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need would the Oscar-nominated director of The Fantastic Mr. Fox,
Moonrise Kingdom, and The Royal Tenenbaums have for visual
effects?
Gabriel Sanchez, visual effects supervisor at Look Effects, has the answer: "Wes
[Anderson] didn't want a CG feel or over-the-top effects; the shots needed to feel
like he captured them in camera. But, he still utilized the benefits of CG visual
effects."
Invisible effects, that is. With a Wes Anderson twist.
The film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, takes place in nested time periods: the
current time, the 1930s, and the late '60s/'70s. Because Anderson wanted to film
everything in camera, when live action wasn't possible, he used miniatures shot on
greenscreen, no digital set extensions necessary. The postproduction crew at Look
Effects added digital backgrounds to the greenscreen miniatures and integrated
them into the plates. Sanchez lists the studio's work as digital matte paintings, fix-it
shots, and timing adjustments. Again, though, with a Wes Anderson twist.
ENVIRONMENTS
Artists at Look
Effects enhance
the invented world
in Wes Anderson's
The Grand
Budapest Hotel
BY BARBARA ROBERTSON
UNDER
CONTROL
