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www.postmagazine.com 21 POST MARCH 2018 BLACK PANTHER "It was 20 minutes of screen time with set exten- sions, elaborate reconstruction of a fight scene, a car chase, full-CG builds, massive destruction, a CG Black Panther attacking live-action Klaue in a virtual environment and then the cloth sim — which was harder than you might think." Killmonger's arrival sets up the third act, during which he makes his play for the kingdom. He wants to send vibranium and Wakandan technology out into the world and arm a global uprising. He begins by challenging and fighting T'Challa, and wins by tossing T'Challa over a Scanline-created waterfall. Nakia, Shuri and T'Challa's mother escape to Jabari land, an environment created at Rise in Munich and Berlin. For reference, the crew used aerial photography of the remote Rwenzori moun- tains in Uganda. "Ryan [Coogler] was fascinated that there are beautiful mountains covered in snow and glaciers in Africa," Baumann says. "Although Rise ended up augmenting the photogrammetry, it was important. It grounded the environment in reality." The refugee women decide to return to the city and fight Killmonger, who by now has attracted support among Wakandans. The fight takes place near a small hill that had been pushed up by the meteor crater. "Method built a world based on multiple locations in Africa," Baumann says, "a hybrid of trees, foliage, grasses and rock formations found throughout Africa. And, we have CG rhinos storm- ing across the battlefield." Using concept art and photogrammetry shot in Africa, the Method artists sculpted terrain out from the base of the hill to create the battlefield environment. "We have a savannah with Acacia trees toward the east, a vast jungle toward the west, moun- tains in the background, and we can see the city 15 kilometers away," says Method visual effects supervisor Andy Brown. "We modeled the terrain in Maya, imported it into [Side Effects'] Houdini for erosion filters, and populated it with plants. We also created digital extras, crowds and the armored rhinos for the battle." The battle moves back and forth from the fight on the ground and in the air to Shuri's lab and then into the vibranium mine where Killmonger battles a revived T'Challa, both wearing power suits now. The shots involved multiple vendors: ILM, Method, Ghost, Rise and Cantina sharing en- vironments, ships, and hologram elements during the dogfight, ground battle and in the lab. Method sent Killmonger and T'Challa down a CG mine shaft, and then Double Negative handled the fight scene on the vibranium-powered tracks — one, that unlike many earlier sequences in the film, was obviously created with visual effects. Hollywood is already aware that visual effects films bring box-office bucks. The millions of people seeing this film might at last convince Hollywood that there is profit in diversity, as well. At the end of Black Panther, T'Challa calls for unity among all the tribes on the planet, a message that hopefully will vibrate as strongly as vibranium. Barbara Robertson (BarbaraRR@comcast.net) is an award-winning writer and contributing editor for CGW, Post's sister publication. Method built a world based on multiple locations in Africa for this battle scene. ILM built the hero spaceship.