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Paul Walker and the Visual Effects in Fast & Furious 7

When Paul Walker passed away in November 2013, fans all over the world mourned while the cast and crew was left devastated. Putting aside emotion, they were left with one big question and that was, how were they to complete the movie? No character was dispensable especially not Brian played by Paul who set has been instrumental in setting the tone of the first movie and every movie that followed. So what were they to do now? Universal as refused to discuss how they plan to bring Paul Walkers character to life and if any visual effects will be employed in it beyond saying that his brothers Cody and Caleb stood in for Paul and the director pulled in shots of Paul from the previous movies. But some sources that spoke about the use of visual effects in Fast and Furious 7 told the Hollywood Reporter that Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital was asked to complete the sensitive and arduous task of reanimating Walker for Furious 7, and its cutting-edge work points toward a future where most actors can be re-created seamlessly if needed. (The company declined to comment on its specific contributions though.)

But the talks and rumours about the use of visual effects in Fast and Furious 7 just won’t die down. Many believe that Paul Walker has been digitally recreated with the use of CGI and body doubles to finish the movie. Some sources have also told the first showing that they have hired four actors with bodies very similar to Paul’s physique and they will be used for movement and as a base. Paul’s face and voice will be used on top using CGI.

This is not the first time, movies and production houses have has to use the support of the visual effects team to complete a movie after the untimely loss or death of a character. They had to apply a similar technique when Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away with a few shots left to the shooting of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. The use of such techniques go as far back as the Oscar award-winning movie, the Gladiator when Oliver Reed suffered a fatal heart attack during the filming. There is much speculation over what technique has been employed to create these digital masks with many favouring the probably use of motion capture. Ofcourse, they will need to get as many close ups of the actors face to get the exact replication of his features right and not mention an outstanding texture artist to make the skin look real. But if this is the road they have taken, then the toughest job falls to the animator and the rigger who will have to make every single expression extremely believable and human like. And that is where people believe motion capture can come to the aid of the animators. And this is Weta Digital we are talking about! Motion Capture is their forte and there are few who can even compete with them. Maybe we will see a digitally recreated Paul Walker. But will we be able to tell the difference? Only time and the audience with the first day first shows have the answer to that.

The movie is set to release in the month of April. Here is a peak at the official trailer again while we wait for the movie to hit the theatres.

March 26, 2015
Digital videos and their influence on ROI
Digital marketing is a space that is booming. Years ago, it was believed that the internet had been used to its full potential. That was until social media came into the picture. Most of the nay sayerss have been converted today with the remarkable results of engagement and awareness building that has been achieved through them for many. However, one of the most underutilized platforms even today is video marketing.

Why is Digital Marketing so Important?

In 2017, researchers expect global consumer video activity to represent nearly 70 per cent of all consumer Internet traffic, up from 57 per cent in 2012. Online video services will double in usage during the same time frame, reaching more than 80 per cent of all Internet users worldwide.

Surprised? Here are a few more stats that will leave you dumbfounded

YouTube has over a billion users, almost one-third of total internet users.

Need another one?

51% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI.

Is there a template followed by successful digital marketers?

Digital marketers have been following this formula for a while now,

Find an unoccupied space

Dig around

Keep digging till they find the best way to capitalize on that medium

Then scale as if their life depended on it

How can Digital Marketing help your Brand?

There are three main reasons why you should jump on the digital video marketing bandwagon:

Consumers love video content. They are more likely to watch and remember your brand proposition than read about it and remember

It is more affordable than television marketing and has a wider reach than print.

You can decide exactly who sees your advertisement and optimize it to be as cost effective as possible.

Here are 3 ways that digital videos can change how brands are perceived and increase the amount of money they make eventually.

SECOND LARGEST SEARCH ENGINE IN THE WORLD: YOUTUBE

Why did SEO kick off in the first place? Because Google is that big! With YouTube being the next in line, videos are rising to be a strong way to communicate your brand proposition in a manner that benefits the costumers. After all information is what they are looking for!

