Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1127068
www.postmagazine.com 27 POST MAY/JUNE 2019 SUMMER MOVIES the opening of the film. "It's a smaller sequence where Mothra is still in her larva and she kind of hatches," Rocheron explains. "We gave it to Method because it's a self-contained sequence that required great quality animation and great rendering and effects…Method also handled the sequence where our heroes go in one of Monarch's underwater rigs. They go to a giant facility underwater to monitor Godzilla. They did the really beautiful sequence where you first see Godzilla in the depths of the water. People look through a win- dow into a deep, murky [water] environment, and see Godzilla flashing." Dneg's (dneg.com) work mostly focused on under- water sequences, says Rocheron. "Probably 15 minutes of the movie, where they are completely underwater and they discover that new civilization." The studio also handled the 'Mothra reveal', before the audience sees her completely. "She hatches behind a waterfall," Rocheron explains, adding that it's the first time the audience sees her fully extend her wings. "You never see Mothra fully, but you see her silhouette and color scheme." Dneg also handled the visual effects sequence where Mothra appears in a cloud above an oil rig. Rodeo FX (rodeofx.com) created the Ghidorah sequence in which the three-headed, winged creature is trapped ice. "They handled about 100 shots there," Rocheron recalls. "Digital environments and a lot of effects simulations for the destruction of the ice wall." INSIDE THE TOOLBOX Rocheron says all of the studios have similar toolsets, though there is some variation. "Everybody is using a combination of Maya, Houdini and Nuke," he notes. "The renderers vary. MPC is using RenderMan, where as Method, I think, is using Arnold. Dneg is using Clarisse." MPC's proprietary muscle system allowed the team to achieve more life-like results than the 2014 film, be it for Godzilla's facial expressions or Ghidorah's body control. "You have one creature, three heads…two tails, a set of wings and a body," he says of Ghidorah. "All of that requires incredible, sophisticated muscle-deformation technology and facial-animation technology that is very proprietary. MPC has some amazing tools for that." Upon the film's completion, Rocheron points to a number of VFX accomplishments — scale being one. "The effects simulation just for the rain, in some shots, it's literally square miles of simulated rain! MPC has an effects team that is purely there to simulate natural phenomenon — snow, buildings on fire, rain, any sort of interaction with the creatures — the phys- ics. I think it was the biggest scene ever assembled for a movie. It was close to 100 people simulating natural phenomenon. Not the animation. Not the rendering. The rain and snow, and the interaction, the breath and the steam, and the water and the destruc- tion! Logistically, it's incredibly-huge scale. That's how I like to look at it. In terms of achieving scale, we did it on such a large number of shots. Every shot was complex because of all the layers that were required." The film is a hybrid of live action and animation. MPC employed proprietary technology to control Ghidorah's complex model. MPC in Montreal was assisted by its LA, London and Bangalore locations. In this shot, Rodan interacts with fighter jets. SUMMER MOVIES