Wednesday 26 Nov 2008 - 11:14
US VFX studio rhinofx has contributed effects work to Dimension Films' latest project, Soul Men. The film, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac, centres on the plight of two backup soul singers who reluctantly reunite after 20 years for a reunion concert to honour their recently deceased lead singer. Directort Malcolm Lee (Spike Lee's cousin) worked closely with rhino in a collaborative effort, as the company finished over 90 intricate effects shot for the film in a short timeframe.
VFX Supervisor Jim Rider said: "The challenges of this project called for heavy artist involvement with contributions across our resource and talent pools. Being brought in at the tail end of production meant we had to work closely with Malcolm's vision and get creative with some of the shots – doing it all very efficiently and under some pretty tight timelines. Our internal collaborative system really made it easy to review, deliver, and get quick approvals for all the shots, leveraging both our Connecticut and New York studios."
For the film's finale, a major concert at the famed Apollo Theater, the rhino team put together an entire shoot, completely constructing the exterior and entry shots of the theater. This entailed the cloning, repositioning, and blending of the entire approach to the theater to create a large-scale event feel.
Arman Matin, VFX supervisor for the shoot, explains, "To create an entire exterior scene, we actually took a group of extras to the Apollo and shot the entrance sequence. By manipulating and cloning the shots that show the marquee and the crowd outside the theater, we were able to make it look like a major crowd and event. We also used spotlights, cloned and composited across the shots, to build the environment of major movie premiere and the perception of event-style lighting. This was a significant moment in the film and we were able to work with Malcolm to really create the right mood as the crowd entered the theater. In addition, the crowd inside the theater was cloned and positioned to provide the frenetic atmosphere that the scene demanded."
The nearly 100 VFX shots required very technical work with countless fixes, tweaks, and adjustments to deliver a high-quality realistic visual feel. One scene, which showcases the two lead characters' trek across the country in a convertible, includes about seven minutes of detailed driving sequences, all shot on a green screen. The footage was shot separately and had to be adjusted to create the right lighting and match up the foreground and background using detailed rotoscoping, masking, and colour correction.
Digital Arts staff
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