SKY ROCKET BRAND ENGAGEMENT

There is more you can do with a digital video than you can with a commercial break and that is exactly what Marks & Spencer’s did with their The Two Fairies holiday campaign that maps back to a twitter account. The account went from zero to 28000 followers. The fact is that with tablets and smart phones, the barriers to conversation on the online medium are unbelievably low but that is not something you can say about TV. Or you can peek at how Red Bull used the medium to increase its brand value with some awesome content and smart distribution plans.

You may have a jaw dropping product, but how do you capitalize on that? Digital videos are the answer to that.

CURE TO BANNER BLINDNESS

On an average, 25 to 34 year old, sees about 2000 banner ads a month. Is there any doubt as to why they are blind to banners today? With the relevant content and context, a video is guaranteed to boost awareness and engagement. Who doesn’t like to be entertained at all times?

It is time to take a look at your marketing plans again and reach out a studio that creates digital videos, today!
March 17, 2015
ILM, Kathleen Kennedy, and Star Wars Episode VII

When the announcement of Disney taking over Lucasfilms and their in-house visual effects team ILM came, it blew socks off the internet. Nobody saw that coming. But then when the announcement of Kathleen Kennedy, renowned for her work on the Star Wars series, as the new president came, there was no surprise at all. And that was followed by the announcement of Star Wars Episode VII, crafted with the expertise of ILM Star Wars visual effects, being released in the month of May 2015 which had every Star Wars fan blessing them to heaven and back.

Step one was to woo director J.J. Abrams as the hand behind the making of this movie, and since then, many changes have been implemented on how these movies were approached after the original trilogy. Things have just been on the roll since then. One of the biggest complaints that the old-school Star Wars series’ fans had with the visual effects in prequels was that Lucas overused CGI and animation. The puppets and droids were replaced by computer graphics. Even the beloved Yoda puppet was retired. A lot of the action was shot in front of a green screen. But it looks like things are looking up for the old-school fans now. Kennedy’s Star Wars team has brought in a more combined style of practical and CG, bringing more authenticity to this episode. This is what she went on to tell the crowds at the Star Wars celebration Europe, referencing ILM’s work on Star Wars and its contribution to visual effects innovation.

The conversation we’re having all the time now about ‘Episode VII’ is how much CGI. We’re looking at what the early Star Wars films did; they used real locations with special effects. So [for ‘Episode VII’] we’re going to find some very cool locations, we’re going to end up using every single tool in the toolbox.

She also proceeded to say that,

I was amazed yesterday and looking at what the fans are doing,” referring to some of the presentations and displays of Celebration Europe. “Using model makers, using real droids, taking advantage of the artwork that you can touch and feel, we want to do that in combination with CG effects.

She also gave the crowds another bit of news to celebrate upon by confirming that Williams would composing the score. There was still more chew upon when she said that they were looking to create some really cool new characters.

Brennon spoke out about how the practical approach will only make things easier for the visual effects team saying that,

What it does for us in visual effects is it also gives us something to build upon. It gives us something to ground our visual effects with. Not only in the shots that have practical sets that we’re expanding on, or putting a creature into, it also gives us a really strong aesthetic that we know to follow in shots that are all-CG.

If that wasn’t all too much of a surprise, here is another little happening that will blow your mind. Not only has Kathleen got people embracing the new style for the movie, she has also got many to admit that they need to be looking at the privacy details for this movie in a different light. Kathleen said that with a franchise as big and popular as the Star Wars series and with the internet being what it is, it is absolutely impossible to keep the happenings of this movie a secret. She added that ILM Star Wars innovations have also played a role in shaping the visuals for this project, making it even harder to contain the excitement. That is why, under Kennedy’s Star Wars leadership, they are going to be giving the crowds a peak at what is happening every once in a while!

That is it for today on the visual effects of Star Wars Episode VII. But stay in touch, you will be hearing more from us again and soon!

