There's a place that's often overlooked in the history of District 9, the science-fiction film that came out of nowhere to become a sleeper hit and a surprising contender at this year's Academy Awards. It's not the home planet of the film's tentacle-mouthed aliens — or "prawns," as their human captors derisively call them. Nor is it the dusty Soweto township where the tale was set and shot. It's not even New Zealand, where the project began, under the auspices of producer Peter Jackson.

'District 9 is turning out to be the project that put the visual effects in Vancouver on the map. I've had executives calling from L.A., saying, "I didn't realize you guys were capable of that."'

— Shawn Walsh, of Vancouver digital FX company Image Engine

It's actually Vancouver, where many elements of District 9's creation and execution came together. In fact, the largely made-in-B.C. FX wizardry earned the film one of its four Oscar nominations.

Vancouver has long been home to co-writer and director Neill Blomkamp, whose family moved there from South Africa when Blomkamp was a teenager. He's a former student of the Vancouver Film School, whose 3D Animation and Visual Effects program created a valuable pool of techies for his film.

His work on a series of acclaimed promos for Microsoft's videogame franchise Halo landed him the job to direct a Halo feature film. When that project fell through, Blomkamp began working on District 9, an expanded version of his 2005 short Alive in Joburg, with co-writer, wife and fellow VFS alumnus Terri Tatchell. Blomkamp was just beginning to work with the Weta Workshop and Digital teams that had created the splendours of Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy when he ran into another hitch — a little film called Avatar. James Cameron's behemoth-in-the-making was soaking up CGI resources available in New Zealand, so Jackson told Blomkamp he'd have to look elsewhere for FX talent.

"Having grown up in postproduction and visual effects in Vancouver, Neill still had lots of connections and was very knowledgeable about the local industry," says Shawn Walsh of Vancouver digital FX company Image Engine. Along with The Embassy, Image Engine handled the majority of FX for District 9. (Zoic, a third Vancouver company, and Weta Digital supplied the rest.) According to Walsh, his team was responsible for 27 minutes' worth of FX for the film, with 90 per cent of their work devoted to the aliens.

"He knew that he had this reputation for being a visual effects guy," says Walsh, "but he really didn't want to carry that reputation through the making of this movie — he wanted people to see him as the director and that was it. So he really turned everything over to us and said, 'This is where I've taken it thus far, and it's up to you guys now.'"

While Vancouver has been a favourite shooting location for Hollywood blockbusters (e.g. the X-Men series, the forthcoming Tron Legacy), studios have typically taken the postproduction and FX work back down south. According to Walsh, that's changing. "Obviously, it was never planned like this, but District 9 is turning out to be the project that put the visual effects in Vancouver on the map. I've had executives calling from L.A., saying, 'I didn't realize you guys were capable of that.'"

With the help of these exclusive video clips, Shawn Walsh explains how Image Engine and Blomkamp came to create some of District 9's most dazzling effects.

Jason Anderson is a writer based in Toronto.