Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/825852
www.postmagazine.com 9 POST MAY 2017 BITS & PIECES says Elver. To carve out his perfor- mance, the team reviewed footage of Gunn dancing, which they im- plemented as a foundation. It was a long process of tweaking the camera, animation, tempo and the little beats to keep pushing the comedy and character of Groot. "It was such an important scene to get right; it has a lot of heart in it, and it meant so much to James Gunn," says Elver. SPACE CHASES & NEW WORLDS Framestore also worked on the ac- tion-packed 'space chase' sequence, which sees Quill and Rocket hurtling through space in ships animated by the team, dodging asteroids and weav- ing between blazing ribbons of plasma. The team wanted to keep control of the ships in animation and define the choreography. The brief for the Milano was also very precise; it had to be very dynamic; darting and dodging as fast as possible. Hurtling through space, the team had to come up with interesting ways to demonstrate speed. The chase covers three environments, the first made up of a "space grid" in which ribbons of plasma (similar to the rings of Saturn) are used to anchor the characters and provide point of reference. The environ- ments were heavily animated with an array of tricks, including Quantum Asteroids, grit and particles, before going through lighting. For Framestore, Vol. 2 has been a truly epic journey. "Myself, Arslan Elver and James Gunn were the only people who had previously worked on the VFX for Guardians, and it was important that we had this bond," explains Fawkner. "Gunn knows exactly what he wants and is very precise. It's refreshing to work with someone so passionate about the world he's creating." For more on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, see Jennifer Walden's "Sound Design" feature, beginning on page 28.