Skip to main content

14-15 May 2025
Olympia Grand Hall
London

MPTS
24 Apr 2023

Post-production uncovered: Union on The Banshees Of Inisherin

Max Miller
VFX house was sole vendor for Martin McDonagh film

Union has revealed the VFX work that went into director/writer Martin McDonagh’s latest film, The Banshees Of Inisherin. 

Produced by Blueprint Pictures for Searchlight and Film 4, the tragic comedy stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in an end-of-friendship breakup movie that swings between the hilarious, the horrifying and the heartbreaking.

The Banshees of Inisherin follows two men who’ve been friends for years and are going through a crisis that results in missing fingers. This along with 1920s digital matte painting environment work, CG objects and elements work required the Union team to create technically challenging and complex VFX. You can view its VFX breakdown below.

The Banshees of Inisherin | VFX Breakdown Reel from Union Visual Effects on Vimeo.


 

Union was sole vendor for the production, and worked closely with McDonagh and Simon Hughes as VFX supervisor. Union came on board very early in the process and was on set for the shoot in Ireland in the middle of the pandemic. 

The team had its work cut out with the missing finger VFX, Hughes explained: “The biggest challenge was creating CG stumps of Brendan Gleeson’s fingers alongside the intricate movement and animation requiredl. We had to make a CG version of the hand and work on the many complex hand movements involved to make it look realistic.”

Banshees Of Inisherin Union VFX

Other visual effects included CG fire, an impressive lightning storm, a CG church bell and the period matte painting that establishes the remote landscape in the film’s opening scene.

Hughes added: “The show doubled in size from our original award and had a very tight turnaround time, but working with a seasoned director like Martin, who we already had such a great relationship with, meant it was a total pleasure from beginning to end. The VFX are invisible, as they should be and the film itself is a masterpiece.”

Banshees Of Inisherin Union

McDonagh said: “I’ve worked with Union on two films now, Three Billboards and The Banshees of Inisherin, and have always found them to be brilliantly artistic collaborators, and a lot of fun.”

View all Industry News
Loading

2025 Exhibitors:

 


 

Testimonials

Testimonials

  • It's not just a show; it's an ecosystem for innovation, collaboration and thinking more creatively."
    Adipat Virdi
    DTG
  • The atmosphere at MPTS has been amazing this year. MPTS is definitely one of the industry’s most diverse shows, if not the most diverse, both in terms of attendees and panelists. A huge amount of work goes into making sure that there is equal representation across an extensive conference programme.
    Donna Smith
    Rise
  • The quality of speakers and amount of sessions is just unparalleled.
    Julian Nelson
    Residence Pictures
  • It has been a wonderful two days at MPTS. It was well attended with technology everywhere. The show was full of people from the industry, new to the industry, collaborating, networking and generally having a good time.
    Kris Hill
    Theatrixx Technologies
  • I think this year 2024 is probably the most innovative, cutting-edge, head-of-the-curve MPTS that I’ve exhibited at so far. I think even compared to last year, attendees really know what they’re looking for when it comes to cloud, AI, virtual production, all of the buzz words, all of the emerging technologies, everyone’s really embraced it.
    Emily Fairclough
    SCAN Computers Ltd
  • It's just really nice to come into a big building where all your people are at and everyone is doing the same thing as you and sharing ideas, technologies and solutions. Here it feels like you're among your community.
    Dan Snow
    History Hit