Collaborating with director Ryan Coogler, production visual effects supervisor Geoffrey Baumann, and production designer Hannah Beachler, cinematographer Rachel Morrison and costume designer Ruth E. Carter, ILM was charged in large part with creating the legendary city of Wakanda as well as the surrounding countryside. Under ILM visual effects supervisor Craig Hammack, the team would augment and enhance the ground level practical sets that had been constructed for the production with digital extensions and fully digital environments to provide the bustling city the story called for. It’s a technologically advanced kingdom that holds firm to its African-inspired roots. The team sought to bring a tactile nature to the world building so audiences could feel the hustle and bustle of the thriving city and sense the greatness of the culture that created it.
The team was also responsible for the Astral Plane where T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is joined by his ancestors, and the dynamic dog fight sequence in skies above Wakanda. Black Panther was honored with the BAFTA Awards for Special Visual Effects and received a Saturn Award nomination as well.
