Krishnakant Mishra, Creative Director of Sony Imageworks India started off day 2 at Anifest India '08 with slice of what happens in their studio when they are not creating magic. After the goofy video, which assured the audience that the people creating awesome VFX are humans and not mad scientists or gods, he jumped on to various scenes on which the studio has worked on.

Times Square:
Jumping right to the Times Square scene from I am Legend for which Sony Imageworks India got the FICCI Award for the best VFX of the year, Mishra had the audience enthralled right till the end. The scene involves Will Smith and his dog driving through the lifeless and rustic Times Square and chasing their prey only to find another savage predator claiming it. Considering shooting in the real location was out of question and all the muscle of the studio had to be amassed to string this scene together. The shooting was done with Will and his dog walking in the studio against a blue screen with grass and some abandoned cars, and further work was done to digitally create the entire Times Square by using a radar scanner and then building a 3D model. Further, matte paintings and live references of the location were used for the texture of the buildings. The cleaned up photography was then projected on the geometry which were later painted over to give it the abandoned look, with dust and grime. Having this much ready, finally rodents, birds and more abandoned vehicles were added, all CG.

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Sea port evacuation sequence:
This challenging sequence involves Will Smith escorting his family to the safety of the evacuation vehicles. The camera journeys through an extremely busy port bustling with immigrant activity. Shot in the East river Manhattan port, the scene was broken down into various parts. As camera wasn't allowed beyond a point in the port, a lot of camera simulation was required. Most of the additional bridges and traffic jams and the lights dotting the coast were all CG. Cops shot against a green screen were later placed in appropriate oppositions. Also the collapsing sequence of the bridge needed a detailed construction of
the bridge and later its de-construction along with addition of dust, flying debris, smoke and fire from the explosion and the consequent water splashes.

Alpha Humans:
Another highlight of the movie is ferocious alpha humans who are mutated beings with a lean fatless body. The body structures of the alpha humans basically consisted of 3 meshes: infected skin, muscle which is seen through transparent skin and internal bone structure, the last being used for rigging for animation and motion capture purposes. In the alternate ending of the movie, which has a brave Will Smith move out of his secure laboratory with the body of an alpha female to a herd of angry alpha males, a lot of interaction with the alpha humans was required to be seamlessly integrated with the live action. Motion capture technique was used to get cues for the interaction between the alpha male and female, which were exaggerated to get the feel of the angry alpha humans in the final output. Exhibiting only aggression till this point, this scene tactfully lent a tinge of emotions to the alpha humans! Later, in a complete treat for all VFX and Will Smith lovers, Mishra sprung up a surprise with the case study of Hancock, the unusual hero.

Train sequence:
A grueling sequence which took 100 days to finish has Hancock stop a train with his bare hands creating one hell of a commotion. It was shot in a road adjacent to a rail road with a few cars in a jam. Later a lot of the background was cleared to create a 3D railroad, a wreckage of over-turned wagons, along with many cars to give depth to the scene.

Fight sequence between Will and Charlize Theron:
Mishra had one thing to say about this sequence, "Everything here is CG !!" which as the audience watched and gaped, was clear. It took meticulous 3D modeling of buildings, cranes, etc along with animation of the tornado, scattering of the debris, with colour correction and
ambient occlusion from time to time to give the final output of a crazed battle between two immortal equals!

The session was filled with applause and 'once mores', which rightfully reflects the appetite of today's audience for VFX and CGI. Mishra, by actually showing the painstaking work and techniques behind the mind blowing sequences, triggered a good amount of interest in the
crowd. Having gone through basics yesterday, and training the mind to see beyond the glamour that meets the eye, Anifest India '08 is paving the path for tomorrow's artists.

Excerpts from the Q&A:

How different is pre production for VFX from animation?
As both are a forms of storytelling, the script writer and the director sit down and decide the flow of the story and then they get the VFX department in the loop and decide what treatment to give to the sequence, what amount of it should be shot in live action, what
amount of it in CG, etc. Later on, a break down of the technical options is laid out to finally start the shooting.

What determines the colour of the chroma screen, for some scenes use a blue one while others use a green?
The colour scheme and the luminescence of the scene determine the colour of the screen. The basic idea in doing chroma is to delete the background screen colour and later add elements in the background. Therefore it is necessary that the colour of the screen should not be found on the actor in terms of clothing or skin tone.

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