Dog Eat Dog

Dog Eat Dog is a 2016 American crime thriller directed by Paul Schrader, adapted by Matthew Wilder from Edward Bunker’s novel. It stars Nicolas Cage, Willem Dafoe and Christopher Matthew Cook as ex-convicts whose kidnapping scheme spirals out of control.

Not every visual-effects brief announces itself. A hard, contemporary crime story asks mostly for work the audience is never meant to notice: gunfire interaction and blood augmentation, plate cleanup, and the removal of crew, rigs, reflections and modern signage from location photography. Stabilisation and split comps hold two takes of a performance together, set extensions supply geography a schedule could not afford to travel to, and screen replacements and patient rotoscoping absorb whatever is left. That invisible end of the craft — compositing, cleanup, digital environments — sits alongside the simulation and animation work the studio is better known for. Terminal FX contributed visual effects and animation to Dog Eat Dog as part of its film, television and commercial portfolio.