Cinefex

Cinefex cover montage

From 2013-2021, I worked as part of the editorial team at Cinefex, a bimonthly magazine devoted to motion picture visual effects. As senior staff writer, I researched and and wrote long-form articles on the making of feature films and streaming series. I also created the videos used to promote each new issue of the magazine.

Over the years I covered some amazing shows, from big franchise blockbusters like Black Panther and Solo: A Star Wars Story, to gems like Hail, Caesar! and Good Omens. I was also lucky enough to interview some of my filmmaking heroes, including Jim Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, Robert Zemeckis and Ron Howard.

Here are some of the nice things people have said about my Cinefex articles:

Hey Graham, it’s a wonderful article, really well done. Thanks for a great job!

Joe Bauer, visual effects supervisor, Game of Thrones

It’s a great explanation of the story of the last two years of my life. So great to hear all of the voices along the way again. Thank you!

Jake Morrison, visual effects supervisor, Thor: Ragnarok

Your article on Welcome to Marwen reads really great!!! Thanks so much for painting such a cohesive story about such ‘unusual’ subject matter. I think the article is a slam dunk.

Kevin Baillie, visual effects supervisor, Welcome to Marwen

Thanks very much for the smart and insightful article. You’ve captured the significance of the film, the details of the logistics, and the spirit of the process. Really, excellent job all around.

Mark Elijah Rosenberg, director, Approaching the Unknown

This story is fun, knowledgable, exciting. You’re a hero in that you can put all these facts and projects together in a cohesive, riveting way! So appreciate how much care you put into this.

Robin Griffin-McLachlan, visual effects producer, Ben-Hur

Here’s a complete list of my Cinefex magazinearticles:

  • Formula For Fire – Rush (2014, Cinefex 136)
  • Explosive Cocktail – Spectre (2016, Cinefex 145)
  • Smart-Mouthed Glory – Deadpool (2016, Cinefex 146)
  • History in the Making – Hail, Caesar! (2016, Cinefex 146)
  • Apocalypse Rising – X-Men: Apocalypse (2016, Cinefex 147)
  • Acts of War – Warcraft (2016, Cinefex 148)
  • Cosmic Deconstruction – Star Trek Beyond (2016, Cinefex 148)
  • Quick the Eye, Steady the Hand – Ben-Hur (2016, Cinefex 149)
  • One Moment of Pure Wonder – Approaching the Unknown (2016, Cinefex 149)
  • Persistence of Vision – Arrival (2016, Cinefex 150)
  • Love in a Dangerous Time – Allied (2016, Cinefex 150)
  • The Dreamsmiths Unleashed – Virtual Reality (2017, Cinefex 151)
  • A Lonely God – Kong: Skull Island (2017, Cinefex 152)
  • Blood Father – Logan (2017, Cinefex 152)
  • Life in the Fast Lane – The Fate of the Furious (2017, Cinefex 153)
  • Dark Materials – Alien: Covenant (2017, Cinefex 153)
  • Symphony of Color – Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017, Cinefex 154)
  • Spirit of the Ocean – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017, Cinefex 154)
  • Gunslinger – The Dark Tower (2017, Cinefex 155)
  • Team Thor – Thor: Ragnarok (2017, Cinefex 156)
  • The Patron Saint of Otherness – The Shape of Water (2017, Cinefex 156)
  • Afrofuture – Black Panther (2018, Cinefex 158)
  • The Marvel Effect (2018, Cinefex 158)
  • Heft and Jank – Pacific Rim Uprising (2018, Cinefex 159)
  • Kessel Runner – Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018, Cinefex 160)
  • Knocking ’em Dead – Deadpool 2 (2018, Cinefex 160)
  • Symbiosis – Venom (2018, Cinefex 161)
  • Lone Wolf – Alpha (2018, Cinefex 161)
  • Small Wonder – Welcome to Marwen (2018, Cinefex 162)
  • Robert Zemeckis Q&A (2018, Cinefex 162)
  • Transformation – Bumblebee (2019, Cinefex 163)
  • Beast of the Apocalypse – Hellboy (2019, Cinefex 164)
  • The Nature of the Beast – CG Animals (2019, Cinefex 164)
  • Ancient Gods – Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019, Cinefex 165)
  • A Very English Armageddon – Good Omens (2019, Cinefex 165)
  • Grand Illusions – Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019, Cinefex 166)
  • When Dragons Go To War – Game of Thrones: Season 8 (2019, Cinefex 166)
  • Muscle Cars – Hobbs & Shaw (2019, Cinefex 167)
  • No Fate But What We Make – Terminator: Dark Fate (2019, Cinefex 168)
  • 12,000 Feet Straight Down – Midway (2019, Cinefex 168)
  • The Visionaries – Interviews with James Cameron and Robert Zemeckis (2020, Cinefex 169)
  • The Illusionists – Interviews with VFX Oscar-Winners (2020, Cinefex 169)
  • Inner Demons – The New Mutants (2020, Cinefex 170)
  • Why Have Average? – The Boys (2020, Cinefex 171)
  • Resetting the Wonder – Tales from the Loop (2020, Cinefex 171)
  • The Undiminished Spirit – Star Trek: Discovery (2021, Cinefex 172)

My Cinefex journey actually began in 2011, when I started writing a series of retrospective reviews called Revisiting Cinefex. Click here to read the complete set of forty reviews.

6 thoughts on “Cinefex

  1. Hi Graham. I’m currently putting together an article on the making of Saturn 3 and was wondering if you have any information on the visual effects of this particular film – or in fact the production itself?
    🙂

    1. Hi Gregory. Thanks for asking, but I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer. I remember seeing the film at the cinema when it was released but don’t have any material on its production. I seem to remember the UK’s Starburst magazine doing a small feature on it – they may have something in their archives. Good luck with the search! Best wishes, Graham

  2. Yeah, that’s absolutely right! I know the VFX budget was slashed to compensate for Raise The Titanic going way over its own budget (also an ITC production), so I’m trying to find out just how much Saturn 3’s VFX budget was – and how much it was reduced by. This all goes a long way in explaining why the film’s VFX are, shall we say, a little on the ‘low-rent’ side (despite the same crew having worked on Superman: The Movie). 🙂

  3. Honestly, how do we get this magazine back in print? Is crowd funding possible or have the people who so lovingly crafted the best magazine on VFX artistry and technical innovation just moved on? There is a need for this type of content in the industry and that magazine was a 41 year joy to behold because it so brilliantly filled that need. So I ask…is it truly a lost cause? Can we get it back?

What do you think?