 |
|
|
|
Article
by Jody Duncan
The
beleaguered production of William Friedkin's The Exorcist
has been well documented -- but it had nothing on Exorcist:
The Beginning's rocky road to completion. When its production
company, Morgan Creek, rejected Paul Schrader's version of the
film, executives turned to director Renny Harlin to orchestrate
one of the most thorough postproduction 'fixes' ever attempted.
In fact, Harlin and his collaborators rewrote the story, recast
key roles, and completed a 13-week reshoot to deliver what was,
for all intents and purposes, an all-new film.
Whereas
Schrader had traveled to Morocco to shoot the movie's Africa-set
scenes -- where Father Lankester Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård)
first encounters the demon Pazuzu during an archeological dig
-- the reshoot's severe time constraints led Harlin to shoot all
of his new material at Cinecittà Studios in Rome rather
than attempt a schedule-eating location stint. Except for what
little could be saved from the original Morocco footage, all of
the new Africa locations had to be constructed through visual
effects, under the leadership of postproduction visual effects
supervisor Brian Jennings. "At the end of the reshoot,"
recalled Jennings, "we suddenly had 500 extra visual effects
shots to do -- and not that much budget. A lot of it was cleanup
stuff; and a lot of it were these African landscapes. We used
some of the Morocco material for establishing shots -- that stuff
became fodder for our matte paintings. We would take sections
of it and construct new views, projection mapping it onto 3D geometry."
|
One
of the trickier environmental effects shots is a long pullback
on the dig site, after a battle that has left many soldiers
dead. The pullback starts on a fabricated stonework 'bowl'
representing the dig site. "This bowl had papier maché
'rock' walls that were about 35 feet tall," Jennings
explained. "It was dressed for different areas, and
we did a lot of our closeup work on that. For this pullback
shot, the camera was on a dolly track and a crane -- so
it moved back along the ground, over the dead soldiers,
then craned up to reveal this wide landscape. By the time
we got to that shot, a storypoint had changed; so we had
to paint one of the characters out of the scene -- which
was difficult, because the camera was moving all over the
place. The only way to paint him out was to re-create that
section of the set in 3D geometry, then do a boujou track
and project textures back onto that geometry. Then, as the
camera continues to pull back, it becomes a full-CGI shot.
It is a synthetic matte painting -- part-2D, part-3D, part
live-action pieces -- with CG mountains in the background,
another layer of mountains into the midground, and foreground
mountains blended with the papier maché set."
|
|
|
The
shot would also feature a dead character -- Emekwi (Eddie Osei)
-- who had to be clearly visible in the frame, even though Osei
had not been present in the shot originally. "In addition
to taking one of the characters out of this really difficult camera
move," said Jennings, "we had to add this character
in, tracking him to the complex camera move."
(continued
below)
|
 |
|
"qube! just works! Outstanding bang for the buck."
|
qube!
controls renderfarms large and small. Patent-pending,
state-of-the-art techniques for batch queuing and process
control in film, broadcast video, and game production.
Supports popular applications such as Maya, Nuke, Gelato,
Softimage. Full API and command line scripting. Available
for Linux, IRIX, Windows, and Mac OS X. See us at SIGGRAPH
Booth 1152!
|
You are in
control with qube! Remote Control™ |
|
(continued
from above)
|
|
|
|
Other
major effects sequences were a CG hyena attack -- realized
by Meteor Studios and supervised by production visual effects
supervisor Ariel Velasco-Shaw -- and scenes featuring CG
flies. "The demon is represented by these flies,"
said Jennings, "and so, we had about 45 shots with
swarms of flies. We did a lot of scientific work and wrote
a lot of software to make these fly swarms. We wrote software
to generate flies that would fly in a certain pattern. The
software had rules to govern their behavior. They would
gather around lights, for example, around windows and lamps.
That was a procedural thing."
In
one scene, Merrin enters a room to find a swarm of flies
buzzing around a painting of a demon head on a wall -- evidence
of the demon's recent presence. Procedural tools governed
the flies' interaction with Merrin as the character reaches
up to take the painting down from the wall. "The flies
would move away from his hand as he reached for the painting,"
said Jennings. "That was done through a kind of volume
detection tool. We could set up, at the outset, that the
flies would move away from his hand and keep a certain distance
from his hand. They were 'artificial intelligence' flies
-- but they weren't that smart, because sometimes we would
put them into a sequence, and some of them would be flying
upside down!"
|
|
|
The
CG fly shots were indicative of the bloating effects slate that
resulted when the movie was reconceived. "When we started,"
said Jennings, "there were only going to be about 10 fly
shots -- a few here and there. But it suddenly became a much bigger
deal, with many more shots. We did it in-house because the bids
from outside vendors to do it were really high -- over $1 million.
