Part of the project’s scope involved compositing shots with animals – a bear, a raccoon and birds – some of which meet an untimely demise, with action facilitated through CG gore. In addition to a significant compositing load, the team of nearly 20 artists – which were led by Cruz, Compositing Supervisors Nick Dauphinais and Sandro Blattner, and CG Lead Sewang Kim – completed simulations including full ocean replacements, fire and smoke, as well as matte paintings, a 3D bridge and stunt double facial replacements. One of the biggest tasks was making Radcliffe pass for a corpse. The Method team completed clean-up work to smooth out any chest or facial movements caused by breathing, as well as removing any inadvertent blinks. Method Creative Director and VFX Supervisor Alvin Cruz noted, “The film’s premise is crazy avant garde but rooted in reality. Rather than technical challenges, our biggest hurdle was making these outlandish actions somehow believable. Also, it’s shot anamorphic so the footage is beautiful and cinematic but also somewhat distorted, and we had to match that aesthetic.” This is a VFX breakdown of one of the scenes. CREDITS Client: DANIELS Director: Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan VFX: Method Studios Creative Director & VFX Supervisor: Eduardo 'Alvin' Cruz Supervising Producer: Shaina Holmes Supervising Producer: David Derwin Producer: Katherine Soares Coordinator: Dani Light Composting Supervisor: Robert 'Nick' Dauphinais CG Supervisor: Sewing Kim VFX Artists: Tom Leckie VFX Artists: Tom McCullough VFX Artists: David Vincent Piombino VFX Artists: Brian Benson VFX Artists: Ben Conner VFX Artists: Melissa Graff VFX Artists: Brian Magarian VFX Artists: Mackenzie Parker VFX Artists: Ari Reisner VFX Artists: Anton Tsolov VFX Artists: Toma Bowen VFX Artists: Sorie Conteh VFX Artists: Chad Herrada VFX Artists: Ryan Leonard VFX Artists: David Marte VFX Artists: Grady Campbell VFX Artists: Eric Gelgand VFX Artists: Sam Jorgensen VFX Artists: Russell Mack VFX Artists: Kevin Quinlan VFX Artists: Melissa Whitcomb Matte Painter: Ivan Girard VFX Editor: Pinar Comezoglu Technical Operations Manager: David Toepfer Color: Company 3 Colorist: Sofie Borup
