How The 'Challengers' VFX Team Created The Tennis POV Scene With a Ball-Mounted Camera

In Luca Guadagnino's tennis thriller ‘Challengers’, the drama unfolds both on the court and in the bedroom, featuring stars Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor. The film masterfully blends sports and personal conflict, keeping the audience engaged throughout.

Guadagnino has expressed his dislike for watching real tennis, finding it rather undynamic. This sentiment drove his vision for ‘Challengers’ to make tennis visually captivating. The film is punctuated by the camera's relentless and dynamic motion, creating an immersive experience that captures the intensity of the sport.

Also Read: From ‘Challengers’ to ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ Luca Guadagnino’s Films Go Beyond

Brian Drewes, the film's VFX director, explains that Guadagnino's goal was to make the tennis action highly kinetic. The camera work is designed to sweep across the court, zoom in on the players' intense expressions, and maintain a vibrant energy that resonated with both the internet and critics upon the movie's release.

To achieve this, the camera was mounted on a 30-foot crane, with the footage later re-timed to match the speed and movements dictated by previs. The final scene's pacing mirrors a real-life tennis match, stitched together from 23 separate shots to form a seamless 24-second sequence. Each shot was meticulously re-lit in post-production to account for the changing daylight conditions during filming.

Drewes and his team employed advanced techniques to enhance the realism of the scene. They scanned tennis courts using lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) and photogrammetry, adding over 100 photoscanned background extras to populate the stands. These efforts ensured that the final models and environment were as lifelike and engaging as possible.

The result is a visually stunning portrayal of tennis that breaks away from traditional, static depictions of the sport. ‘Challengers’ not only tells a compelling story of love and rivalry but also revolutionises how tennis can be represented in film, making it anything but boring.

-Sushmita Sarkar