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Article
by Jody Duncan
Both
reputations and boxoffice dollars have been made off of Blade,
the 1998 vampire film directed by Stephen Norrington. Blade
gave Wesley Snipes, its star, a career-making role, while its
sequel, Blade II, further established Mexico-born director
Guillermo Del Toro in the Hollywood movie-making scene. Now, Blade:
Trinity has provided writer David S. Goyer -- who penned the
original Blade screenplay -- with his first major feature-film
directing credit.
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The
production hired visual effects supervisor Joe Bauer to
oversee an effects slate that, in the end, numbered 540
shots. The majority of those shots were executed by Giant
Killer Robots, Digital Dimension, CaféFX and Amalgamated
Pixel -- though, by the time postproduction concluded, many
other vendors had jumped into the project. "All together,"
said Bauer, "we had 17 vendors, including Pixel Liberation
Front, who we used for previz, and General Lift, which provided
our motion control. Some smaller boutique companies, such
as Fuzzy Logic and Pixel Magic, did some compositing for
us, as well."
Digital
Dimension -- a relatively young effects company that has
grown from a four-person facility to one employing 50 --
picked up the greatest number of shots, most notably 80-some
'ashing' shots, a vampire-disintegration effect that had
been established in the previous two films. "There
were more ashing effects done in this film than in the other
two films combined," said Bauer. "When a vampire
is killed with something -- and there are a number of things
that kill them -- then they just disintegrate into ash and
blow away." The effect had always been done digitally.
"The ashings were cool looking, but not very realistic
in the first movie. They were less cool and also not very
realistic in the second movie. And in this one, we're told
that they are both cool and realistic!"
The
ashing effect started with cyberscans of performers in vampire
makeup -- makeups designed and executed by Mike Elizalde
and his Spectral Motion crew. "We ended up cyberscanning
42 people," said Bauer, "because nearly every
vampire had to ash pretty close to camera. We would do a
hand-off from the real actor to the digital double, then
do this disintegration effect, which basically looks like
layers burning off from the outside in. That was a combination
of on-set interactive lighting and 22 layers of 3D digital
stuff -- skin and clothing and bones and muscles and, finally,
the charred ash man that blows apart. There were layers
of particle work, keyframe animation and then dynamics to
shatter bones and things like that."
(continued
below)
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(continued
from above)
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Digital
doubles were also required for a fight scene between Blade and
a Dracula beast -- a stunt performer in beast makeup and costume.
"Dracula turns into a beastie," said Bauer, "and
in this fight scene, they are swinging each other around in
a big interior space. So we did some of that with a combination
of greenscreen and motion control compositing, with CG glass
and other things they would fly through. Other times, we just
did an on-screen hand-off from the photography to a CG double."
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Giant
Killer Robots modeled and animated the CG Blade and beast.
In some live shots featuring the real performers, GKR
tracked a CG mandible costume piece to the beast. "The
beast costume just wasn't doing it as it was," said
Bauer. "So we designed this separate mandible thing
and tracked it onto all the production photography. Giant
Killer Robots did a great job of tracking and compositing
that." GKR also provided performance shots for the
'maw' -- an effect introduced in the second film, in which
the vampire mouth opened up into a wide gaping hole. "In
this movie, there is a Pomeranian and two Rottweilers
that do the same thing; and, at the end, the beast creature
does it, as well. We had maquettes made of the dogs' heads,
and then those were scanned for the digital maw effect.
The difficult thing with the Pomeranian was that it had
long hair and it was often backlit, so there was a lot
of light refraction through the long fur. The maws had
to interact with that fur, and then their digital fur
had to match the photography. There was also saliva to
deal with, as well as creating the fleshiness of the inside
of the dogs' mouths, all of which was seen in closeup.
It was a lot to pull off, and Giant Killer Robots managed
to do it perfectly."
CaféFX
created CG body interiors for shots revealing the effects
of a vampire-killing virus. "The camera swoops around
internal organs," said Bauer. "Also, when they
inject something into the beast, it throws up a spray
of blood that has this virus in it. We go back and forth
from normal photography to micro-photography as this stuff
is floating around and attacking the vampires in a big
cavernous space. CaféFX did those shots, as well."
