Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/196542
Previs Oblivion The Third Floor also previs'd the sci-fi film Oblivion, which sees Earth destroyed by aliens known as Scavs in 2077 Only Tom . Cruise's Jack Harper and his partner Victoria remain on Tower 49, repairing drones that defend ocean-borne power stations feeding energy to a human colony on Titan. Four months before production, Previs Supervisor Nick Markel met with Director Joseph Kosinski to sketch out 25 sequences, including the opening battle, the drones' attack on the Scav compound, and the final aerial battle. With a background in 3D software, Kosinski sat with Markel and, guided by the storyboards, figured out three things: the camera, specifically the lens choice, movement, and composition; the feel of the animation, including how Tom Cruise's Bubbleship would fly; and the previs edit. While Kosinski began sketching out his shots, many of the guidelines had already been drawn, particularly by the art department, which brings up an important point: Says Markel, "There's a fine line between starting too early and starting too late, which varies considerably from show to show. A number of things should be answered before previs starts in order for it to be effective, but it should also start early enough to produce useful material for planning and budgeting. Production Designer Darren Gilford had already finished conceiving, among 26 ■ CGW Sep t em ber / O c t ober 2013 ©2013 Universal Pictures. Most of the high-intensity action sequences in Iron Man 3 adhere closely to their previs'd counterparts primarily because the director, visual effects supervisor, and second unit director were so heavily invested in developing them. "When it comes to sequences that have been previs'd, the level of stress about the game plan is lifted. When the previs is exciting but maybe the location or set has been changed just before shooting, the filmmakers can use the previs as a type of guide as to what the sequence should feel like. " Whether followed religiously or used as a guide, what's most rewarding about previs, says Constantine, is witnessing the director's vision at the embryonic stage, helping it come to life on the big screen, and still seeing the vestiges of one's own creativity in the finished product. But many times, Constantine continues, the previs team will just receive a handful of script pages and a quick meeting with the director to go over the key beats. "In all cases, when we sit down in the theater to watch the final result, we get to experience all the creative moments leading up to how the scenes were decided upon, how our artists contributed to the sequences, and how the director's vision finally translated to the big screen. " .com Article: Go to "Extras" in the September/October 2013 issue box for an Oblivion previs story. ■ THE THIRD FLOOR helped block action and explore the look and function of environments, vehicles, and other elements in the world of Oblivion. other elements, the look of the Sky Tower and the Bubbleship, so we received the digital models from the art department and were able to move seamlessly right into helping Joe [Kosinski] figure out the action and sequence of events. " Since Kosinski is a director who likes to shoot as much incamera as possible, Markel also did techvis to figure out frontprojection solutions to capture backgrounds in camera. Once Kosinski finished shooting the live action, however, Markel and his team went through an extensive postvis phase using Adobe After Effects to provide temporary visuals for editorial, while Pixomondo and Digital Domain, the main VFX vendors, created the final visual effects. The Wolverine In August, Marvel's resident lupine superhero, Wolverine, roared back onto the big screen in a new film that follows him as he travels to Japan, confronts a figure from his past, and wrestles with his demons. To help carve a fresh, cinematic approach to the man with the adamantine skeleton, Director James Mangold enlisted the previs specialists at Halon FX, who were led by veteran Previs Supervisor Clint Regan. "James [Mangold] used previs to explore and test moods and ideas that he wanted for portions of the film, says Regan. " "In the end, we previs'd approximately six sequences, including the opening scenes and the finale, which went through several versions before James found what he was looking for. James liked to search for the right mood. " They worked hand-in-glove with Production Designer Francois Auduoy, who would sit with Regan and Mangold and build the sets on the fly to meet the needs of the scenes they were blocking. Halon's artists built the bulk of the sets, characters, and animations in Autodesk's Maya and MotionBuilder, using a library of rigged character models, sets, vehicles, and EFX stand-ins. "Once we had enough pulled together, we started to block the scenes in Maya. We then moved the characters