Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/426320
n o v e m b e r . d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 c g w 4 5 What can we expect from this next installment of The Hobbit that we haven't seen in the previous films in the series? Plenty. Prepare for a brutal army of Orcs, an army of elves, and the men of Lake-Town. The crowd scenes, massive. The environments, expansive, breathtaking. The destruction, impactful. The digital crea- tures, heart-stopping. The sets, stunning. Middle-earth is full of surprises, and so are the visual effects teams from Weta. For this epic conclusion, expect an epic adventure filled with cutting-edge VFX work. T H E H U N G E R G A M E S : M O C K I N G J A Y – P A R T 1 RELEASE DATE: November 21 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Color Fore, Lionsgate Let the games begin! In this sequel, the story continues as Katniss continues in the role of the reluctant heroine. The science-fiction drama contains many digital environments and destruction, including a spectacular demolition of a water-filled dam. Studios that worked on the film include Film Illusions, Scanline VFX, MPC, Ironhead Studio, Double Negative, Gentle Giant Studios, Rising Sun Pictures, and The Cavalry FX. T H E M A Z E R U N N E R RELEASE DATE: September 19 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox, Dayday Films, Gotham Group, Ingenious Me- dia, TSG Entertainment, Temple Hill Entertainment Most of the action in this science-fiction adventure takes place in a grass field. But things got very interesting when the vi- sual effects crews built a gigantic maze with 100-foot-tall walls of stone, walls that rearrange themselves each night in the movie. As a result, the teens who are trapped inside are unable to find their way out. What's more, they become hunted by Grievers, menacing creatures that hunt and kill them. Method built the CG walls, extending those on location, and created the deadly Grievers. T R A N S F O R M E R S : A G E O F E X T I N C T I O N RELEASE DATE: June 27 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Paramount Pictures, Hasbro, Di Bonaventure Pictures, Tom De- Santo/Don Murphy Production, Ian Bryce Productions The battle of the 'bots contin- ues in this fourth installment of the sci-fi action series. Much of the digital effects work was done by ILM, which also built many of the shape-shiing robots in the earlier films. One memorable scene has Optimus Prime riding a massive dinobot T-rex called Grimlock. The robots are large, the destruction even larger, with rigid-dynamic effects as cars flip and buildings crumble. Add to that explosions, fire, sparks, dust, and smoke, and it all adds up to an extraordinary amount of visu- al complexity in every scene. X - M E N : D A Y S O F F U T U R E P A S T RELEASE DATE: May 23 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox Film Corp., Marvel Entertainment, TSG Entertainment, Bat Hat Harry Productions, Donners' Com- pany, Ingenious Media, Down Productions In this X-Men film, the superheroes revisit the past. The movie contains more than 1,300 effects shots produced by 12 studios. MPC was responsible for the full-CG future Sentinels and worked on the sequences involving the X-Jet and Cerebro's red virtual world. Digital Domain creat- ed the 1973 Sentinels and all the environment work based in Washington DC, including the destruction of Robert F. Kennedy Stadium and the White House. They also worked on Mystique's transformations and eyes. Rhythm & Hues worked on Beast's transforma- tions, the creation of Xavier's plane, and speed effects for Quicksilver. They also worked with Digital Domain on the sequence featuring the inside of the 1973 Sentinel. Rising Sun Pictures created VFX relating to Quicksilver's action sequence, which takes place at the Pentagon. Mokko Studio worked on Mystique's eyes and costume fixes. Cinesite worked on the future New York City in the opening prologue, along with cleanups, wire remov- als, and production fixes. Fuel VFX worked on holo- graphic effects and Havok's mutant powers. Vision Globale craed visual effects relating to a dream and flashback sequence. Hydraulx, Lola, and Method Studios, meanwhile, handled a number of composi- tions and production fixes. The Third Floor worked on extensive story boarding and visualization. THE LEGO MOVIE USED STYLIZED OBJECTS AND CHARACTERS TO INCORPORATE THE LOOK OF THE LEGO BLOCKS INTO THE FILM. IMAGE ©2014 WARNER BROS. PICTURES