-leading creative studio built on nearly four decades of award-winning craft. Spanning Brand & Content and Film & Series, we create visually ambitious work for the world's most discerning brands, studios and storytellers — conceived from the outset to move across platforms, markets and audiences without compromise.

FOLLOW US
Website: https://www.themill.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-mill
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/millchannel
X: https://x.com/MILL__CHANNEL

#TheMill #VFX #Brand #Content #Film #Series