Francesco Grisi on VFX, from David di Donatello to digital creatures

Francesco Grisi, co-founder of EDI – Effetti Digitali Italiani, discusses the state of visual effects in Italy. Nominated for the David di Donatello awards for Best Visual Effects on Matteo Rovere's 'Il Primo Re', Grisi clarifies the difference between special effects (on-set) and visual effects (post-production). He describes the most complex VFX his team created: a photorealistic polar bear for a WWF commercial, and the flood sequence in 'Il Primo Re', which required building a 3D landscape around actors filmed in a pool, with background footage shot in Colombia. EDI also created their first fully digital creature—a wild boar—for the series 'Il Cacciatore', a milestone that began when Matteo Garrone considered outsourcing Pinocchio's creatures abroad. Grisi explains that 'creatures' include any living entity (animal, supernatural, human, puppet) and require technical and behavioral realism. The interview was conducted by Carlotta Petracci for Artribune.