March 10, 2015
Who claimed victory? The winners for visual effects and animation at the Oscars 2015

Guess what we were doing at 5:30 am today morning? Watching the Oscar awards 2015 of course! And every time, the winner in an award category was to be announced we were leaping out of seats in joy. Here are the winners in the visual effects and animation category. It gives us great pleasure even thinking back to when we saw these marvels on screen for the first time.

Best Visual Effects

Winner: Interstellar, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, and Scott Fisher

There was no surprise here. After all, Interstellar changed the very way visual effects was approached in sci-fi movies for decades now. Nothing this realistic was attempted till date and the success was spectacular. Double Negative wrote a brand new software to put together the wormhole and then replicated the same for creating the black holes as light does not travel in straight lines in these environments. The science behind the entire process was so strong that Paul Franklin was able to use the research to submit a scientific papers backed by results. Not just that, Chris Nolan went a step ahead and changed the very way visual effects was approached in the movie. Normally treated as a post-production aspect, the green screen was a fixture when shooting a scene that requires visual effects. Nolan elimated the use of green screen entirely by turning the VFX into a pre-production aspect for this movie. He then put up large projection screens and mounted a camera on a crane. When the actors seemed awe struck by the visuals, it was because they were actually awe struck! With so many ground breaking changes in the making of the film, it is was obvious that the results would be spectacular. Interstellar most certainly deserved the win this year!

Best Animated Feature

Winner: Big Hero 6 by Disney’s Animation Studio

The Big Hero 6 went down as a marker in history of animation. The movie is inspired by a Marvel comic, is about a robotics prodigy who creates a team of Superhero’s to battle a masked villain. The movie may not have been as big a box office hit as Frozen or made Disney as much money on the revenue scale but the very huggable Baymax and the renderer that brought him to life hyperon will certainly never be forgotten. It took 200 hours and 2 years to build the rendered and it wasn’t even tested before the movie was put into production but the hallow and glowing results that it brought to Baymax was so appealing that Don Hall and Chris Williams took the risk of using it anyway. And the risk paid off. Not only was the movie loved but it has also won them an Oscar today beating the second part of How to Train Your Dragon.

Best Animated Short

Winner: Feast by Disney’s Animation Studio

Whoever brought tickets for the Big Hero 6 in 2014 was in for a treat with the animated short “Feast” being thrown in as a part of the deal. The short was made so show the love life of a man through the view of his dog and food. The 3D animation work along with the expressions of the adorable boston terrier as he connects his humans life and emotions to his dinners is certainly a fresh perspective at the whole scenario that has never been touched upon before. It was engaging, emotional and as accurate as possible. Feast not just won the Oscars but was also awards honours for 3D achievement at the 3D creative arts awards. Disney’s Animation Studio is trying to find its way to its roots with bringing animated shorts back to life and Feast was among their first steps towards it.

We say that the visual effects and animation studios behind these movies most definitely deserve all the credit, appreciation, and love they have received today. What do you say?

February 23, 2015
What Weta Digital did for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies!

Weta Digital has been around for 20 years now and has made over 40 films. The latest in their box of success is The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies! Take a look at how they made it happen.

February 20, 2015
Behind the Scenes with Toolbox: The Making of ‘Baji

Baji marks the return of Shreyas Talpade in the Marathi film industry after 7 years. Presented by DAR motion pictures and directed by Nikhil Mahajan, the movie is set around the story of a legendry superhero vigilante who fought against the oppression of poor and is remembered till date for his bow, sword, and white stallion. Playing the lead opposite Shreyas Talpade is Amruta Kanvilkar and the antagonist is brought to life by Jitendra Joshi.

Baji is the first movie in the history of Marathi of the movie industry to have used the support of a visual effects studio in India to create more than 250 shots in the movie including the title sequence that was built solely by the use of motion graphics. The scope of work for visual effects that included masking of the wire work in the action sequences, creation of CG environments and matte painting insertions was so vast, that it demanded our focus from the very beginning with a supervisor constantly present at the shooting site.

This blog contains an entire series of before and after images that will take you through some of the contribution that we have made for this marathi movie Baji that we are proud off!

