16 > Edson Williams

Edson Williams once had a job in visual effects that he was not allowed to talk about. As a specialist in digital cosmetic “beauty” fixes, his work was often invisible and intended to stay that way. But Williams was soon able to apply his skills to carry out de-aging, face, and body replacement effects in films such as X-Men: The Last Stand, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and the Captain America movies—crucial effects that helped the directors tell critical story points. Williams and his company, Lola Visual Effects, are now sought after for exactly these sorts of shots.

Williams’ first visual effects assignment was on Roland Emmerich’s Stargate (1994). “I was teaching a Photoshop and Alias Power ...

Get Masters of FX now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.