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| Prime focus contributes services 5 of the 10 vfx oscar contenders |
With the shortlist for the Visual Effects Oscar® for the 84th Academy Awards®
announced last week, Prime Focus is proud to have contributed to five
of the ten films that are in the running. The work ranged from creating
complex VFX shots for Tree of Life and X-Men: First Class, to being lead 3D conversion facility on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, to completing 3D conversion and delivering stereoscopic VFX shots for Transformers: Dark of the Moon and supplying on-set equipment for Hugo.
The Tree of Life was the highly anticipated return of acclaimed
director Terrence Malick and saw Prime Focus deliver a number of
detailed sequences including the creation of stunningly realistic
dinosaurs. The film, which was based on Malick's original screenplay, is
an impressionistic story of a 1950's mid-Western American family. It
explores difficult human issues, seeking answers to the origins and
meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.
The majority of the visual effects in the film come in the opening
creation sequence, which features subtle images from the prehistoric era
and, astronomy. The 50-strong Prime Focus team, spanning facilities in
Los Angeles and Vancouver, worked closely with VFX Supervisor Dan Glass
to determine the species of dinosaurs they would create as well as the
environment around them. A huge amount of research was undertaken with
specialist biologists and paleontologists brought in.
The final outcome is a hugely impressive piece of filmmaking by
Malick, a storyteller at the peak of his powers. The film picked up the
prestigious Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and is
expected to fare well in the upcoming awards season.
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| X-Men: First Class |
Elsewhere Prime Focus was called in to provide VFX shots for Matthew
Vaughn's superhero adventure 'X-Men: First Class', with work on the
Marvel and Twentieth Century Fox film being completed in London,
Vancouver and Mumbai, using the Prime Focus Global Digital Pipeline. Up
against a tight deadline, having this span of resources available
enabled the team to deliver a number of high quality shots in a short
amount of time, proving that a company with a global reach can offer
significant advantages.
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| Michael Bay, Transformers: Dark of the Moon |
Regarded as a leader in the 3D space, Prime Focus delivered
stereoscopic 3D visual effects and converted 230 shots into 3D for
Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Working closely with
Stereographer Corey Turner, the creative control afforded through
View-D™, Prime Focus' proprietary conversion process, gave the film's
Producers and Supervisors the freedom to design and sculpt the 3D
according to their vision. It would go on to be the fourth highest
grossing film of all time and the second highest grossing of the year,
taking in over $1.12 billion.
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| Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 |
2011's highest grossing film was the final installment of Warner
Bros' incredibly successful Harry Potter franchise - Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Prime Focus was the lead vendor in the 3D
conversion of this film, and working closely with director David Yates
and studio stereographer Hugh Murray, the teams in London, LA and India
took on the conversion of some of the biggest and most challenging VFX
sequences in the movie, delivering 400 3D shots overall. Upon
completion, Yates said "Prime Focus delivered on every level and helped
make our 3D conversion all that we could have hoped for and more."
As a global entertainment services group, Prime Focus offers a
variety of services to filmmakers. Its London-based team were on hand to
supply the Hugo production team with on-set equipment including a
Baselight 8 grading system that was temporarily installed at Shepperton
Studios during production.
The 84th Academy Awards® nominations will be announced live on
Tuesday, January 24, with the Awards ceremony taking place on Sunday
February 26 at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. Prime Focus would like to
congratulate everyone involved with these exceptional projects and wish
them the best of luck with their nominations.
