VFX breakdowns are pouring in even as the world reels under a pandemic-induced lockdown signalling that its time for VFX aspirants to hone their craft and learn about the way images are created on software.
Latest in the league of VFX companies releasing their creme de la creme breakdown content to keep the viewers hooked and riveted is the post production giant Digital Domain with their elaborate scene-by-scene making of X-MEN First Class. Well first class in every sense as this marvel movie did make its way into the one of the best Marvel Pantheons Hollywood has seen.
During the Cold War, fellow mutants Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr join forces with other mutants to save humanity from a nuclear attack and a possible world war.
They shared, “In the fifth installment of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise, Digital Domain’s artists focused on Kevin Bacon’s Shaw character. Visual Effects Supervisor Jay Barton and his team worked closely with the filmmakers to establish how Shaw’s energy-absorbing/releasing superpowers would manifest, then created the ‘kinetic echo’ effect involving muscle ripples, extra arms and effects to the surrounding environment.
In regards to the digital version of shaw, they elaborated, “They also created a digital version of Shaw that was indistinguishable from the live-action Bacon, even in extreme closeup, using Digital Domain’s Academy Award winning digital human synthesis techniques. The work also included the creation of complex digital environments that artists then destroyed using extensive CG fire, explosions and debris. In the case of the ‘Mirror Room,’ the task was made more challenging as the shots included projecting and reflecting digital doubles of the Magneto and Shaw battling through the sequence.”
A must watch breakdown for VFX artists! Stay tuned for more updates as studios churn out more breakdowns from their archies to help you sail through the lockdown!