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Synthetic
city views -- created by Eric Chauvin of BlackPool Studios in
upstate Washington -- extended the relatively flat cityscape
of Vancouver, where the movie was shot, into appropriately tall,
skyscraping exteriors. "Eric did full 3D exteriors for
us," said Bauer, "day and nighttime. We transition
from interior photography, then pull out and pan around these
3D environments." Other environments were created as large
miniatures built by Mike Joyce's Cinema Production Services,
specifically for an opening sequence set in Iraq. "The
vampires are digging up the original Dracula, and he is in an
ancient ruin, a pyramid type of thing in the middle of the Iraq
desert. CPS built the ruin as a miniature; and then we augmented
that with some matte painting work by Deak Ferrand at Hatch
FX."
Bauer
is currently working with director Jon Favreau on Zathura,
due out in theaters Christmas 2005.
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War
of the Worlds: "They're already here," proclaimed
the poster -- and now so is the trailer for Steven Spielberg's
and Tom Cruise's upcoming Martian invasion picture. Click
here to view the trailer at Apple.com -- and if you
are familiar with the opening lines of H.G. Wells' book,
you may get a shiver down your spine. Paramount and Dreamworks
are aiming their Martian death rays at theaters June 29.
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Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory: Click
here to access a Yahoo Movies link to Warner Brothers'
first trailer for Tim Burton's upcoming Willy Wonka remake
-- and run the risk of inserting Danny Elfman's Oompa-Loompa
song permanently into your head for the rest of the day.
From all reports, Elfman is not only providing the score
and writing the songs for the film, he is also singing.
Due out from Warner Brothers July 15.
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Ellenshaw
Collectors Editions: Father and son matte painting
masters Peter and Harrison Ellenshaw have revised their
website to offer a new selection of art by Peter Ellenshaw
-- landscapes and renderings of classic Disney imagery
including Mary Poppins, Fantasia and 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea -- collaborative works by Peter
and Harrison Ellenshaw, and a number of new pieces by
Harrison. The signed limited editions are 'Giclées,'
high-resolution digital scans transferred to canvas by
spraying pixel-sized droplets of paint that match original
colors and brushstrokes. For additional information, click
here.
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The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Narnia.com, the
official website of director Andrew Adamson's upcoming
live-action adaptation of C.S. Lewis' children's fantasy
classic, has announced in its subscription newsletter
that Brian Cox will provide the voice of Aslan, the lion
king. Filming is scheduled to wrap shortly in New Zealand;
Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media confirmed the release
date will be December 9, 2005.
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Bambi:
Walt Disney Pictures announced Uncle Walt's 1942 animated
feature, about the education of a young deer, will be
released as a two-disc 'special edition' DVD, with newly
restored picture and sound. The restoration includes digital
enhancement of 110,000 frames of film and a new digital
home theater sound remix. The DVD will include documentaries
chronicling the production of the film, deleted sequences,
interactive games and a 'Disneypedia' displaying fauna
referenced for the film. The original movie was nominated
for three Academy Awards, and included character animation
by Ollie Johnson and Frank Thomas, two of Disney's 'nine
old men' animation masters. The special edition DVD will
be released March 1, 2005.
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The
Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Hollywood Reporter
states that Matthew Vaughn -- son of actor Robert Vaughn
-- is in negotiations with Warner Brothers to direct a
feature film remake of this NBC spy caper series, which
aired 1964 to 1968, and subsequently spawned feature films.
The original show, produced by MGM Television, starred
Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as Illya
Kuryakin, agents of United Network Command for Law Enforcement,
who battled the insidious forces of Technological Hierarchy
for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of
Humanity. John Davis and Basil Iwanyk are producing the
remake.
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Cars
/ Chicken Little / Shrek 3: An animation merry-go-round
began when Variety reported Pixar Animation Studios
and Walt Disney Pictures moved the release of director
John Lasseter's CG-animated, talking-car comedy from November
4, 2005, to June 9, 2006, seeking a more lucrative summer
theatrical and year-end holiday DVD exposure. The Hollywood
Reporter then announced Disney's Buena Vista distribution
arm has moved its own CG-animated comedy Chicken Little
from July 1, 2006, to November 4, 2006. Variety
next reported that DreamWorks is moving its CG-animated
fairytale comedy Shrek 3 from fall 2006 to May
2007.
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XXX:
State of the Union: Click
here to view an action-packed trailer for this spy
thriller sequel, with Ice Cube stepping into Vin Diesel's
shoes as the tattooed bad-boy super spy, coming from Revolution
Studio and Columbia Pictures April 29, 2005. Lee Tamahori
directs, with Scott Farrar supervising visual effects
for Industrial Light & Magic.
