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| Phosphene, VFX, Young Adult, wallpaper, poster, movie |
Directed by Jason Reitman, the film centers around Theron’s character,
who returns to claim an old flame - even though he’s married and a new
father. Oswalt tries to serve as the voice of reason.
Creative director/VFX supervisor John Bair and VFX producer Vivian
Connolly lead the Phosphene team, which served as the only effects
vendor on the film.
“The most complex VFX sequence in the film involves Patton Oswalt’s
leg. In an intimate scene with Charlize Theron, his severely deformed
limb, the result of a brutal high school beating, is exposed. Because of
the sensitive nature of the reveal, the leg absolutely had to feel 100
percent real.” explains Connolly.
During production, John Bair and Phosphene’s lead digital artist
Aaron Raff were on set to place tracking markers on Patton's leg.
“We began design tests early on to determine the look of the leg,”
notes Raff. “Extensive medical research allowed us to make sure the
deformity was as medically accurate as possible. In post, we stabilized
and isolated Patton's leg movement and began applying medically
appropriate scarring and texture to the skin. Using warping tools, we
redefined the outline of the leg to properly portray the loss of muscle
and bone density, maintaining the disfigured shape from every angle as
both the actor and the hand held camera moved freely throughout the
scene. Because the shot was close-up and intimate, the leg had to move
realistically as Patton rolled around on the bed. Since we shrunk the
limb quite a bit, we also had to recreate everything that was under his
leg as he moved on the bed’s surface including ruffled blankets and
other items.”
Another scene between Theron and Wilson required heavy greenscreen
replacement with the addition of panoramic windows television monitors.
“We decided the best approach was to use the Flame for this scene
because it was over 50 shots that had to be turned around quite quickly
and continuity was of the utmost importance,” explains Blair. “Under the
circumstances, being able to pull quick keys and have quick reviews for
continuity checks made the process much easier.”
In yet another sequence, Theron drives her car hard into a parking
spot and has a comical fender bender, which required a lot of cleanup
and rig removal to make it feel authentic.
The Phosphene creative team included compositors Scott Winston and
Connie Conrad, Flame artist Peter Amante, and compositing intern Andrew
Yates. The studio used The Foundry’s Nuke X, Adobe After Effects CS5,
Autodesk Flame and PCs running Windows 7 64-bit in the execution of this
project.
Deluxe in NYC was responsible for the digital intermediate and lab processing.
