With the release of the much anticipated “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning,” the creative team behind Maxon’s popular web series VFX and Chill, whose educational weekly livestreams break down and recreate Hollywood VFX, saw an opportunity to have some fun and draw wider attention to their show.
In every film in the M:I franchise, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt performs a never-ending series of death-defying stunts – famously performed practically by Cruise himself. But while the hero often comes away with barely a scratch, it’s safe to say this would hardly be the case in real life. In fact, some estimates report that 10 times Hunt’s chance of dying from a particular stunt was 40% or higher (in some cases, much higher!).
Paying homage to the much-loved franchise, the VFX and Chill team created “Mission: In Hospital” featuring the more accurately named Tom Bruise as Ethan Hurt. In one minute, the main character becomes increasingly physically injured – the types of injuries that a “real person” might incur from the sort of activities Ethan Hunt regularly engages in – to hilarious effect.
VFX and Chill has become a safe corner of the internet for all those with a passion for creating. For beginners, it helps dismantle any notions that Hollywood-level visual effects are out of reach. A playful attitude towards VFX and artistic skill development is encouraged, laying a foundation for creators to engage in more experimentation without the fear of making mistakes, ultimately paving the way for more inspired and innovative content.
Have you ever seen the impressive Hollywood visual effects and thought, “Wow! I wonder how they did that?” Then perhaps, “And what if it was done really quickly?” Maxon’s VFX and Chill does exactly that: dissecting Hollywood’s most eye-popping visual effects, then showing viewers how they can pull off the same feat at home.
Led by members of the Maxon creative team, Daniel “Hashi” Hashimoto (aka Action Movie Dad, and a veteran of DreamWorks Animation), Seth Worley, (award-winning director of short films, commercials, and explainer videos), and Michael Szalapski (Community Manager at Maxon), the YouTube series takes a deep dive into the world of visual effects, aiming to educate and inspire audiences, as well as poking a bit of fun at themselves and the industry along the way.
To promote the weekly talk show-style series, the crew created “Mission: In Hospital,” a trailer that will have viewers wondering how Ethan Hunt went so far off course in his skills and abilities – only to realize, it’s all just a parody. In the accompanying VFX breakdown video, which is less tutorial and more "come watch us figure this out live," the VFX and Chill team discuss how they relied on After Effects, Maxon One, and even some deep fake trickery, to achieve the final result for adding the fake injuries. Multiple tools and techniques were used to add a neck brace on Tom Cruise in various scenes, including Maxon’s Cinema 4D, Red Giant Spot Clone Tracker and Supercomp, as well as GeoTracker for After Effects. Spot Clone Tracker also allowed for easy leg removal, Lockdown was used to add black eyes, and head bandages were added using cloth dynamics. The final pièce de résistance of the motorcycle falling off the cliff was achieved with camera projection, content aware fill, and more.
The “Mission: In Hospital” parody trailer stands not just as a promotional tool but an embodiment of Maxon and VFX and Chill’s core values: embracing creativity, pushing boundaries, the power of storytelling, and, of course, not taking themselves too seriously. The trailer seamlessly merges the suspense and drama of the official trailer with humor and high-quality visual effects that VFX and Chill is known for. With more than 6M combined views, it’s clearly struck a chord (or the funny bone) with viewers.
This parody follows a similar humorous vein as another popular off-shoot from their series - But With Raptors - where the team turn iconic movie characters in popular films into velociraptors. In fact, the initial idea started with the very same inspiration: Tom Cruise. This type of content has seen significant success for the team, with Rachel Zegler herself even reposting their “raptorization” of "West Side Story" (2021). The Maxon content team has become masters in creating visually clever, entertaining, and somewhat ridiculous content that audiences can’t get enough of.
“Mission: In Hospital” saw viral success, currently standing at 5.8 million views on Facebook, over 250K views on Twitter (X), and over 401K views on YouTube. Now on its fourth season, the VFX and Chill series continues to see growing numbers of viewers and subscribers to the Maxon Red Giant YouTube channel. The video prompted an increase in brand engagement across all socials, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from viewers praising the quality of the effects, the humor, and the general enjoyment provided by the trailer.
The YouTube comments demonstrate that the team successfully hit the mark to entertain both their regular viewers interested in the VFX content, as well as a wider range of Mission Impossible fans:
@crimetimeproductions6340 - “I haven't laughed out loud in a long time, but him hitting his head on the train tunnel was so damn funny”
@staryear2007 - “This is a masterpiece, definitely deserves an Oscar.”
@miked1869 - “Very well done indeed. This is the "fan-made trailer" I needed. 😁”
@scubastevenspielburger.7212 - “I am a big fan of the MI franchise. And I can't wait for the movie. But this was absolutely hilarious. I had to watch it twice because i hadn't stopped laughing from 0:06.😂”
@akshdeepsingh2107 - “😂😂😂😂 i was laughing non stop...most accurate trailer ever of MI series !!”
@Rosomyat - “Looks epic. Can't wait to see how Red Giant and Maxon products involved in the making 😊😊”