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The
New World: Click
here to see a haunting trailer for director Terrence
Malick's upcoming period drama, starring Colin Farrell,
Christopher Plummer and Christian Bale about the founding
of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607. Coming from New Line
Cinema November 9, 2005. IMDb.com reports Bob Shelley
is special effects director and Raymond Gieringer is visual
effects supervisor for Intelligent Creatures, a visual
effects company in Toronto, Canada.
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Zathura:
Click
here for Sony Pictures Entertainment's teaser website
for this upcoming space fantasy film, currently being
directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by David Koepp
and John Kamps, adapted from Chris Van Allsburg's children's
book. The website contains images of the retro-50s science
fiction board game that launches the film's young heroes
-- played by Josh Hutcherson and Jonah Bobo -- on a fanciful
outer space adventure. Joe Bauer is supervising visual
effects provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks and Stan
Winston Digital, with creature effects by Stan Winston
Studio, miniatures by Cinema Production Services and special
effects by Jon Belyeu. The film is scheduled for release
December 21, 2005.
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The Darkness: Variety reports Dimension
Films and Platinum Studios are developing this comic book
adaptation about a young assassin who inherits a supernatural
ability. Platinum studio, a comic book entertainment company
based in Beverly Hills, acquired independent comic book
publisher Top Cow Productions earlier this year, and has
numerous productions in development as films, television
series and video games.
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John
Carter of Mars: ERBZine.com, the official Edgar Rice
Burroughs tribute website, reports Sky Captain director
Kerry Conran and production designer Kevin Conran met
recently with Danton Burroughs, grandson of author Edgar
Rice Burroughs, to begin preproduction discussions for
Paramount Pictures' upcoming adaptation of Burroughs'
vintage Martian fantasy adventure. The group met at Burroughs'
California headquarters in Tarzana, named after the author's
most famous vine-swinging creation. For details about
Burroughs' colorful life and fiction, click
here.
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The
House of Flying Daggers: Click
here for a VFXWorld story with animated imagery illustrating
digital effects by Animal Logic Film and Iloura Digital
Pictures for director Zhang Yimou's upcoming Chinese-language
martial arts period drama. The film first appeared at
the Cannes Film Festival in May, premiered in Bejing in
July, opened in limited release in the U.S. December 3
and opens in the U.K. December 24.
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Full
Moon Fever: Prime Universe reports director Renny
Harlin is developing a science fiction horror film based
on this AIT/Planet Lair comic book by Joe Casey, who is
adapting his own story into a screenplay. The story is
described as 'werewolves on the moon' -- a blue-collar
maintenance team arrives to conduct repairs on a deserted
lunar base, and encounters a pack of hungry werewolves.
Adrian Askarieh and Daniel Alter are producing.
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Thru
the Moebius Strip: Variety reports Fantastic
Films International has picked up distribution of this
computer animated feature produced by Frank Foster and
Hong Kong animation studio GDC Entertainment, based on
an original screen story and designs by Jean 'Moebius'
Giraud. The film is about a physicist who becomes trapped
on a distant planet after crossing a space-time portal.
Glenn Chaika directs voice talent including Mark Hamill,
Michael Dorn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Jean Simmons.
For the trailer, click
here.
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Indiana
Jones 4: Inland Empire Strikes Back reports, in an
interview with Harrison Ford, that development of the
fourth Indiana Jones movie is back on track and the film's
producer, George Lucas, is happy with progress on the
latest draft of the screenplay, written by Jeff Nathanson.
Lucas previously halted production of an earlier draft
by Frank Darabont. The production has involved many screenwriters
-- including M. Night Shyamalan, Steven Gaghan, Tom Stoppard
and Jeffrey Boam -- since Indy last rode off into the
sunset at the conclusion of The Last Crusade in
1989. Steven Spielberg is still attached to direct.
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Ford Mustang Commercial: Click
here for a VFXPro.com article discussing the production
of Ford's new Mustang television commercial, into which
Riot Santa Monica (aka R!OT) digitally inserted footage
of now-deceased actor Steve McQueen from director Peter
Yates' terrific 1968 San Francisco cop thriller Bullitt.
Paul Street of Believe Media directed the commercial,
with visual effects artist Verdi Sevenhuysen leading the
team at Riot.
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