Monday 02 Mar 2009 - 11:08
Feature Film VFX specialists Machine has completed visual effects for British film Franklyn, which was released in the UK on February 20.
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Written and directed by Gerald McMorrow and starring Ryan Phillippe and Eva Green, Franklyn focuses on the stories of four lost souls living in two parallel realities: contemporary London and the futuristic monolithic metropolis of Meanwhile City, a place run by religious fervour.
The project posed many challenges for the artists at Machine who had to complete 45 shots in just six weeks. Along with Double Negative, who also worked on the visual effects, they created the ultra modern Meanwhile City.
Having received the matte painted background from Double Negative, Machine composited the green screen shots of the city to create the scenes where the main character Jonathan Preest (played by Ryan Phillippe) looks out across the moody urban landscape.
Another key scene involved the transition between the two worlds. The same room was dressed in different ways for London and Meanwhile City. The camera pans across the room changing from one reality to the other. The director wanted a simple dissolve or ‘wave’ through the scene, but the effect proved much more complicated. Machine used mattes to complete the transition based on the geometry of the room. This involved lots of rotoscoping and hand animation using Shake.
Other complex shots Machine worked on included a long tracking shot where the camera moves forward into the side of a door and through an intercom to show a close-up of the circuit board inside, as well as creating a view from a rifle with a magnifying glass effect.
"For several shots, the director gave us the opportunity to come up with different ideas and try things out," said John Lockwood, visual effects supervisor at Machine. ‘"It was creatively challenging but we’re really proud of what we achieved in such a short space of time."
Other effects by Machine included sky replacement, face replacement, ‘vapourising’ a character, monitor inserts and logo removal. The team used just about every resource available to them including Shake, Fusion, Inferno, Smoke and FrameCycler. Baselight was used extensively for previewing and pre-grading blue screen shots. Inferno and Smoke work was supervised by Derek Moore.
"I’ve known the guys at Machine for some time but this was the first time we’ve had the chance to work together," said Layla Blackman, post production supervisor at Recorded Picture Company. "They did a marvellous job and were a great team to work with. The shots look great and director Gerald McMorrow is very pleased with the final results."
Digital Arts Staff
For more information see the Machine Web site.
For more information see the Franklyn Web site.
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