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VFX•CG Films n n n n If you love Seth MacFarlane's animated TV se- ries Family Guy, you probably doubled over in laughter at Ted, his fi rst feature fi lm. But, Fam- ily Guy isn't a prerequisite. Moviegoers sent this surprise hit to number one at the box offi ce on opening weekend. Rex Reed, fi lm critic for the "New York Observer," who seems an unlikely fan of MacFarlane's brand of humor, writes of the fi lm, "It has nudity, profanity, and X-rated detritus unsuitable for anyone with an IQ of 50. It is also creative, adorable, ingenious, and devilishly, thigh-slappingly hilarious. Do not take my pulse. It must be the heat." Th e fi lm begins with John Bennett receiv- ing a teddy bear for Christmas. Th e boy, who had been bullied by neighborhood kids, names the bear Ted and wishes the toy could talk. A miracle happens. Ted talks, and little John ends up as a guest on the Johnny Carson show. Several years later, however, John is all grown up, at least physically, and has a girl- friend who has patiently tolerated his rude, impish, or obnoxious, depending on the line. When the fat, psychotic kid pulls off his ear, Ted yells, 'Back off , Susan Boyle!' But while you roar at Ted's aside to the audience ('Some- one had to go Joan Crawford on that kid!'), you can also feel the 'Ouch!' Will it make you wince with embarrassment? Th at's a promise. Will you also laugh? In double time, like a Rockette." Blair Clark from Tippett Studio was overall supervisor; artists at Tippett in Berkeley, Cali- fornia, and Iloura in Melbourne, Australia, created the fi lm's 900 eff ects shots, including the teddy bear star. "Th e challenge was in maintaining Ted's Jenny Fulle, founder of Th e Creative-Cartel, a service company that managed the VFX pro- duction for Ted. "Also, being fl exible. Ted is a comedy. Seth [MacFarlane] tries things out. If they don't work, we retool. And, we had a lot of moving parts to factor into our work." Bear Necessities Iloura created the fi rst test of Ted as a CG bear, using motion captured from MacFarlane. "Th is was defi nitely a motion-capture show," Clark says. "It was made clear to us from the beginning that this was Seth's [MacFarlane's] concept. He wrote the script. He will provide the voice. He's the actor. And, he's the direc- tor. We said, 'OK, no problem.' But, as the production progressed and everyone saw what we could do, the necessity of shooting motion capture for every scene and adhering to it to the ninth degree lessened." believability as an actual teddy bear," says Melbourne and rendered Ted in an entire scene from the script," Clark says. "Th at be- came the standard look-wise and character- wise. And it was great. We hadn't even started pre-production and we already had a pre-ap- proved CG character that the director and the production team loved. Th ey loved how Iloura's early motion and rendering tests set the stage, though. "Th ey shot plates around Artists at Tippett Studio and Iloura animate a foul-mouthed CG teddy bear and provide other effects for Seth MacFarlane's feature Ted By Barbara Robertson fuzzy friend for the past four years, but maybe not so much anymore. Ted, who is always CG when he's alive, has become a pot-smoking, profanity-spewing, horny bear who parties with hookers. His every action seems as politi- cally incorrect as possible. Written and directed by MacFarlane, who also provided Ted's voice, the Universal Pic- ture's fi lm stars Mark Wahlberg as Bennett and Mila Kunis, the voice of Meg Griffi n in Fam- ily Guy, as Bennett's girlfriend, Lori Collins. Th ere are chase sequences, a fi ght in a hotel room, many a tête à Ted with John, and some other funny business. Th rough it all, the inno- cent-looking CG teddy bear delivers his funny and raunchy lines with a simple performance that conveys his attitude without becoming anthropomorphized. "Th e CGI Ted," writes Reed, "has digital features that morph into awesome expressions. He can look and act querulous, hurt, sensitive, Ted was always digital when he was alive in the fi lm. He had to be the same bear from shot to shot — visually and emotionally—whether created and animated at Iloura or Tippett Studio. June/July 2012 55 Images ©2012 Universal.