Originally, the movie was slated for completion by February 1999, less than a year from the start of principal photography. The scheduling left just six monthsforthe production of 250 large-scale visual effects shots.Those shots broke down to approximately seventy-five shots of the Nightingale medical spaceships handful of digital deep-space environments—including the blue giant sun, the rogue moon and the surrounding galaxy—the exterior of the mining facility, a series of "dimension jump" shots, and the alien object effects. Responsible for those original 250 shots was Digital Domain. Visual effects supervisor Mark Stetson, executive producer Nancy Bernstein and visual effects producer Julian Levi immediately launched into effects preproduction, creating a breakdown, initiating storyboarding and establishing a visual effects presence at Raleigh Studios."We very quickly put together a production staff and got some key creative heads in place," Stetson recalled/Including art director Ron Cress, director of photography Bill Neil and digital effects supervisor Jonathan Egstad— basically the same core team I'd had on Fifth Element. I also engaged George Trimmer as an art director for miniature effects, and my long-time associate Scott Schneideras miniature effects supervisor. We were in a real hurry, so we did all of this in a matter of days." Also instrumental was Digital Domain coordinator Rochelle Gross, who would eventually move into the role of visual effects producer, acting as liaison between production and all of the effects units. (Jody Duncan)

Mark Stetson (US), born 1952, studied industrial design at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, and trained for a year as an industrial model-maker at General Electric Co. in Bridgeport. Mark joined Digital Domain in July 1995 to supervise the visual effects for Luc Besson's The Fifth Element. By that time, he had worked on over 100 films. He had created miniature scenes of New York City for six projects, including The Hudsucker Proxy. He had created spaceships for humans and seven other alien species in eight films. He had worked as a special effects designer, visual effects art director, ride film production designer, even as a poperty master and prop designer. For his efforts on The Fifth Element, Stetson received the British Academy Award (BAFTA) for Best Visual Effects.