VFX company Cinesite employed 120 artists for a year to make 500 effects for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

border=0 /><BR></div> </p> <p>"Ping pong balls on sticks,” is how VFX supervisor Adam McInnes helped his team imagine the journey Slartibartfast takes through the Planet Factory. </p> <p> Usually considered a British phenomenon, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, written by the late Douglas Adams, has finally made it to the big screen. Fans of this quirky series, which started out on Radio Four, will not need any introduction. Others who have managed to miss the five books and numerous spin-offs, might. </p> <p> In summary, Arthur Dent, a human, wakes one day to find his best friend is an alien and the Earth is about to be destroyed by a Vogon-fleet to make way for an interstellar bypass. Fortunately, Dent’s friend, Ford Prefect, saves both their lives and they embark on an incredible adventure to the end of the universe. Given four stars by Empire magazine, the film opened on April 29. </p> <p> Cinesite, a London-based visual effects company, put together 500 shots for the film. “Given that the characters fly around in spaceships, go to alien planets, and one of the principle actors has two heads, there’s a fair amount of effects stuff in there,” says Matt Johnson, another VFX supervisor on the film. </p> <p> <h2>Creature comforts</h2> </p> <p> <div class=inlineimage><img src= Print

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