On October 11, DGA members in Los Angeles’ DGA Theater Two received information on coordinating and integrating physical effects, stunts, and digital effects when the AD/UPM Council West’s DGA AD/UPM VFX/Digital Technology Committee presented the seminar, Practical Magic: Integrating Mechanical & Digital Effects. The morning featured two panel discussions that covered this process from preparation to completion with the DGA and VFX Teams from Director Dave Green’s sci-fi fantasy feature Earth to Echo and Director Steven Quale’s action thriller Into the Storm.
Following a welcome from AD/UPM VFX/Digital Technology Committee Chair Susan Zwerman, the day got going with the first panel covering Earth to Echo and moderated by Committee member Jules Kovisars, who also served as UPM on the film.
Director Dave Green opened the discussion with a clip from the film about a group of kids attempting to help a stranded alien. Before helming Earth to Echo, Green directed a series of virally successful short films, including Meltdown starring David Cross, and Zombie Roadkill produced by Sam Raimi. Legacy Effects Co-Founder J. Alan Scott explained how mechanical puppets were employed to help bring the Echo character to life on set. For nearly 25 years Scott has worked on landmark films such as the Jurassic Park trilogy, Terminator 2, Avatar. and The Avengers. 1st AD Stephen Hagen and VFX Supervisor Mitch Drain spoke about on-set scheduling for the character. Prior to this film Hagen had worked on features such as Crazy Stupid Love, Focus, and Vanilla Sky; and Drain’s resume includes The Abyss, Independence Day, and the National Treasure films. The presentations concluded with Base Media Group Founder & CEO Chris Bremble, BEMO Creative Director Brandon Hirzel, and VFX Supervisor Stefen Fangmeier discussing their contributions to the production. Bremble’s resume includes the features Super 8, Pacific Rim, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Transformers: Age of Extinction; Hirzel has worked on the series L.A. Rangers and the short films Call Me Doctor and Alice & the White Hair; and Fangmeier received Academy Award® nominations for his work on Twister, The Perfect Storm and Master and Commander. After the presentations, all the panelists onstage answered questions from the audience.
The second panel took a look at how nature’s fury was replicated and enhanced in a discussion of the magic behind Into the Storm moderated by Committee Co-Chair Brian Frankish.
After playing a clip from a key tornado sequence from the film, Digital Effects Supervisor Nikos Kalaitzidis of the effects house Digital Domain discussed what was happening on the screen and behind the scenes. Into the Storm’s Director Steven Quale, UPM Mark McNair, 1st AD Michael Amundson, and VFX Producer Randy Starr added their perspective on the project throughout the presentation featuring the effects shots in various stages of completion. Then VFX Supervisor Nordin Rahhali from Method Studios played clips from a sequence that his company worked on with the main characters trying to take shelter in a storm drain. The sequence involved integrating digital effects with stunt work filmed on two different sets a year apart in different states.
Quale’s resume includes serving as a Second Unit Director on Avatar and Titanic before helming the feature Final Destination 5 and co-directing the documentary Aliens of the Deep with James Cameron. McNair’s previous credits include Oz the Great and Powerful, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D and the Emmy, PGA, and AFI Award-nominated series True Blood. Amundson has worked on the features The Cell and Zathura as well as the series Without a Trace and American Horror Story. Starr produced the visual effects on Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and was nominated for a Visual Effects Society Award for his work on Blades of Glory and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Rahhali is an accomplished VFX Supervisor who has worked on features such as Robocop, Iron Man 3, Riddick, and Let Me In since joining Method Studios in 2010. Kalaitzidis’ other credits include X-Men: Days of Future Past, the Academy Award-nominated The Avengers and the Academy Award-winning The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
The day concluded with a Q&A session where the panelists answered audience questions about the processes utilized to make Into the Storm.
DGA AD/UPM VFX/Digital Technology Committee
Susan Zwerman, Chair; Brian Frankish, Co-Chair; and members Dustin Bernard, Steve Danton, D. Scott Easton, Rick Feder, Billy Greenfield, Mark Hansson, Jules Kovisars, Cleve Landsberg, Larry Lerner, Rosemary Marks, Steve Molen, Dennis Murphy, John Rago, David Sanger, Randy Turrow, and Jonathan Zimmerman.