Action sequences

The nature of the story required for the presence of a number of action sequences where Shreyas as a superhero is pulling of some rather courageous stunts. This required us to mask some of the equipment used along with adding gore wherever needed.

CG environment

Certain portions of the movie, needed the generation of complete CG environments. Every shot involving the cave, was shot over a green screen and the cave along with the treasure was later added to it as a CG generated environment.

Another scene that required the support of CG environments is the train yard scene, where the entire train itself is nothing but a CG environment!

Matte Painting

Last but not the least, something we are rather proud of! The scene over the digging for treasure! They didn’t actually dig a hole that big, the digging site was later added to scene as a matte painting.

Looks extremely real doesn’t it!

Do let us know what you think!

February 17, 2015
71 nominations and more! Interstellar won the hearts of many!

February 13, 2015
ILM: What was the year 2014 like for them?

The year 2014 saw some big releases that would have been nothing without visual effects as its backbone. All the big studios had a few film release that did well. One such studio was ILM, Industrial Light & Magic. ILM had a good run last year with six releases, 3 of which were contenders for the Oscars and 1 listed among the final nominees. Among these were some of the best films of 2014, showcasing the exceptional work ILM has put into them. Let’s look at these ILM movies and the work that ILM has put into them!

But before that lets take a look at the studios beginning and what it stands for today. ILM movies began as a division of Lucasfilms when George Lucas began producing Star Wars. In the 1980’s, IM dominated the market and had many production houses send across CGI work to them. It is also the founding company of the Pixar studio. Today, ILM is still among the biggest and most respected players in the visual effects industry.

2014: ILM releases

Noah

As a movie, Noah strayed away from the usual beaten path that most have adopted in presenting the story. Considering the different storyline approaches, IILM’s work with this movie was apt and stunning! Many bits of the film are exceptional, but the truly remarkable bit of execution was the stop framework they did on the evolution of the world. A few have attempted this before, but they have yet to do such a masterful job at it. The simplest way to do this is to allow the entire sequence to look like a rush of images, but that was not what they did. The artists produced a spectacular ark that made it easy for us to follow the evolutionary process. Noah is undoubtedly one of the best films of 2014.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

For this movie, they deserve more than a round of applause. They were a few bits like the HUD system and its interface on the windscreen during the Winter Soldiers attack and more but the cherry on the cake were the Helicarriers. Who would have thought it would have been possible to would even be possible to make them bigger and better? But nothing is impossible for ILM. The modellers did a marvellous job with the helicarriers with the building, rigging, and simulations with the rigid bodies, especially with live-action sequences that they were involved in. This film truly stands out among the best films of 2014.

Transformers: The Age of Extinction

ILM has been making the transformer movies since the first in the series and they have been received well till this last part. With the story line and the movie not being well received by the masses, everybody was unanimous in saying that the only good part in the movie was the visual effects. The credit to that goes entirely to the ILM team. The addition of the Dinobots and the hypno transforming new age transformers was as good as it can get!

Lucy

Luke Bensson wanted to be surprised and is what he said to the ILM movies VFX supervisor of the movie Richard Bluff. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Richard said, “He wanted to be surprised by the work. He wanted to come in and inspire us by the story and the possibility of what we could do. He gave us guidelines, but for the most part, he wanted to remain an audience member. He would ask us to resist the temptation to show things early, until it was at the stage that it was really compelling.” Luke had guidelines for them but for most part, he played the role of the audience. The team did a great job with the visuals overall but the scene where the drug unlocks the full capability of the Scarlett’s character and the strange visuals that accompanied it, were by far the best films of 2014!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

These characters are legendary. Most of us have grown up reading their comics and watching the cartoons. But the movie and the special effects in it was worth the wait! Especially since the characters looked so realistic! What is the secret behind it? Here is the answer straight from the production notes at cbslocal, “Preparations got underway months before filming — as Alan Ritchson (Raphael), Pete Ploszek (Leonardo), Noel Fisher (Michelangelo), Jeremy Howard (Donatello) and Danny Woodburn (Master Splinter) each underwent complex facial and full-body scans that led to the tailoring of their custom made helmets and mo-cap (motion-capture) suits. Later, on set, the four Turtle actors and Woodburn each went through a daily two-hour long session of applying white facial powder and VFX dots to help further track their expressions. Before the cameras rolled, the four turtle actors would then strap on not only their helmets but a lightweight turtle shell, which added to the realistic physical motion and weight distribution.”

