Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/28735
director’s chair visual effects shots in the film. How many are there, and what was your approach to dealing with them? LIEBESMAN: “Around 1,000.We shot a lot of footage. However, even though they were VFX shots we still kept it very ‘run and gun’ to keep it aligned with the gritty, em- bedded vibe of the film.” POST: Who was the VFX supervisor and how did that relationship work? LIEBESMAN: “Everett Burrell — he was there from the very beginning, and we spent a lot of time discussing and testing what light CGI looks best in, how to best utilize real el- more productive. Kevin Elam was our VFX producer, and he did a brilliant job of shep- herding the project and creating a collabora- tive environment for us to work.” POST: Who did the effects? LIEBESMAN: “Cinesite did the heli- copter sequence to Santa Monica, the free- way sequence was done by Hydraulx (who also dealt with most of the alien shots), and Spin in Canada did the attack sequence on Santa Monica.” POST: What was the most difficult VFX se- quence/shot to do and why? LIEBESMAN: “I’d say the freeway se- quence. There are just so many characters going through their own little stories during a massive battle sequence. The VFX needs to en- hance each of those stories and re- late shot to shot to one another be- tween all those characters in differ- ent places on the freeway. It’s also the first time we really see how the aliens move, communicate on the battlefield, how they interact with their weapons and so on, so you’re not only creating these shots but creating an entire anthropology too in a way. There’s a lot of R&D in- volved, and a lot of times you’re going back to the same shot over and over, tweaking and tweaking.” POST: Can you talk about the im- portance of music and sound to you as a filmmaker? LIEBESMAN: “You can never Battle:LA features nearly 1,000 visual effects. Everett Burrell was VFX supervisor; Kevin Elam was VFX producer. ements, such as flame, rather than creating them from scratch through CGI, and what textures to create the alien with so they would look as real as possible against the en- vironments we were going to put them in. “It’s a tough process because you have to continuously turn VFX sequences over so as not to slow down the workflow. But you’re doing that before you’ve seen those se- quences cut into the entire film, so it’s tough and takes constant communication back and forth to make sure you’re not compromising either the storytelling of the edit, or the real- ism of the VFX.We set up a garage band of seven or so artists who would do various VFX shots, and I found that having direct in- teraction with them made the process much 14 Post • April 2011 overstate the importance.We were lucky to have Brian Tyler, a friend and amazing composer, as well as Paul Ottosson, who’s an Academy award-winning sound designer, and Paul Massey one of the best guys you could ever want doing the mix. We were also lucky enough to have Jon Johnson as our sound supervisor. “You can only really appreciate the im- portance of sound once you’ve seen the film play with rough sound and score and then see it finally mixed.The difference is day and night. Sound and music contribute at least 50 percent to your engagement in every aspect of the storytelling and emo- tion. A scene that never seemed dangerous enough, or visceral enough, or tense enough — suddenly with the right sound and music, all playing at the right levels, suddenly the scene works, suddenly you understand what the characters are feeling or reacting to and you feel it as well. It’s just like editing the pic- ture. You go over and over the same se- quences, changing things, trying things, shap- www.postmagazine.com ing the soundscape to tell the story.” POST: Did you do a DI? If so, where, and how did that process help? LIEBESMAN: “Yes, through Sony and Colorworks. John Naveira, VP of post at Sony, was brilliant in the way he orches- trated the companies to operate on the Sony lot so I could shuttle in and out of the process without having to go off site, which is invaluable for a director during post.” POST: Did the film turn out the way you originally envisioned it? LIEBESMAN: “Yes. It’s never going to be exactly what’s in your head, but I’m really proud of the reality and intensity that I think we capture. Combining these two genres of gritty war film with alien sci-fi.” POST: Any interest in doing a 3D film? LIEBESMAN: “I’m extremely interested in 3D and I’m excited that my next film, Clash of the Titans 2, will be a 3D film. I think it’s the future of the industry, and if it’s done well it allows us to tell stories in a much more visceral way. It’s constantly evolving and I feel lucky to be involved in filmmaking at this point in time, because we’re breaking ground with the technology we’ve been given for storytelling. I think it’s important to remember, however, that no gadget will ever replace good storytelling, only enhance it.” POST: What are the best and worst parts of being a director? LIEBESMAN: “The best parts are defi- nitely when you start to see something you’ve envisioned for so long, and worked with so many people, actors and depart- ments to try and create, finally take some shape. Finally it looks like what you had imag- ined — that’s satisfying and exciting. The worst part is seeing the first edit of your film — that’s always hard in some way.Also if you just can’t get something to work, because you always have to be the one leading the crew, whether it’s in prep, production or post, to find the solution. If you aren’t going to push for it, it will fall to the sideline, be taken over by the next problem, and never get solved.” POST: So Clash of the Titans 2 is next? LIEBESMAN: “I’ve just started. I think the cornerstones of modern storytelling stem from these Greek myths. With that said, I want to ground the myth in reality, find the truth of these huge stories and make sure that every detail serves the driving narrative of the film. “Clash of the Titans 2 is going to be an action-packed, visceral epic told on a grand scale — but it’s all about grounding the truth, the character and the story, and stay- ing true to that in order to elevate it from the previous movie.”