'Dune 2' Giant Sandworm, Why It Seems Like It Could Exist in a Real Desert [Tech Talk]

Creating a 'Realistic Desert,' Dune's Greatest Challenge
800 People Ran Hundreds of Simulations to Complete
Following the Evolution of Modern VFX and Computer Technology

One of the highlights of this year's biggest blockbuster, the movie 'Dune Part 2,' is undoubtedly the gigantic sandworm. The virtual creature created with computer graphics (CG) is so realistic that it feels as if the camera actually went to an alien planet to film it.

The sandworm appearing in the movie 'Dune Part 2'
[Image source=Warner Bros. YouTube]

However, the truly remarkable aspect of Dune's VFX is not the sandworm itself, but the desert. The sandstorms swirling across the entire screen throughout the movie showcase just how advanced special effects (VFX) in the film industry have become.

Creating 'Realistic' Sand Grains

"To make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." This famous phrase was said by American astronomer Carl Sagan. Similarly, to make a movie like Dune, you must first create a desert that closely resembles reality.

It is estimated that there are about 10^22 grains of sand on Earth, with a significant portion distributed in deserts. Imagine filming a scene where a 400-meter-long virtual creature, the sandworm, burrows through the desert. Every time the worm moves its body, tens of millions of sand particles would move. VFX creators must make the audience feel that scene is 'real.'

To create the sandworm in 'Dune,' realistic sand particles must be implemented. The photo shows the scene of applying digital sand around the sandworm CG.
[Image source: Screenshot from DNEG YouTube]

Since sandworms do not exist in reality, predicting how the sand will move or what shape the holes will form when a 400-meter-long worm digs into the desert is truly difficult. This is why the desert itself is a much more challenging task than the sandworm CG.

From Enlarged Models in 1984 to Building a 'Digital World' in 2024

The Dune film released in the 1980s achieved special effects by closely filming several worm models. [Image source=Dune Movie Archive]

Decades ago, filming relied on models. David Lynch’s 1984 film 'Dune' used a method of creating a sandworm puppet and filming it enlarged. It was a clever optical illusion that used perspective to make real objects appear larger.

In contrast, today's VFX is a sophisticated combination of reality and digital space. The sandworm in 'Dune Part 2' is partly a model and partly CG. The sand grains surrounding the worm in the desert are also half real and half 'digital dust.'

Rendering each grain of sand still stuck to the human body is impossible. This problem was simply solved by creating a real sandstorm with a fan.
[Image source=YouTube capture]

With current graphic technology, there is no way to individually render sand grains sticking to and piling on the human body. Therefore, dust is created by turning a giant fan off-screen to blow sandstorms. However, the vast backgrounds and sand waves behind these dust clouds are all digital dust precisely created through hundreds or thousands of simulation processes.

A simulation of sandstorms and storms in Dune. It was created in a digital space after filming a large storm on the African continent. [Image source=DNEG]

Environmental simulation technology is becoming increasingly important in the VFX industry. For example, the massive sandstorm featured in 'Dune Part 1' was simulated based on thousands of videos of African desert storms filmed for the actual 'National Geographic' documentary, then faithfully recreated by VFX engineers in digital space.

'Avatar 2: The Way of Water' also used technology similar to Dune Part 2. The challenging water droplets were captured from reality, while the surrounding parts were entirely created through simulation as 'digital water.'
[Image source=Weta FX]

Another blockbuster film that actively utilized simulations as much as the Dune series is 'Avatar 2.' This movie also features numerous underwater virtual creatures that captivate the audience’s attention, but the pinnacle of Avatar 2’s CG technology is 'water.' The splashes and waves created when virtual CG creatures swim or splash are the result of simulation work repeated 1,900 times.

VFX Development Runs Parallel to the History of Computer Technology

With the evolution of computer technology, humans have become able to reproduce natural phenomena more precisely, and blockbuster movie CG is the greatest beneficiary of such technological advancements.

However, CG in Hollywood movies still heavily relies on human eyes and hands as much as on computers. The company responsible for the VFX of the Dune film series is the British CG production company 'Double Negative.' It is one of the world’s largest CGI companies, employing about 7,000 artists and technicians. Considering that Korea’s largest CG company, 'Dexter Studio,' has about 300 employees, this is an enormous number.

The world's largest CG company located in the UK, Double Negative (DNEG), is responsible for the VFX of almost every blockbuster movie familiar to us today. [Image source=DNEG]

More than 800 people were involved in creating the desert for Dune at Double Negative, and the total time they spent on the work adds up to 80 years. Sometimes using computer simulations, sometimes physical fan winds, and sometimes manual adjustments of dust particles within frames, they crafted the desert.

Movies are one of the largest entertainment industries enjoyed by humans and a concentration of technology. The development history of movie VFX runs parallel to the advancement of the computer industry. Half a century ago, artisans made models of monsters, spaceships, and robots by hand for filming, whereas now 'digital artisans' build virtual worlds using the latest graphic engines and simulation technologies.

Moreover, the domain occupied by virtual elements in VFX is expanding. Movies like Dune Part 2 and Avatar 2 create virtual worlds by layering digital sand and digital water over real sand and water. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, an era will dawn when VFX work can be done purely through artificial intelligence (AI) simulations.