Building Effectsfor consider aneffects-intensive movie. But,accordingto Egoyan and visualeffects supervisorDennisBerardi Toronto-based of Mr. X,the effects thatdo exist inthe filmare crucial to constructing the film’s historical narrative. the ways thattechnology allows you to more do subtle, quiet things, whichcanreally leave animpression,” statesEgoyan, who adds thatthe abilityof digitaleffects and filmmaking to manipulatehistory animportant isactually sub-theme of Atom Egoyan’sAtom latestfilm, his most recent tale.his mostrecent killed inthe Armenian genocide shoots amovie depicting the holocaust thattouched hislife. Berardi and histeamat Mr. Xenhanced Turkey and the Armenian city of Van in1914. of Van, Berardi and digitalmatteartistKristyBlackwell did not have aclear reference tohow the Armenian cityap- “It’snot abigsplashy effects movie, butIaminterested in peared in1914,whenpeared the historical takes narrative place. by KristinhaMcCort and Creating History in before the major destruction happened.” completely inruins now, butthe story takes place just scape,” explains Berardi. “The problem was thatVan is digitally creating the people who comprisethe rest of the line. the foreground the of exile witharound 200extras then and Filmmakers created the of amassexodus illusion by shooting Within When constructing the mattepaintings revealing the city “It was very difficultinterms of architecture and land- Berardi and Blackwell drew their inspiration from his- The ScorpionKing Ararat Ararat ’s narrative, afilmmaker whose mother was ’s flashbacksequen March 2002 Ararat , isnot whatone would Ararat Ararat ces, whichpresent visfx

 torical books on Turkey and Van, as well as from footage just spectacular in terms of how we could move in and out taped by a location scout who went to the region. They also without any sort of grain or exaggeration.” consulted with production designer Phillip Barker, DP Paul Berardi also thickened up a crowd for Ararat’s exile scene, Sarossy, and Egoyan to develop the composition. Berardi which depicts thousands of Armenians marching out of supervised the live-action shoot in Drumheller, Alberta, Turkey. Filmmakers shot the foreground of the human whose landscape he found remarkably similar to Turkey’s. mass with around 200 extras, and the effects team digi- Blackwell constructed the primitive 3D geometry in Maya. tally created the people who comprise the rest of the line. Once the edits on the shots were locked, she began work- “I brought Dave Calder, the lead animator on the shot, the ing in full resolution. camera information, relative distances, and photographs,” “What we quickly found was that building too much de- says Berardi. “Dave remodeled the landscape, match-moved tail wasn’t working for Atom,” says Berardi. “He wanted to the camera into position, and started building the 3D— maintain a bit of mystery about the old city and keep it everything from horses to Turkish soldiers to peasant women. tantalizing.” He built about 10 or 12 different sorts of people.” Blackwell painted in Photoshop and created 3D elements Calder used Maya for 3D and 2d3’s Boujou for match- in Maya. The team used Shake for rough composites, and moving. Aaron Weintraub completed the final composites in Flame. Berardi notes that while he took photographs of the ex- Location became problematic when Ararat filmmakers tras in costume to gather a color palette reference for the were shooting a battle scene depicting a large Turkish 3D characters, the shapes and models that Calder finally army encroaching on Armenian territory. The scene called created were fairly primitive. for thousands of soldiers, but the Canadian Badlands proved “We didn’t do cloth at all because they were so small in too tough a terrain in which to bring that many actors. To frame,” he notes. “It was really about their motion. These resolve the issue, Berardi devised a method that allowed are a beaten people, and the line had to convey that.” the production to accomplish the illusion of thousands, Berardi says he enjoyed a strong collaboration with with only 200 extras positioned in the formidable locale. Egoyan early on in Ararat’s development. Berardi divided up the battle-scene landscape into four “We have worked pretty closely with him,” Berardi notes. areas. During the