So we said, 'forget that' and decided to do it in-house, with
guys I'd worked with in the past, such as Bob Emrich, who was
the CG supervisor, and Ivan DeWolf, who actually wrote the fly
simulator."
The
final in-house shot count numbered more than 400 shots -- which
Jennings and his crew generated in only 90 days.
|
|
Announcing 3-Democracy-breakthrough pricing for SOFTIMAGE|XSI
Foundation, the 3D content creation application at the core
of the Avid Computer Graphics pipeline. XSI Foundation v.4.0
is now only $495 USMSRP! Buy the full professional version,
or download a free, fully functioning 30-day trial version.
XSI Foundation comes with the 5-DVD Softimage Productions Series,
over 25 hours of free training. Buy online now!
|
 |
|
-
Steven
Spielberg: Variety reports Angels in America
playwright Tony Kusher is stepping in, after Eric Roth
and Charles Randolph, to rewrite the screenplay for director
Steven Spielberg's untitled drama about the aftermath
of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre. Spielberg was due
to start shooting in late summer, but production has now
been delayed to June, 2005. Eric Bana will remain attached
as the star of the film, for Universal and DreamWorks.
-
The
War of the Worlds: Variety and The Hollywood
Reporter announced that, in light of the above news,
Spielberg is going full steam ahead on 'a crash preproduction
schedule' for his contemporary adaptation of H.G. Wells'
Martian invasion story, The War of the Worlds.
Tom Cruise -- whose own project, Mission: Impossible
3, has also encountered delays and been put on hold
-- will shift gears to first star in War, slated
to begin filming in November, before moving on to M:I3.
David Koepp is credited with the screenplay for Paramount
and DreamWorks, with Kathleen Kennedy and Paula Wagner
producing for Amblin Entertainment and C/W Productions.
ILM is reportedly in negotiations to handle visual effects,
with Dennis Muren the likely candidate to supervise the
effects work.
-
Digital
Cinema: Variety reports the U.K. Film Council,
the government-backed film agency formed to promote development
of film production and exhibition in Britain, has launched
a $24 million undertaking, funded by the British National
Lottery, to create a network of some 200 digital screens
in 150 cinemas across the United Kingdom. Click
here to visit the UK Film Council website for more
details.
-
Breathtaker:
The Hollywood Reporter states John Wells Productions
has hired screenwriter Sean Hood to develop a screenplay,
based on an initial draft by Sheldon Turner, about a small
town police chief's hunt for a serial killer who only
strikes during tornadoes.
-
Psi-Ops:
Variety reports producers Adrian Askarieh and Chuck
Gordon have optioned the movie rights to this futuristic
video game, published by Midway, about Nick Skryer, a
government agent with 'psionic powers,' who attempts to
infiltrate a group of similarly gifted telekinetic agents
in order to retrieve erased memories about his past. No
writer, director or studio have been announced yet, but
the project is being described as X-Men meets The
Bourne Identity.
-
Harry
Potter 7: Potter creator J.K. Rowling announced
to her fans at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
in Scotland that the hero of her seven-book wizard-in-training
saga will survive to the final installment. Rowling also
stated that the sixth Potter book, Harry Potter
and the Half Blood Prince, is almost complete and
is, so far, her favorite in the series. No publishing
date has been announced yet. A transcript of Rowling's
comments can be found here
at the author's beautifully designed website.
-
Sky
Captain: AICN has posted a linkto an AOL/Moviefone
Quicktime video 'behind the scenes' report on filmmaker
Kerry Conran's upcoming movie, which includes a few more
glimpses of previously unseen sequences, as well as comments
by actors, producer Jon Avnet, Conran, Stephen Lawes and
footage from the bluescreen shoot. Opens September 17.
