London-based Union VFX provided a number of visual effects shots for the film Suffragette, Sarah Gavron's drama about the early feminist movement and the fight for equality and the right to vote.
As you can imagine, this type of film doesn't scream VFX, so Union's work on Suffragette was in the "blending-in" category, such as building extensions, CG crowd multiplication and the addition of vehicles and props — all of which needed to behave seamlessly with the real environments and set dressings.
One of the bigger sequences that Union provided shots for was the climactic scene at Epsom race course, which sees suffragette Emily Davison step out in front of King George V's horse — you can imagine how that turned out. Union's creatives were called on to help swell the huge crowd who witnessed the tragedy, and to help paint an historically accurate picture of an Edwardian sporting event. This required complex VFX work, involving a compositing plate and tiled elements, and the creation of CG characters, buildings, vehicles and contemporary props, such as betting signs, and even a circus.
"Epsom was easily the largest sequence in the film for us," reports Simon Hughes, Union's VFX supervisor on Suffragette, who said this included a series of significant crowd extensions and architectural augmentations.
All shots were composited in Foundry Nuke. CG was rendered in Arnold, and props, buildings and vehicles were built in Maya. They called on PFTrack and Nuke for tracking.
In addition to Epsom, there was a riot sequence on London's Oxford Street, a series of explosions, the re-building of Holloway prison and an expanded crowd of MPs and protestors at the Houses of Parliament (which was used as a set for a commercial film for the first time in its history).
"For all of these there was a special effects explosion that visual effects expanded on using effects simulations in Side Effects Houdini. These included rebuilding the post boxes so we could blow the lid and doors off, and expanding the explosion with additional rubble and debris and dust along with the obvious fire and smoke elements that were required," concludes Hughes.
This entry was posted in News, Oscar Awards, VFX and tagged Maya, Nuke, Side Effects Houdin, Simon Hughes, Suffragette, Union VFX on November 17, 2015 by Randi Altman.
Portland's Hinge Digital, which works on spots, commercial campaigns and other content for big brands, such as Microsoft, Adidas, Electronic Arts and Dunkin' Donuts, recently took on a very different kind of project with Suitcase, a 30-second public service announcement created for AdoptUSKids, Ad Council and the US Department of Health and Human Services.
It reminds people that while they might not be perfect at all times, they can provide the perfect, loving home for a child in need. It was produced to mark the 10th anniversary of AdoptUSKids, which helps place foster children into adoptive homes in the United States.
Hinge came up with the concept, wrote, designed and animated the piece, but with so many partners' hands in the mix across the country, the studio needed something to keep everyone on the same page as the project sprang to life. To do that they called on Frankie, a web-based video review tool that allowed remote parties to view the work and collaborate in realtime.
In Suitcase the audience sees a young girl who has been bounced between foster homes, growing accustomed to living out of a suitcase. When she's given a permanent home she finds a new use for that suitcase, and appreciates her adoptive parents even if they make silly mistakes here or there.
"It was important to use emotional storytelling and illustrative design to tell this story, along with the software magic of Maya and Nuke to create the visual narrative," says director Alex Tysowsky, whose nearly 20-year career includes animation for films such as The Matrix and Spider-Man 2. He had a team of eight focused on the PSA, which was in production for about six weeks.
"We wanted to create a spot with a uniquely engaging look that combined toon-shaded CG characters and watercolor backgrounds," he explains. "Once the concept designs were approved, we built the 3D assets to match the look and feel of the artwork. The fun part was animating and bringing the characters to life. "With approvals needed from both creative and non-creative individuals at the client companies — all in various locations across the United States —Hinge Digital needed a solution that would allow for an effective review process. That's where Frankie came in.
Among the studio's favorite features in Frankie are the realtime markup tool and the ability to export notes into a PDF file. Additionally, being able to see when a client has logged into the session – whether before or during the conference call — is a helpful function.
Click here to view the final PSA.
This entry was posted in News and tagged 3D, AdoptUSKids, Frankie collaboration tool, Hinge Digital, Maya, Nuke, PSA on June 8, 2015 by Randi Altman.
Earlier this month, bi-coastal studio Shade VFX brought on veteran visual effects producer Camille Geier as executive producer of its New York location, which recently expanded into a new 5,000-square-foot location.
Geier, who started her visual effects career at ILM as a VFX producer, will oversee Shade's New York feature and television work, including shots on Marvel's Netflix series, Daredevil.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Maya, Nuke, Shade FX, Tax Incentives, Television and Film, VFX, visual effects, Vray on January 20, 2015 by Randi Altman.