University of the West of Scotland (UWS) graduate William Muir was a member of the team that won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 95th Academy Awards for Avatar: The Way of Water.

William Muir BSc (Hons) Computer Animation 2009

William, who graduated from the Computer Animation programme at UWS in 2009, works as a Motion Editor and Performance Animator at Wētā FX in Wellington, New Zealand, which is known for its work on the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings films, and provided the effects for the science fiction epic Avatar: The Way of Water.

What an incredible experience to be part of an Oscar winning team made up of these superstars! To learn from these wonderful artists every day is a dream come true and I look forward to us winning many more of these wee golden men in the future.

William Muir

The movie Avatar: The Way of Water is currently the third highest grossing of all time, having made over $2.3 billion at the box office. William is now working on the upcoming Transformers movie Rise of Beasts.

Wētā’s Joe Letteri (Senior VFX Supervisor on The Way of Water), said: “This recognition is a testament to the artistry and creativity of our entire crew, and to our partnership with James Cameron, Jon Landau, and the entire Lightstorm team”.

This year, two other Wētā FX projects were also nominated alongside The Way of Water for Best Visual Effects – The Batman and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The team at Wētā FX