Mockingjay part 1

Here's a cool video I found about the making of Mockingjay part 1.

Visual-effects supervisor Charles Gibson, whose previous work includes the Pirates of the Caribbean series, says the 950 effects shots in Mockingjay Part 1 required a different approach given the way director Francis Lawrence wanted to tell the story.
“The films are played through the point of view of our main character, Katniss, and Francis wants a very real, accessible, naturalistic approach to everything,” says Gibson. “So for us in visual effects, it was finding a way to introduce more of a science fiction element in a real context.”
Realism was important, with the action in Mockingjay Part 1 veering far from the futuristic facade of the Capitol and the Hunger Games in the previous films. “The world of the games was always sort of this thing off to the side, where the rules were not really that clearly known and you could do anything you wanted,” he says. “Here, it is the real world, so all the effects had to be extensions of our real world and played as naturalistically as everything else.”
Environment work formed the bulk of the effects work for Mockingjay Part 1.   “The first film is more of a science-fiction film and more of a political film, and the second film is more of a war film. It has more action in it and more scope and more that plays outside, above ground," says Gibson.

Animation in The Hunger Games

A few weeks ago, the film The Hunger Games was released on DVD. Being a fan of both the books and the film, I was really excited to buy it. The best part about having it on DVD, though, was that it came with a lot of behind-the-scenes features, and I'm a total nerd for those. One of the coolest aspects of the special features, was definitely learning about how animation was used to build parts of the film.

film poster

While I'd seen the film in theaters- twice- I had never noticed just how graphics-heavy it was (which is probably a testament to how good they are). They even essentially built an entire city (the Capitol) using motion graphics. The architecture alone of the buildings is amazing, but the fact that they also had to make the gamemaker's control room almost entirely in 3D was really cool. I thought it was really interesting how nothing in that room was real except the tables and the chairs, and yet they made such a complex and detailed room.

The Control Room used by the Gamemakers

The Capitol city in the film

Overall, I think the use of animation in this film was perfect. It provided the film with enough futurism to make it seem like it was taking place in a different time and era without being over the top or overkill. If you haven't seen the film yet, I highly recommend it. I'm a big fan of Gary Ross and I think he did a beautiful job on it (apart from the abrupt ending, but we won't get into that now.)
See you all on Thursday!

Amazing 3D in the Amazing Spider-man

So this weekend a friend and I went to see, you'll never guess...The Hunger Games :-) And yes the 3D animation used to create the Capitol and other VFX was awesome in this movie too. However, what stood out to me even more was the sneak peek I got for the 3D work that has been done on the new Spider-man movie due to be released this summer. Not surprisingly the storyline and writing appear to be relatively weak but visually the movie looks awesome. Having taken Special Topics in 3D last semester I know exactly how difficult it is to make even a simple character using 3D animation, let alone design an entire city. While, I don't think watching this trailer on a computer screen really does the effects justice, seeing them in the theater was impressive. Not because the effects were flashy and in your face but because the design of the city and especially the shot at the very end where the radio antenna falls look so real. If you're not in the business of animation or movies then you probably wouldn't even know right away that it was computer generated. Keeping in tune with the legendary status of the last few Spider-man movies even  the titles in the trailer are well designed and I'm excited to see what they come up with for the opening sequence!

The Hunger Games

Coming to theaters on March 23, 2012, The Hunger Games is one movie I'm sure will be chock full of wonderful effects. Based on the trilogy written by Suzanne Collins, this film will follow Jennifer Lawrence in her portrayal of Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl sent into an arena with 23 other children to fight to the death. However, there is much more to this story than gory battles scenes.

The Hunger Games is also a book about politics within the 12 districts of Panem (what used to be the United States). In this warped world, the children chosen to fight are dressed up and taken on tour as celebrities. With Lionsgate's $80 million budget, I'm hoping that the scenes featuring the contestants in their absurd costumes as well as the sets for the Capital (where the Panem officials live) are over the top.

There are a slew of people listed on IMDB for use of special effects/visual effects which makes me think that a good portion of the budget was spent on visual effects (that plus the fact that there seem to be few well-known actors in the film, as the plot is centered around children). The title that appears at the end of the trailer, also raises my expectations for some really awesome visual effects incorporated in this movie.

A quote taken from a website reviewing the trailer reads:

"The visual style is amazing. We went from the gritty District 12 to the glossy and futuristic Capitol . Everything on offer was impressive, from the effortless special effects to the stylish and elaborate wardrobe." I know this is a movie I will be watching on March 23 to see all that they do with this futuristic world.