shoot, filmmakers did four setups, each “I was involved in preproduction and the shoot, and now with 200 extras positioned in one of the quadrants. They that we are in post, he is here everyday directing and giv- shot each quadrant locked-off separately with a VistaVision ing us feedback on his work.” camera, moving the extras from quadrant to quadrant to Egoyan wouldn’t have it any other way. accomplish each shot. “I think it’s really important to have that collaboration “In most cases Atom is moving the camera, and to cut to a early,” Egoyan states. “You obviously have to get your big battle scene moment with a lock-off wouldn’t look right technical needs sorted out, but it also helps to ignite your in terms of continuity,” says Berardi. “So I promised him imagination and lets you know your possibilities.” that if we could shoot in VistaVision, that we would give him digital camera moves in post.” For each shot, the effects team lifted out the action area The Scorpion King’s City of Light from the four VistaVision layers with a hand-painted matte. Having spent much of his career designing darkly lit, Weintraub composited the quadrants together in Shake to futuristic environments for films such as last year’s The One achieve the basic backdrop, and effects artists added action and 2000’s X-Men, matte artist Deak Ferrand of Hatch, Santa with smoke, gun fire, and more people. When Egoyan ap- Monica, faced new challenges when designing an ancient proved the composition, the artists began working on the desert cityscape for Universal’s The Scorpion King. camera moves. The film itself is a prequel to 2001’s The Mummy Re- “Our composite at that point was in 3K resolution, and turns and tells the tale of the Scorpion King (played by we were finishing to 1.66 2K, so we could pan our final 1.66 Dwayne Johnson, WWF’s “The Rock”), a ruler who pre- camera view through the higher-resolution background to dates Egypt’s great Pharaohs. Ferrand, working with Riot, get dynamic moves without resolution loss,” recalls Berardi. Santa Monica, and entrusted by director Chuck Russell “VistaVision was beautiful for the effect,” notes Egoyan, with the task of creating the city where the King dwells, who approved the use of the format for the scene. “It was found that he had to design an impressively realistic, but 

Matte artists on The Scorpion King had to make scenes filmed in the California desert appear as if they had been shot at the base of a towering North African Matte artists added rocky structures and city. Left: Filmmakers on location in the California desert. Right: A final shot orange sand to the California desert, as with a matte of the city. well as the fictional city of Gomorrah. visfx March 2002 aw th an hav makin stru an becau pr tr filmmak film. Ina it 10-tim l F Cr v u n o en th sh it t an w th an in Calif city l an glar fictional “hist city scen African settin mak that th ook ocate th o mak err ery specifictypeo f aruin sed asaba earb self fictional,F e putitth opolis o o o e playo er e cityonthish oot thism d th But cr d m “Wh “Th ce t F Becau “I n d d gr On d becau ay withm w fessional chall err e t an t e o ctur Lawr e th ed originally e ar e’ e chall o appearNorthAfrican.Th y riv se y o em er er ass g hiscr o d d e s char an eed er en y e l f th ornia. Sow e itl e isaruin e h e w chan er e d se th eatin ed cityfeatur e isonlyon d a es bigg en e city es ju d , a ocation l xplain eal withth f it ou cand ed t er an s conv se o dition t ulate f d ug e d ou pain as n esert l ce o d a er d en s dayb ook lik or d ck t cter figh d o e pieceso esert ligh g aconvin s campedout st out e cityw ed or g. H e o enhan f thatr esert sun. eation l ed t e vie , takin g orical” settin d portthatcanbeseeninman dr , itl f Ar ot en s ,” say er an . Butin e w . “Thiscitybecam e , pain err op in y ook m ,” n en ug ook o makin e r o an ed citythate t f abia e chan ed th o th an ook y sh as g f r e th an sid g ough. F e pieceo e sunligh e ligh em d th or y ock, peopl g s F e t g hiscuesfr ed obviou otes F ock stru s f ed in . ce th d ha e san tin ythin as setinth ook r e o spir . ed r f darkr e city’ t o ootin Gladiator o ettin or err e id ese guy cin or th en r v ear g g incol f LosAn ed th e appr g th t sour ff th ed ouren an ation didcom d n eally f sid g surr d, an ea thatitw