News | New York VFX Houses Contribute to Tower Heist | Trailer

News | New York VFX Houses Contribute to Tower Heist | Trailer

Brett Ratner’s new action-comedy film, Tower Heist called for extensive CG environments, and visual effects work, which was divided up between a variety of New York VFX houses including Phosphene, Gravity, and the facilities of Company 3 and Method Studios, both subsidiaries of Deluxe Entertainment Services. The film, which is possibly the biggest film effects project ever completed in New York, is about working stiffs who seek revenge on the Wall Street swindler who stiffed them. After the workers at a luxury Central Park condominium discover the penthouse billionaire has stolen their retirement, they plot the ultimate revenge: a heist to reclaim what he took from them.

The film’s exteriors were shot at Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan and in Queens, while most of the interiors were shot with green screens at Cine Magic Riverfront Studios (Brooklyn, NY).

The Phosphene visual-effects team, under the direction of creative director/VFX supervisor John Bair, augmented and manipulated the physical environment in approximately 70 complex 3D CG set extensions.

“New York’s VFX infrastructure and community is growing at a very fast pace, and it has been amazing to be able to take on a film this size and show the worldwide film community how capable the New York visual-effects talent pool is,” said Vivian Connolly Phosphene co-founder and VFX executive producer. “We are experiencing a trend of wonderful directors finishing their films here and feel incredibly fortunate to be part of the growth of the visual-effects community in the city.”
“John Bair and his company, Phosphene, with a very small group of artists, were able to deliver shots for Tower Heist with absolutely no compromises and perfect execution. It would have taken any other huge VFX company months to pull off what Phosphene did in a matter of weeks with perfection,” said Ratner.

For the exterior of the tower (in real life, the Trump International Hotel & Tower at Columbus Circle on Manhattan’s Westside), Phosphene created a luxurious outdoor environment for the film’s Wall Street billionaire, Arthur Shaw. Removing the array of satellite dishes and technological equipment on the existing building, Phosphene replaced the roof with an expansive swimming pool – with a floor that sports a painted $100 bill – and a roof deck. These digital replacements were vital for the numerous aerial shots, as well as shots that required the addition of city vistas behind the film’s actors.

“The trickiest shot is the film’s opening, a sweeping tracking shot which begins with a tight shot on the $100 dollar bill,” explained Bair. “As the camera pulls up we hear a splash, the edges of a pool come into view, a swimmer moves through the frame and water ripples over the bill on the pool’s bottom. As the camera continues to pull up, it is revealed that the pool is on top of a residential tower. Pulling back still further, the rooftop disappears into a vast aerial view of Manhattan at night. We shot the swimmer on set; the building rooftop was filmed from a helicopter. Then we built a CG pool and CG water and married the elements, making sure they flowed seamlessly together. It is a powerful opening.”

The largest number of scenes that required Phosphene’s work were those in which the characters traveled into the tower’s elevator shaft. Three floors of shaft were constructed on the set. The actors traveled up and down the length of the 60-story shaft riding atop an elevator cab. Additionally, they climbed ladders and over the grid work in the shaft, all of which required either a complete CG environment or a massive extension of the environment to make it look as if it is actually a 60-story building and a three-unit-wide shaft. “The challenge was making sure that all the shots were completely integrated, that they were consistent from all angles and that the space feels cohesive,” Bair continued.

Phosphene VFX producer Renuka Ballal added, “We worked closely with the edit as the cut developed because the speed at which the characters and elevator cab travel through the elevator shaft is the core of the scene’s tension. There were so many moving parts – literally, moving cables, wheels and additional elevator cabs – that we had to be mindful to ensure we were accurately conveying the velocity of the set piece. These are specifics that may not be strictly evident to the typical viewer, but which completely sell the shots and make a huge emotional impact when watching the film.”

Phosphene relied on Nuke, 3ds Max with a V-ray rendering engine and After Effects CS5 and PCs running Windows 7 64-bit to execute the project.

The Phosphene creative team, led by company creative director/VFX supervisor John Bair, visual effects executive producer Vivian Connolly and visual effects producer Renuka Ballal, included visual effects associate producer Lea Prainsack, lead CG artist Vance Miller, and lead compositors Thomas Panayiotou and JD Yepes.