Last year, Nick Crew provided insights into the work on a specific film. He later contributed to another major production.
How did the team get involved in this project?
The team had a history of collaboration with the project’s supervisor, and he was interested in bringing them on board, particularly for a specific crash landing sequence, given their expertise in complex FX simulations.
How was the collaboration with the directors and the VFX Supervisor?
The project involved working closely with the VFX Supervisor. This collaboration was very positive, fostering creativity and being enjoyable.
What were their expectations and approach to the visual effects?
Early on, the VFX Supervisor provided a detailed overview of the filmmakers’ vision for the sequences, aligning with the story. He also shared broad ideas for the various effects and asset design. This approach allowed the team to explore creatively before presenting their ideas.
How was the work organized with the VFX Producer?
The schedule, including assets, key creative milestones, and shot production, was planned out early on with the VFX Producer. A strong production staff helped adhere to the dates, which significantly impacted the final product.
What sequences were handled by the team?
Most of the team’s work occurred during a specific dogfight, the subsequent crash landing, and a character’s energy absorption.
Can you describe the creation of the aircraft and its environment?
The team received the previs model and concept images of the aircraft early in production. They also had a partial set of the crash site. These elements served as a starting point for fleshing out the details. Inspiration came from aircraft like the SR-71 Blackbird.
A unique challenge stemmed from the aircraft’s power supply and exhaust signature, which resembled the Tesseract. The team reviewed previous films to determine the energy percentage to include, versus how much to base on a traditional jet wash.
The dogfight environment began with aerial photography gathered around the crash site. This footage was augmented with matte paintings, volumetric clouds, and terrain surveys rendered in Terragen.
Can you elaborate on the crash landing?
The crash landing was the most technically demanding part of the work. It became clear that going entirely digital was necessary due to the camera movements and the amount of destruction required. The complexity increased because the digital elements had to seamlessly match pre-established debris, spot fires, and smoke. An expert helped organize and execute this sequence. Partial location LIDAR, terrain surveys, and photography were utilized to rebuild a large portion of Shaver Lake digitally. IDV SpeedTree, Flowline, and cebas thinkingParticles were then used for the FX work.
Can you provide more detail about the slow-motion shots when the character receives energy?
These were the most creatively demanding shots in the team’s scope of work. The filmmakers wanted a unique look for the character’s energy absorption that hadn’t been seen before. The varying angles of the event presented a significant challenge.
The design of this moment was spearheaded by the Look Development and FX leads. Key shots were conceptualized with beginning, middle, and end frames to inform the energy’s path, amount, and look. Since the story needed to show the energy moving towards, wrapping around, and being absorbed, there was a great deal of per-shot design. These concepts were presented to the filmmakers, and then the FX lead designed them in motion.
How were these slow-motion shots filmed?
The elements of the character were filmed with Phantom Flex cameras on a blue screen, using high frame rates to slow the motion. The team digitally took over most of the backgrounds for FX and interactive lighting. There were also macro-photography plates shot on the Phantom camera, and the plates were preserved as much as possible, carefully augmented with additional CG debris, dust, and energy.
Can you elaborate on the digital double creation?
The team built one character and modified already existing versions of other characters. The Modeling Supervisor led the modeling efforts, while the texture and shading were done by another team member, utilizing scans and texture photography.
How was the FX animation handled?
The FX lead oversaw the strong FX team, including the FX animation department. Several variations were explored before achieving the speed, scale, and timing seen in the film.
Were specific indications and references provided for the FX energy?
Since a specific energy source was used, the team initially looked at previous films. Given the desire for a powerful, unique signature, the effect became art directed and unique to this event very quickly.
Can you share details about the work on the flashbacks?
The team did a variety of work on the character’s flashbacks, including the opening dream sequence and the ‘Mindfrack’ sequence.
In the opening, she dreams about a crash landing, but the filmmakers wanted to disguise her costume and the environment. These moments went through a few sets of creative revisions to further disguise the scene and redesign the setting. The team created a large-scale Kree battle, which was fun to design.
For the ‘Mindfrack’ sequence, the team created aerial shots where the character was evading the Kree Fighter. This sequence involved the Skrulls searching her memories to extract information, and the filmmakers wanted to capture that in the work. The team played with optical and lensing treatments to help convey this idea while maintaining a photographic feel.
Which sequence or shot was the most challenging?
The aircraft core explosion, followed by the character absorbing the energy, was the most challenging sequence. Planning, designing, and executing this was a significant undertaking, but also the most rewarding experience on the project.
What is the favorite shot or sequence?
There is a sense of pride in the work. If a sequence had to be chosen, it would be the aircraft core explosion, followed by the character absorbing its energy.
What is the best memory on this project?
There are many great memories. Working with the team, and collaborating with the VFX Supervisor and filmmakers are some of them. Stepping onto the set the first week at specific location and taking in the scale and scope was memorable. That experience set the tone for the rest of the project.
How long was dedicated to this show?
About 10 months were personally dedicated to this film.
What was the VFX shots count?
Around 200 shots were worked on.
What was the size of the team?
The team was probably around 60 artists and production people.
What is the next project?
The current focus involves a new role as Creative Director, helping oversee things on a facility level across all studios, involving multiple projects.
Thank you for the time.
© Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2019