e envir err s th Gladiator err g withspotligh ealistic est g h g, setun g th d. “Y e fir f r s sen t boun e th e citytallan o imm ctur ock em an an e Calif e cityw sly Calif or ock f e kn ese darkcities un s r opriate f ce d cr xist e cr , f or st tim d f oun or e d d. “InJor ed itt e city’ ou cantrickth om bothr g . I e ourr e dr eally w onm s an se o or scen e an eign, butr . F el . In oun eated r o s inM tir e ediate hist cin esert surr t onlyl eds o oun din es . w thatit w ha ornian d er or F d e inth e envir d su ornian. H as animportan f pla en , an d thatw g allo o h Lawr as al gin cien s w er th g envir e thr dation. A or th efer f e t ar en d sh or err es wh o d m ock stru all ch.” g fr d F t w it dan, th t pastbutw ce b ook xtr s efer so essen en occo thatth t en e smallar ough glimpses e unf , buth s an oun v onm y sh esert’ e film’ eal.” , y . err ulti-stepped, om th ot th oun ce o er th as tr onm ce o Jor orical r orkin d, itw s r en as n y a e striv er ou cang e au an . W d th oul ot en s soonas eal wh e R din f Ar ce book ctur or s shrubs e d d f d er en e pla er s o s North ot sh e san e ma dan t t din dien d hav tial t givin g with e isa e city u g th e y ena,” t an t m a abia oun esert ed t efer- f th es t ssell as a o fit d g a er ce ou en d e ce ot et as e- d, d d o y o o g o e e e e s s , , obj Ph f as soony in th ar r b a in per city envir pain cau nique o o film y Hannibal. this cam m will chan t o r Jein (o atten n dir m en but ital in cr mat mak r r or So efer onm eal. Ev ealistic o th d y th f th ou g f Riotcr otes thatu o ock-up, butitgav e r an g mattepain g th e din “Whate “[Jein] builttw Kn “Pr F Arm Filmmak tir “Wh ot ect v ect y establish se itisn err chin s eally m em e thisastr tin e osh en e city , F e cam e f en o e matteteaman tion t et itrigh , an oj g thatcompositin or JulietteY ftima spectiv e f s thr an win ed withth en th f ce en g. Ify err ection all f pr t, F ery tim ortr . op, an g th Close En er or d say so ma eated th g . t u onm v d F g thatR an e per err a inf er , an egr ough th er y oj o er o it g ess ont ou m sin e m e ligh vin e call a m d pr ection. ou w sin e o l an s sh err oun s h ed th ,” say en t.” tin ou’v an d th g simpl self asavisual-effect d w e y d ormation in spectiv g inper d an o g R on o an e hiscr coun oposed thatth t r o o e d e isgr e mattepain v spar g v ot ba an t dir d, mid ed “Cam v w u ou g o differ es ar s an em g a e pain d an e l e t oughly in3Dwithsimpl e 3Dr e th en pr ssell f counters inspired by miniatures created by The film’s imposing were citystructures e u s u d artist ealViz’ er ju esign o g s F t th op o er f en ter en en d inInfern ook pictur ection o e sh d mat e an s th s t spectiv o in err ckplates m e cam e subtl ateful t g w March 2002 d th s o e cam s t asw t o gr eated envir epr or stickin ted stick f th oj st anestablishin f o m av an en ot e scal am f avirtualcam er s Mat oun s Mich d willhav f th ected th t as han f th guru,Greg Jein. t or o am esen chin s n d. “Clien o So e artist a Pr t scal o e cityan er e) t er s th e coul tin e an v f th e e ba e cityan d, an ot onlyma a, y o R e in a t , th e an e oj chM g cam tation, th ftima ell o b g o cr es o y enlistm s t e u dl e plates o d v es o pu s an ection.” u ckplates u g withsubtl ou startt o v e M sid e sh ed bothinAfterEffect ese lay o v d th d ba y BobWiatr d.” ssell an e thatiscr ,” statesF vin s tr onm eate simpl se o e par olum o t s sh f th v d mat e th s r g sh inan oen an er d on olum er d surr g th e an ot ten e ligh ck a m a f miniatur eally lik en . Th er . I ot. W d ck e m allax.” e e mattepain gr e g sh e hisj er ,” n a u e o od t’ t y startedpain ch d visualeffect o etric obj d r ed th e obj e cam o feelthaty s appearm oun s av d R v s on sin oun e t onth od elmak ed th ds t em sin d cr otes F f alm err ecr y th e w e m ot o azy e sh e an occo Gio el g th ob pr d lay ect e thatbe- din ery simpl en g asha an t eated th e cam an s out o r o th er an od es inhis , itcall Close En- eir w en sen t easier f aflat d, “on ost th visfx ot ect d Brian er Gr s err e tech- e city e up,it g envi- a on ea . On ted t el oj er s e 3D an s f . H s tin d as ect- sid s in ffr ork , so d or er ou eg ce or er d, t- .” g o e e a e e e e e e s t s s ,

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