This dedication to realism made this film one of the best films of 2014, solidifying its place among the ILM movies that pushed the boundaries of visual effects.

The year 2014 was definitely a great hit for them and with Star Wars: part VIII coming out in 2015, it only seems like 2015 will be better for them!

February 9, 2015
Golden Globe Awards 2015: Nominees and winner for the Best Animated Feature Film

The awards season is here and the golden globes aired just a few weeks back. With the hit duo of Fey and Pohlear hosting it for the third and final time, the ceremony was certainly a force to watch out for. But we are not here to discuss the success of the show or any of the event details, so let’s move on to the topic at hand. Which feature films were nominated to the animated movie category and who took home the award?

The nominees for the Best Animated Feature Film

Big Hero 6

The Big Hero 6 didn’t turn into a global avalanche like frozen but it did make a mark in animation history! The real hero of this movie is not Baymax, the very huggable robot, but the team that built the technology which made Baymax and rest of the movie possible.

The Hyperion is a light rendering software that took two years and 200 computing hours to build. By the time, this movie was set to be made, the software was not even tested. Don Hall explained that even though the CTO of Walt Disney Animation Studio, Andy Hendrickson, was not even sure if the software would work, the character tests showed that Baymax needed to be hallow and glow for it to have the charm they desired. And the visuals that the software produced were so stunning that the Don Hall and Chris Williams decided to go ahead and take the risk anyway!

The Book of Life

The Book of Life is an awe-inspiring story line taken straight from the cultural books of Mexico that talk about the day of death. As a children’s movie, it looks towards teaching children the value of leading a moral life and about following their own path. A movie put together to reach the heart of kids is without the right character creation would never succeed. That is why the characters of Manolo, Maria, Mary Beth, Jaoquin and their journey needed to stand out and sure did!

The Boxtrolls

The Boxtrolls is a perfect combination of art and science using stop motion to make the entire movie. Stop motion is a technique that has been used in the making of classics like King Kong and is a rather pain staking way to make a movie where every character has to be hand crafted. These characters are then placed on the sets to take pictures of every shot which is then strung into an entire clip. But this movie did see the use of some technology that saved the makers a whole lot of pain. 3D printing technology that they used allowed them to give the characters more lifelike expressions, especially as they could be printed in the thousands. And even then, it took 30 animators 18 months and 79 sets to make this movie.

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Dream Works unleashed their secret weapon during the making of this movie. The Apollo technology took 5 years to make in collaboration with Intel and it was certainly worth it. The advanced suite of tools that comes with this technology handed artists the tools that made it easier and quicker to create and do so much more than they could before! Doesn’t that make sense considering how amazing the visuals in this movie looked? The fight sequences and the elaborate environments are of course stunning but that one scene when Toothless gets annoyed with Hiccup for senselessly risking his life and the display of emotions in that one scene shall remain etched in our minds forever.

The Lego Movie

Co-director Chris Miller responded to a tweet stating that this movie is mostly a result of CG animation, a little stop motion and some real Lego still sets comped in. To add to the authenticity of the movie, the team actually played around with Lego sets to grasp exactly what the digital image should like. The results of this was so stunning that the audience is confused at most places as to what was CG and what was the real in the movie!

Predictions

Indiwire took a few guesses and said that The Lego Movie was most likely to win but How to Train Your Dragon 2 stood a chance too.

Who actually won?

The result proved that Indiwire wasn’t too off with their guessing when How to Train Your Dragon 2 walked away with the award this year!

If you haven’t seen How to Train Your Dragon 2 yet, here is the trailer to encourage you to get around to it sooner rather than later!

January 27, 2015
VFX industry predictions for 2015

January 22, 2015