Various VFX & Post-Production Rumours
Posted: Apr 10, 2010 2:10 pm
#1: The Dragon VFX by MPC
Found a fairly interesting bit of information about the VFX work being done on the dragon for Voyage of the Dawn Treader which i thought was worth sharing.
According to the website of Adam Walker who works as a Modeller and Texture Artist for the Moving Picture Company (MPC), he details his present work on VDT as follows:
http://adamwalker-vfx.blogspot.com/
So he says the Dragon is scheduled to be featured in around 200 shots of the movie. Apparently the last movie had between 1600 and 1800 VFX shots, whilst the first movie had between 1500 and 1600 VFX shots, depending on which interview you read (see here and here)
If we were to assume the total number of VFX shots for VDT will be around about the same as PC (1600 -1800) then that would mean the Dragon would be in 1/8th to 1/9th of all VFX shots in the movie. If we were then to assume the runtime of the movie were also to stay the same as PC (150 mins) then we could perhaps translate 1/8th to 1/9th of VFX shots into 18 to 16 mins of screentime for the Dragon?
Its probably a bit of a massive stretch of logic to make any such precise calculation from such a small piece of information, but given that in interviews for the last movie they said that pretty much every shot in the movie required VFX work, it does perhaps give you a rough idea of what "200 shots" equals in real terms.
note - in the quote above, when he says the Dragon is the most "hero" character they've ever created i'd imagine he means "hero" in the movie-making sense, such as the way a "hero" prop is one designed to a high standard and with a large amount of detail in order to be featured prominently in the movie (compared to say a regular prop which would just be designed to be seen in the background.)
#2: Aslan VFX by Framestore
I think i posted this small piece of information before somewhere, but i can't remember where it was, so i'll add it here as well.
This is from the website of Ian Comley, who describes some of his present VFX work at Framestore as follows:
http://www.iancomley.com/vfx.php
The Aslan VFX in Prince Caspian was also done by Framestore, so that perhaps should not come as a surprise, though on the first film he was done by Rhythm and Hues, so it is possible for these things to move from one VFX house to another.
#3 Reepicheep VFX by MPC
Again, just a small bit of information to confirm that Reepicheep is being worked on by the same VFX house that did him in Prince Caspian. From the LinkedIn profile of Fabien Yorgandjian who works as a CG Modeler and Texturer at MPC:
(i'd assume "Eustace DD" refers to the Dragon, which i already mentioned was also being worked on by MPC.)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... clnk&gl=au
http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/fabien-yorgandjian/3/724/1B4
#4: Water VFX by Cinesite
I think Cinesite are one of the lead VFX houses on VDT, so they are probably doing lots of stuff, but the most i could find out about what specific work they were doing was on the LinkedIn profile of Julien Depredurand who is an "Effects Technical Director" at Cinesite and mentions that his present work on VDT involves the use of a program called Houdini to do some Fluids animation - i would assume in a movie like VDT that would equate to water.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/juliendepredurand
#5: Dufflepuds CGI by The Senate?
I'm sure you all saw on the news page the interview with Roy Billing where he mentions that the Dufflepuds will indeed be digitally shrunk in post production (which can be discussed over in this topic). Well using a bit of assumption i'd make an educated guess that the CGI work on the Dufflpuds is being done by a company called The Senate.
Their website is below where they mention that they are "currently working on Michael Apted's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the 3rd installment of the highly successful Narnia stories".
http://www.senatevfx.com/
The Senate are a VFX company based at Twickenham Studios in the UK where it was previously reported that a Green Screen VFX test was carried out for the Dufflepuds under the direction of visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton, who seems to have had a hand in quite a few of the other movie projects worked on by The Senate. Would perhaps seem likely therefore that they will be doing to bulk of the CGI work on the Dufflepuds.
Found a fairly interesting bit of information about the VFX work being done on the dragon for Voyage of the Dawn Treader which i thought was worth sharing.
