VFX Breakdown - Productions Babel, Creating the End of the World

I've stumbled upon these VFX breakdowns created by a French studio named Productions Babel for a web series 'Time Out'.

"All visual effects were done in house. We transformed our production company in a VFX studio in order to create the end of the world. Over 500 shots were made and most them barely noticeable thanks to the talent and the passion of our small team! We managed to make the impossible possible."

Watching breakdowns like these illustrates the process a lot clearer than words and screenshots do, and highlights small details, that would have gone unnoticed without being pointed out, that add to the overall effect of the scene.

This particular break down interests me in the same way Gareth Edwards work (when adjusting the environment) has, (which I wrote about here), as it uses and enhances it's surroundings to create a believable and effective environment. By gathering and sometimes even creating extra footage and source images the extra layers composited onto the scene are believable and look solid instead of virtual. I personally think it's more beneficial to have real physical surroundings that actors can interact with, therefore hopefully giving a better performance, when filming. This footage can then be enhanced  and used as a base for creative embellishment rather than the VFX artist being given less to work with if everything is shot in green screen (like, for example, in the Star Wars prequels.)

The detail provided in these effects for webisodes shows the quality in which all Visual Effects are now expected to be produced at. This hopefully illustrates the potential to create more and more ambitious projects without having to be an incredibly large team working for blockbusters, meaning more independent, individual and creative content can be made to a high standard whilst still having the freedom to be experimental.