Computer Graphics World

April/May 2012

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■ ■ ■ ■ Simulation W hen it comes to fi lms requiring oceans of simulation—features like Th e Perfect Storm, Poseidon, and Pirates of the Caribbean— in which the sea takes a starring role, Industrial Light & Magic has consistently hit a high-water mark. But, the water simulations re- quired for those fi lms were nascent compared to the work required for Universal Pictures' Battleship. Much of Battleship takes place in a square of the Pacifi c Ocean, blocked off , like a game board, by a force fi eld generated from an alien ship—the aliens have responded to an innocent communication from Earth in a fi erce way. Th ey send a reconnaissance team to see if Earth is worth invading. As in the classic board game upon which director Peter Berg loosely based the fi lm, six ships battle within the force fi eld: three destroyers—two from Japan and the John Paul Jones from the US—and three alien ships called "Stingers." In addition, the USS Missouri and a fourth alien fl agship play a large part in the fi lm. And so does the water. "One morning Pete [Berg, director] said that the alien ships would stand on the water and move like water bugs," says visual eff ects super- visor Grady Cofer. "And, they' d recycle water. Th is was his idea. So, we 12 April/May 2012 needed water constantly rippling over the surface. And, the ships would be in lots of shots. We needed to re-think how we did fl uid simulations. We knew we' Th e alien ships have two types of weapons. In a nod toward the board game, the Stingers fi re large cylindrical pegs that cause massive destruc- tion when they hit something. Th e second weapon is a "shredder," a ball made of rotating bands covered with blades. Th e shredder has a bit of intelligence, can move in any direction, and chops everything in its path to bits. In fact, during a climactic battle, a shredder rips through a destroyer, cuts it in half, and the two sides sink into an ocean now fi lled with life rafts, CG swimmers, debris, and explosions. Th e water is fi lled with splashes; there's mist in the air and foam everywhere. "I think that was the most complex shot we've ever done at ILM," says digital production supervisor Doug Smythe. "It's massive, 3034 frames long. We ran 67 fl uid simulations using 19tb of simulation data, and we had 294 unique render elements in the comp. It's a monster. But, it looks good." d have to raise our game."

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