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The entertainment industry has been adapting and creatively mining L Frank Baum's Oz books ever since a 1901 Broadway musical. The latest movie version, Oz The Great and Powerful, directed by fantasy-film veteran Sam Raimi, explores the origins of the enigmatic wizard from Baum's original novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Sam Raimi's prequel plays to his strengths as a director, with Oz portrayed as a rich, imaginary world that's both bright and dark, full of fantastical characters and exciting events.

To help create this immersive world, Raimi brought in two-time Oscar winner Robert Stromberg, the production designer behind Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. Instead of relying on greenscreen technology for every scene, they decided to construct physical sets so the actors could have a visual reference. "Robert worked with artists to build things on set very early on as an art-directed stage aesthetic," says visual effects supervisor Scott Stokdyk, who has worked with Raimi on several projects - most notably the Spider-Man trilogy, sharing an Oscar for his work on the second in the series.

To build the digital versions of all the locations and lands in the movie, the visual effects team had laser-scanned versions of the physical sets. For example, in the scene where Oz first sees the Yellow Brick Road in the company of the witch Theodora, the team scanned the environment and modified it. "The topography gives us great visual cues, which we cherry-pick and re-art direct," says Stokdyk. The team accumulated digital assets, such as greenery, and then were able to re-dress the set digitally.

"It is harder to combine live-action and CG, but we resisted the trend to go all-CG," says animation supervisor Troy Saliba. In all there were 1,105 shots, and Raimi demanded only the best for each. "One of the things I love about working with Sam Raimi is that he keeps you on your toes," says Stokdyk. "He was constantly challenging us to incorporate everything he wanted, and to create a consistent tone."

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