According to the website of Adam Walker who works as a Modeller and Texture Artist for the Moving Picture Company (MPC), he details his present work on VDT as follows:
Responsible for 2/3rds of the textures and displacement of the Dragon character. The dragon is amongst the most hero characters MPC has ever created, and is scheduled to be featured in around 200 shots of the movie.
http://adamwalker-vfx.blogspot.com/
So he says the Dragon is scheduled to be featured in around 200 shots of the movie. Apparently the last movie had between 1600 and 1800 VFX shots, whilst the first movie had between 1500 and 1600 VFX shots, depending on which interview you read (see here and here)
If we were to assume the total number of VFX shots for VDT will be around about the same as PC (1600 -1800) then that would mean the Dragon would be in 1/8th to 1/9th of all VFX shots in the movie. If we were then to assume the runtime of the movie were also to stay the same as PC (150 mins) then we could perhaps translate 1/8th to 1/9th of VFX shots into 18 to 16 mins of screentime for the Dragon?
Its probably a bit of a massive stretch of logic to make any such precise calculation from such a small piece of information, but given that in interviews for the last movie they said that pretty much every shot in the movie required VFX work, it does perhaps give you a rough idea of what "200 shots" equals in real terms.
note - in the quote above, when he says the Dragon is the most "hero" character they've ever created i'd imagine he means "hero" in the movie-making sense, such as the way a "hero" prop is one designed to a high standard and with a large amount of detail in order to be featured prominently in the movie (compared to say a regular prop which would just be designed to be seen in the background.)
#2: Aslan VFX by Framestore
I think i posted this small piece of information before somewhere, but i can't remember where it was, so i'll add it here as well.
This is from the website of Ian Comley, who describes some of his present VFX work at Framestore as follows:
I'm currently in working at Framestore in London as Look Development Lead on Aslan, in the upcoming film 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader'.
http://www.iancomley.com/vfx.php
The Aslan VFX in Prince Caspian was also done by Framestore, so that perhaps should not come as a surprise, though on the first film he was done by Rhythm and Hues, so it is possible for these things to move from one VFX house to another.
#3 Reepicheep VFX by MPC
Again, just a small bit of information to confirm that Reepicheep is being worked on by the same VFX house that did him in Prince Caspian. From the LinkedIn profile of Fabien Yorgandjian who works as a CG Modeler and Texturer at MPC:
CG Modeler - MPC
Narnia 3, Invisible Army
DawnTreader
Eustace DD
Reepicheep
(i'd assume "Eustace DD" refers to the Dragon, which i already mentioned was also being worked on by MPC.)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... clnk&gl=au
Narnia 3, Invisible Army
character and creature modeling and texturing
http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/fabien-yorgandjian/3/724/1B4
#4: Water VFX by Cinesite
I think Cinesite are one of the lead VFX houses on VDT, so they are probably doing lots of stuff, but the most i could find out about what specific work they were doing was on the LinkedIn profile of Julien Depredurand who is an "Effects Technical Director" at Cinesite and mentions that his present work on VDT involves the use of a program called Houdini to do some Fluids animation - i would assume in a movie like VDT that would equate to water.
Effects Technical Director - Cinesite
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) :
Houdini Effects ( Fluids )
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/juliendepredurand
#5: Dufflepuds CGI by The Senate?
I'm sure you all saw on the news page the interview with Roy Billing where he mentions that the Dufflepuds will indeed be digitally shrunk in post production (which can be discussed over in this topic). Well using a bit of assumption i'd make an educated guess that the CGI work on the Dufflpuds is being done by a company called The Senate.
Their website is below where they mention that they are "currently working on Michael Apted's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the 3rd installment of the highly successful Narnia stories".
http://www.senatevfx.com/
The Senate are a VFX company based at Twickenham Studios in the UK where it was previously reported that a Green Screen VFX test was carried out for the Dufflepuds under the direction of visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton, who seems to have had a hand in quite a few of the other movie projects worked on by The Senate. Would perhaps seem likely therefore that they will be doing to bulk of the CGI work on the Dufflepuds.