Features | |
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Last Airbender |
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Grey's Anatomy Promo VFX |
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Interview with Bobby Chiu |
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License to dream |
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Focus : Gears Of War 3 |
News Headlines | |
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Dragon Age 2 |
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Bioshock Infinite |
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Time travellers Comic |
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Envirometer |
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Thelma and Louise Remake |
Other Features | |
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Interview With Nick Harris |
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Making Art for Ipad |
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Making VFX for Ben Hur Remake |
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Interview : Mike winkelmann |
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Baby Data |
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All images courtesy of Zoic Studios for ABC.
IA - How was the atrium scene conceived, and integrated into the final shot?
AO - Because the motherships are enormous, it only makes sense that they would feature enormous interior spaces. These sets would be too large to build, so half the effects shots on V involve actors filmed on a green screen stage with tracking markers. These virtual sets, based on Google Sketch-Up files from V‘s production designers (Ian Thomas (Fringe, The 4400) for the pilot; Stephen Geaghan (Journey to the Center of the Earth, The 4400) for later episodes), were created at Zoic’s Vancouver studio using Autodesk Maya and rendered in mental images’ mental ray. The ship interiors were created before the related green screen shots were filmed.
The “Atrium,” a massive interior space inside the mothership, was created for Zoic by David R. Morton (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Serenity). The complex 3D model served essentially as a matte painting. It was incorporated into a complex composited shot, with actors on the green screen stage inserted into virtual sets of a corridor and balcony by the Vancouver studio; the camera pulls out to reveal the Atrium, which was created in LA. Extras in Visitor uniforms were shot on green screen and composited into the Atrium itself.
IA - The last shot from the pilot, with Anna looking out over her new dominion, is perfect. It sounds like it was a difficult task to achieve.
AO - Thanks. It was one of the more difficult shots to pull off for the pilot. It involves the alien leader, Anna (actress Morena Baccarin on the green screen stage), in an observation lounge on the mothership (virtual set); the camera pulls out (practical camera move) past the mothership windows to reveal the entire ship hovering over Manhattan (CG mothership over an original shot of the real Manhattan created for this production). The shot required cooperation between the LA and BC studios, and took a great deal of time and effort. But everyone involved is tremendously satisfied with the finished product.
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IA - What other effects did Zoic produce?
AO- So much of what we work on with the show is invisible, including a wealth of virtual sets. For the last episode, we helped create the big engine room, and more than 300 VFX shots of the pod. The longest sequence was 11 minutes of uninterrupted visual effects that read as true and not digitally manufactured.
IA - How do you think we can see the Zoic touch in V?
Our work on V reflects our cumulative experience on various shows, including Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, and with an evolved pipeline that can handle the demand of episodic turn-around. We always aim for cinematic level effects for the small screen, and effects that are narrative driven. I think V shows that this is attainable even with the intensive schedule of TV.
Links
See Also : Disctrict 9 , Behind the scenes
Coming NEXT: Flash Forward VFX