Jay Stobie, writing at ILM.com, takes us into the grid of Tron: Ares at ILM Sydney to hear from artists Jeff Capogreco and Jhon Alvarado.
Directed by Joachim Rønning, Disney’s Tron: Ares (2025) breaks the barrier between the physical and digital realms, as the Master Control Program known as Ares (Jared Leto) rebels against his creator, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), and seeks the Permanence Code that would allow him to achieve a lasting existence in the real world. Ares finds an ally in Dillinger’s corporate rival, Encom executive Eve Kim (Greta Lee), whose empathetic nature is a stark contrast to the ruthless disposition of the Dillinger Systems leader. From the Grid’s luminous avenues to their concrete counterparts in our physical reality, Tron: Ares brims with astonishing visual effects that support its characters on their tumultuous journeys.
With Industrial Light & Magic’s own David Seager serving as the production’s overall visual effects supervisor, ILM proved uniquely suited to spread the visual effects work across its global studio sites in Sydney and Vancouver. Operating from the Sydney studio, ILM visual effects supervisor Jeff Capogreco (Jurassic World [2015]; Avengers: Infinity War [2018]; The Mandalorian [2019-23] and ILM animation supervisor Jhon Alvarado (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves [2023]; Alien: Romulus [2024]; Star Wars: Skeleton Crew [2024-25]) sat down with ILM.com to discuss their behind-the-scenes insights into all things Tron: Ares.
Tron’s Legacy
“On TRON: Ares, I was the visual effects supervisor for ILM’s Sydney studio, and my partner in crime was ILM associate visual effects supervisor, Alex Popescu,” Jeff Capogreco shares with ILM.com. “Early on, we made a conscious decision to have two technical camps going at one time, and each of us took on different roles and responsibilities. As the ‘grandpa’ supervisor, or ‘Papa Jeff,’ I worked with Alex to make sure things ran smoothly. The Sydney studio did just over 800 shots, which I believe was the biggest show to date that our studio had delivered, so it was a proud milestone.”
Capogreco’s love for the Tron franchise stretches back to its initial cinematic installment. “I’m old enough to say that Tron (1982) was one of the first movies I ever watched on VHS. My father was really into technology, and having a VHS player was a status symbol in Canada in the 1980s,” Capogreco beams. “I was probably six or seven and didn’t fully understand what was happening in the movie, but it was spellbinding. I was fascinated by Tron, and that led me to want to do visual effects. What Tron did to me, I hope Tron: Ares does to other people.”
ILM animation supervisor Jhon Alvarado’s own affinity for Tron took off with the release of its sequel, Tron: Legacy (2010). “For me, Tron hit home when Legacy came out, primarily because of the visuals and the soundtrack,” Alvarado remarks. “I loved the marriage of the two elements and how well they came together. When Tron: Ares came up for ILM, I knew I had to be on it. We’re here for movies that take us into these awesome worlds, and Legacy delivered with its sound, music, and visuals. When Tron comes in, you know it’s Tron. It has an aesthetic that you can’t get in any other film.”
An Animation Approach
Turning to his tenure on Tron: Ares, Alvarado supplies an overview of what his duties entailed. “As the ILM animation supervisor, my work on the show covered quite a bit. I was involved in shot design and creating shots for the film. We’d receive sequences with a rough previs of what the idea would be, but once the previs was put into the cut, I’d occasionally get blank frames with descriptions of what was supposed to happen. My job became interpreting them, taking the shots that the director had in mind, and Tron-ifying them while making it all feel believable and realistic. I had to think like a cinematographer so that, even when the shots were full CG, they appeared as if they were filmed for real.
“I developed several vehicle animations, as well,” Alvarado continues. “For the light skimmer chase sequence, I partnered with our ILM animators to figure out the style and movement of how these vehicles skim through the water. We examined speedboat references so we could get the water spray right.” Alvarado’s mission extended to the laser printers that enabled Grid-based vehicles to be constructed in the real world. “We designed how the laser moved and collaborated with the rigging and effects departments to choreograph the printing. We had rigs which let us play with how the laser looked, its size, and where it was pointing.”
Alvarado selects a brawl between Ares and an army of Encom’s own Programs as another pivotal scene for his animation team. “We created digital doubles during the fight sequence where you see Ares being attacked by soldiers. At ILM, we have tools that permit us to get motion capture data integrated quickly, so we choreographed the movement alongside our animators and internal mo-cap team. I believe the filmmakers originally had a stunt performer do it, but he was only fighting maybe two or three guys, and the rest was air-fighting.” Along with adding in flying discs that caused the deresolution of Ares’s opponents, Alvarado’s team had a hand in mapping out the timing of each character’s ‘derez.’“
Scene management was important on Tron: Ares, especially for the light walls,” Alvarado notes. “In terms of animation, my role varied. People often associate animation with characters and creatures, but we’re also figuring out the timing, the choreography, and the cinematography so that we deliver a nice flow of the sequence to the director. Once that’s established, we pass it on to Jeff and all the other departments to use as a base to build upon.”
Read the article in full here, and stream Tron: Ares on Disney+.
The post Head Into the Grid of ‘Tron: Ares’ with ILM’s Jeff Capogreco and Jhon Alvarado appeared first on Jedi News.
