Computer Graphics World

December 2008 36 ■ ■ ■ ■ VFX/Animation Entertainment Group, Media Magik Entertainment As the next Frank Miller project, e Spirit stands on the shoulders of Sin City and 300, says Maschwitz, VFX supe and second unit director on the movie. He credits cinematographer Bill Pope with making it "a photographically beautiful film." As an entirely greenscreened movie, the challenge is the scope: In essence, every shot in the film is a visual effect. "But I look at the challenge as aesthetic," says Maschwitz, whose facility, e Or- phanage, shared in the effects work. "In this stylized movie, you can get away with some- thing that doesn't look quite real, as long as it looks amazing." e key is "emotional truth and minimalism," he adds. "Frank [Miller] only draws what helps the story, and he can eliminate anything that isn't working to- wards his storytelling goal. We looked for a visual minimalism that matches Frank's style. Frank creates these iconic images with a few brushstrokes, and we wanted to find the cinematic equivalent of that." Look Effects also worked on this film. Look Effects visual effects supervisor Max Ivins says the group tackled a sequence that was shot entirely handheld while walking backwards, shooting into people. "ere were a lot of extreme shots with not a lot of information," he says. "It's like, hey, here are some people, create the world." 10,000 BC Release date: March 7 (wide release) Production companies: Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Mark Gor- don Productions, Centropolis Entertain- ment, e Mark Gordon Company VFX supervisor Chambers, who worked on this film, enthuses about the pre-his- toric creatures. "Techniques have gotten better with hair, and the animation was excellent," he says. "e attention to detail is what brings them to life." Look Effects' Ivins also thought there was "a lot of great stuff" in the movie. "e stylized pre-history war they came up with was effective, and the mammoths were well done," he says. "It created this alternative world, and being a sci-fi/fantasy buff, as a lot of people in our industry are, I identi- fied with the creative aspect of it." Hellboy II: The Golden Army Release date: July 11 Production companies: Dark Horse Entertainment, Internationale Film- produktion Eagle, Lawrence Gordon Productions, Mid Atlantic Films, Rela- tivity Media, Universal Pictures Hellboy II has a style of its own, says Look Effects' Ivins. "It's not cookie-cutter VFX. It's a curveball. It's got fantastic creatures, kind of a sci-fi, Flash-like fantasy. By virtue of its uniqueness, you have to consider it." "ey ratcheted it up a notch with the character and the animation," agrees Chambers. "ey also did some nice en- vironmental work, extending locations. It's got some cool work in it." Skillfully bridging the practical and digi- tal effects world is one of the strengths of this movie, adds CafeFX/e Syndicate's Barnes. He also loved the all-CG tooth fair- ies, created by Double Negative, which he called "scary, fun, believable, and creepy." "is film was a VFX practitioner's dream," he adds. "It was loaded with CG and load- ed with VFX, and was a really fun ride." The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Release date: Dec. 25 Production companies: e Kennedy/ Marshall Company, Paramount Pic- tures, Warner Bros. Pictures "I can't wait to see it," enthuses Zoic's Peristere, echoing many VFX supervisors. "It looks amazing. If that CG character is as realistic as it looks in the trailer, and if it conveys emotion as well, it'll set a new bar for all of us. If any director has the passion to do this, it would be David Fincher, and if any VFX team could pull this off with passion, it's the Digital Domain commer- cial team with Eric Barba. ose guys rock, and it's a beautiful stage for them to show off what they can do." Visual effects supervisor Tim McGov- ern agrees. "I'm glad Fincher keeps mak- ing these movies," he says. "e concept of someone who ages in reverse is something no one could have ever done five years ago. It's an exciting idea, and from what I un- Cutting-edge digital tools take viewers back to prehistoric times in the film 10,000 BC. A visit from the Hellboy tooth fairies is scary.

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