In this series, we’re highlighting world-class studios where artists trained by Ganz and Andrew have gone on to work.

Each post celebrates the incredible work these studios have created over the years, the same kind of productions our graduates now help bring to life.

Today: Cinesite took part in Black Widow (2021) contributing to sequences rooted in gritty realism rather than cosmic spectacle.

While many Avengers films lean into the fantastical, Cinesite’s VFX for Black Widow were firmly terrestrial: working on helicopters, cars, a laboratory, and the Russian prison environment.

In one driving sequence, Cinesite replaced a BMW with a fully CG version, using a nine-camera circular array to build a 360° environment projected behind actors to give realistic interactive lighting and reflections.

Deep inside the prison sequences, they handled a visually jarring arm-wrestling shot: Alexei (Red Guardian) bends the opponent’s wrist to an unnatural angle. They used CG hand/forearm replacement and 2D projection to transition from live action to digital seamlessly, taking care to manage lighting/occlusion with rotopaint and compositing finesse.

Another standout shot: Alexei rips through a laminated glass partition to pull a guard over a desk. The FX team built a custom simulation system to fracture laminated glass (which behaves more like a rigid “cloth” under stress) and layered internal fracture detail, then composited everything to integrate stunt plates and digital destruction.

Cinesite’s work on Black Widow exemplifies how “invisible” effects those that sit just below notice often carry tremendous technical weight.