-
Marie-Antoinette:
Variety reports Sofia Coppola has written and
will next direct this period drama, to star Kirsten Dunst
in the title role of the darling despot of the French
Revolution, with Jason Schwartzman as her foppish king,
Louis XVI. Sofia Coppola and Ross Katz will produce for
American Zoetrope and Columbia Pictures. Fred Roos, Francis
Ford Coppola and Paul Rassam will executive produce. The
Hollywood Reporter states production is scheduled
to begin in France in February.
-
Megacity:
The Hollywood Reporter announced Ronald Shusett
Productions and Daniel Alter's Alter Ego Entertainment
are teaming up to produce this comic book related science
fiction/horror vehicle, reportedly discovered at the recent
San Diego Comic-Con. The comic book, to be published by
Devil's Due via an arrangement with a multi-media Korean
publishing group known as Studio Ice, is about a team
of soldiers who attempt to prevent psychic parasites from
possessing innocent victims and turning them into monsters.
The report describes the story as 'Aliens meets
Minority Report,' and a potential franchise.
-
Shaun
of the Dead: As a stunt to publicize Focus Features'
upcoming British zombie horror comedy, folks from KNB
EFX Group turned members of the Aint-It-Cool-News Internet
movie-fan community into mindless zombies and posted imagery
of makeup effects artists Greg Nicotero, Chris Nelson
and horror fan Quentin Tarantino with writer/director
Edgar Wright and co-writer/star Simon Pegg at the Arclight
Theater in Hollywood. Not for the feint of heart. British
makeup artist Stuart Conran supervised makeup on the film,
and Double Negative supplied visual effects. Opens September
17.
-
The
Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe: NarniaWeb.com reports
Ray Winstone will provide the voice for Mr. Beaver in
director Andrew Adamson's upcoming live-action adaptation
of C.S. Lewis' fantasy novel. Dawn French, previously
seen as the fat lady in the Gryffindor common room oil
painting in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,
will voice Mrs. Beaver. The film is slated for release
by Walt Disney Pictures December 9, 2005.
-
Airborne: The Hollywood Reporter states
producers Albert Ruddy and André Morgan are joining
forces with filmmaker Stephen Sommers and his producer
and film editor Bob Ducsay to bring to the screen this
fantasy adventure for Universal Pictures. Based on a book
by Kenneth Oppel, the story is about a 15-year-old boy
"who works on a luxury airship that is part dirigible,
part passenger cruise ship. When air pirates attack the
airship, the boy, along with a female partner, embark
on an adventure that includes strange flying creatures,
secret lairs, nasty villains and uncharted volcanic islands."
-
Team
America: World Police: Dark Horizons has posted a
set report here
from the miniature stages at Sony Pictures Studios in
Culver City, where Matt Stone and Trey Parker -- creators
of the anarchic cartoon series South Park -- have
been shooting a marionette comedy about a group of Kung-Fu-fighting
freedom fighters, with visible strings, combating world
terrorism and Hollywood celebrity liberals. The Internet
Movie Database credits Eugene Rizzardi as model effects
supervisor, Eric Pascarelli as visual effects supervisor
and Chiodo Brothers Productions as providing puppet production.
Brace yourself for the trailer here
and a Paramount theatrical release October 15.
-
Revenge
of the Sith: The official Star Wars newsletter,
Homing Beacon, reports on the development of the
Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk, to be featured in George
Lucas' upcoming final space opera installment. Conceptual
designer Ryan Church states: "It's a tropical, but
cool planet. The only real directive we got from George
is that they live in giant trees. We wanted it to look
distinct from what the rest of the cultures in the Star
Wars universe use." Star Wars: Episode III
- Revenge of the Sith will be released May 19, 2005.
-
Illusions:
The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah: Variety
reports Digital Domain and Barnet Bain Films have acquired
the rights to this 1977 novel by Richard Bach, author
of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Yann Samuell will
direct the film, described as "the inspirational
account of an encounter with a modern-day messiah."
-
King
Kong: New Zealand news website Stuff.co.nz reports
here
that principal photography is slated to begin in Wellington
next month for Peter Jackson's colossal ape epic, due
out December 14, 2005. Many of Jackson's Lord of the
Rings veterans are returning for the project, including
cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, production designer Grant
Major, art director Dan Hennah, conceptual designer Alan
Lee, Weta special effects supervisor Richard Taylor, miniature
effects supervisor Alex Funke, visual effects supervisor
Joe Letteri and composer Howard Shore. Click
here for a look at early conceptual art of the teaser
poster.
|
|
|
|
|
