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n o v e m b e r . d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 c g w 2 9 The sequence Smith is most proud of, though, was one the crew dubs "skyfall," in which the penguins dive out of a car- go plane. It was the fi rst scene in layout. "The jokes were in there, but it wasn't as dynamic as it need- ed to be," Smith says. "If the penguins were going to throw themselves out of a plane and survive, it needed to be special. So, I decided to make it all in one shot to keep you in the mo- ment with the characters and not break the spell. Once we did that, the magic started to come from the screen. Comedy is like balancing a Ping-Pong ball on a straw. You have to keep blowing to keep it up in the air. If you run out of breath, you've lost it." R O U G H L A Y O U T, F I N A L L A Y O U T Once the director, layout artists, and other department heads have honed a sequence in pre- vis, the layout team assembles clips of the footage they've shot, addresses notes from the directors, and delivers a pack- age to editorial. "We used to just work in shots," Low says. "But as the traditional 2D layout has gotten more complex with tools and cinematic desires, we started doing a version of the fi lm with digital assets to make a visual road map of the fi lm. Rather than providing one shot, we provide footage and coverage." Once editorial has refi ned the cuts, the footage moves back to the layout department, and pre- vis moves into "rough layout." "In previs, we might have 100 cameras," Low says. "In rough lay- out, we focus on that one camera editorial has used. This is when we build the shots. We have other departments add their data and provide the road map for down- stream departments." Once the layout department has published the rough layout, "fi nal layout" begins. At this stage, artists replace the previs and rough assets with fi nal assets. "I think 'layout' is a dreadful word for the department," Smith says. "It's not 'lay about' or 'laying around,' it's people who are really invested in the movie. They make the mold that everyone pours the details into. It's like a 3D blueprint that gets fi lled in." And for this fi lm, that blue- print was especially important. "We didn't have time to board any of the third act," Smith says. "Within the group, Rico, Skipper, and Kowalski think Private is just cuddly. But, the third act proves whomever you are, no matter how big or small, anyone can do anything. We fi gured most of it out in layout by shooting diff erent angles and piecing it together. We had props, fi gures of the penguins, the set, and the villain, and moved them around on the big screen. We could move the camera up and down, and reposition the characters. We could move a hand up three feet and that would move the camera up three feet, or make it three miles and zoom up for a massive view of the city. It was brilliant for working out an original approach." The camera-capture room was an integral piece that helped the Penguins crew push the fi lm out the door six months earlier than planned. But, it took a concerted eff ort on every- one's part. "People really believed in the fi lm," Smith says. "That's what carried us through. Everyone was amazing. We tried to keep the mood fun because that ends up on the screen. And, it's much more fun to be fun. It's the toughest schedule we've ever done, and a miracle we fi n- ished on time – we were lighting as we were mixing it – but…I've been on enough fi lms to know…I think we have something spe- cial on this fi lm." ¢ Barbara Robertson is an award-winning writer, a contributing editor for CGW, and author of The Art of Penguins of Madagascar. She can be reached at BarbaraRR@comcast.net. SKIPPER TIMES HIS CHEEZY DIBBLES CRUNCHES FOR COMEDIC EFFECT IN PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR. PENGUINS VFX: GO TO EXTRAS IN THE NOVEMBER.DECEMBER 2014 ISSUE BOX C G W. C O M