Visual effects & CGI

And the interior of this location was inspired by a fencing facility that we location scouted that was adjacent to the Olympic Stadium from the 1930s. But we weren't able to shoot in that location, but we did replicate it in CGI and on the stages at the Babelsberg Studios, which have quite a history. Mm-hmm.

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It's amazing what goes into all of these sequences from the visual effects vendors, from digital domain,

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In this part of the movie, we see London devastated and how now militaries are in control of the city. We introduce the character of Doyle, the sniper. In a way, I think that this beginning with the city, in terms of how we presented the city, we Start from the air with an aerial shot and then we landed on the rooftops with these snipers. And then, later on, we're going to see the city from the ground. This is a kind of trip from the air to the ground to see the effects of the infection, and how now the militaries are trying to rebuild and repopulate the area. This stuff with the militaries talking is inspired from the reality, because we made fantastic research with Alex, Alex Garland, about how soldiers speak in these situations and how the process... how the rebuilding process is absolutely based on real stuff. Yeah. It was really important to imply everything from reality, to move... forward in a situation that never happened, but has something in common with all the situations that happen in wars. In these shots of the airport, I think the work of Sean Mathiesen, the visual effects supervisor, is fantastic because we don't see anything in this airport. Everything is removed from the original shots because, in those shots, the airport was very busy with a lot of planes. And then in these shots, we see how now there is nothing in this airport. In this movie, it is particularly clear that the special effects is something crucial to get this feeling, to get this flavour of the emptiness of London. Yeah, the work of Sean Mathiesen is really notorious in this film. It's probably more difficult to remove than to add, and Sean made a fantastic work in these two ways, in these two senses. Most of the military presence is added visually by Sean and his crew.

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Again, Sean Mathiesen's work is really cool. The jets, obviously, are CG. We are not bombing anything, for sure. All the fire in this sequence, it's a CGI element shot in real with real fire, but, you know, they played around with these shots. The special effects in this sequence are very important, and I think the work of all these companies in the movie, they worked very well. And very hard, because that was made in record time. Yeah. 400 shots in more or less two months. The fire. The fire here is the only way for these people to clean the city, which is something terrible, and introduces the idea that the destruction of the powerful, the destruction of the human being is probably sometimes stronger and more destructive than the infection is instead. The connection between the blood and all the characters are... very important. It's a sequence we worked a lot in the editing, because it was difficult to deal with several layers in this story, which is the family, the militaries, the infected. So, we tested a lot of times, and I think we found at the end this perfect balance between the characters in the tunnel, the militaries in the bunker, and everybody out of these places are completely in danger. This music is exactly the opposite of what music in a spectacular movie deals with. I mean, this is an arrangement of the principal tune and this is arranged in a very sad way. This is exactly what we wanted.

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But there was no doubt about them knowing what they were doing. They were the best stunt pilots that they had in California. With Diamonds Are Forever, a largely American production, the special effects on the film were executed by American effectsmen Leslie Hillman and Whitney McMahon, with visual effects courtesy of the legendary Al Whitlock and Wally Weavers of Britain. Weavers had previously worked on Lawrence of Arabia and 2001, A Space Odyssey, among other films.

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Large-scale model work was for outer space science fiction because it's now something that's almost completely replaced by CGI whenever you see. And I suppose in recent years, with things like High Life and Moon and Aynara, we've had more outer space type movies. But that was a form of science fiction that...

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Peter Greenaway

The Times, of course, have moved on, and the whole post-television vocabulary has created, of course, with the digital revolution of manufactured pictures now with the most cutting-edge of technology has improved all that.

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If it had been done, the look of this effect at this point in time would probably have dated the film badly. But it was an adventurous idea, and the kind of thing that was soon easily within the reach of digital effects. This film, we must remember, dates back to analog time. There was to be an additional scene that would have confirmed Masha's status. It was set in Max's bathroom, where he was running a bath and staring at himself in his medicine chest mirror.

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Kenneth Loring

Anyway, the filmmakers went on to make more movies, some of them interesting, and I went on... Well, I was a film critic at the time. Oh, a few of those birds here are train birds, the first real animals we've seen in the film, supplemented by computer-generated birds. I went on to forever young film restoration. Oh, by the way, the biggest challenge with train birds, of course, in a shot like that one, is getting them back for take two. I became head of research and acquisition...

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where all the dirt is removed, all of the scratches are removed, shots that were mistimed in the printing process because the printing process only can go so far. The digital process has managed to cure. The digital timing of the film is the very best way to print out a film. I believe that it captures all of the colors,

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Gary Goddard

At that time, there were no digital effects like there are now, so it was a whole different set of rules used. Those days will come back. Oh, yes. This is one of my favorite little bits. You know, after he opens the door with the keys, he's going to bring them inside, and he's going to, you know, this super powerful door you'll see here, and when you watch him, this is a little thing we added that I added on the set that day. He'll put all of his locks in place, and then you'll see the last lock that he uses was...

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So when it moves, it's a Phil Tippett miniature, but when it stands there, we just built it as a big robot that's... So from here on, it's Phil Tippett. Stop motion. Well, actually, Craig Hayes and Paul Lucchese built the big prop, too, so... But this is pre-CGI. It's real-deal stop-motion, guys, just like King Kong. In front of a rear projection screen, a stop-motion miniature.

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and they did it so beautifully. And we had, this was the genesis of animatronics. Like it was not what we now know of to be, I don't even know if they still use animatronics. Like they use CGI, they use a series of things. No, these were dudes that were behind the furniture, scenery, moving like wires to get their mouths to be open and their eyes to be. Here we go. There's a cutie on the screen.

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That's a snot. Now what did you use for the snot? It was actually snot. Bob had a cold at the time. So it was real snot. It happened to be convenient. They didn't have the technology. Leslie's kind of a method guy and insisted on it. Yeah, there's only three channels and no snot. Today, of course, there's digital mucosas. You don't have to. CGI. Exactly, whatever that means. But I think that's only common sense.

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Macaulay Culkin

You're completely helpless. You know, Kevin, you're what the French.... This, again, was a situation where we didn't have money to do... To make these people actually appear over your shoulder, so we were... We had a guy, who I'll talk about later, his name was Kevin Nordine... ...who literally lived in his mom's basement in Chicago... ...and he would do his visual effects in the basement. He had all this stuff set up, so he would do... We only had like $200 here, $500 here... ...and he would do these effects incredibly cheaply for us. Probably a billionaire now or something. - Yeah, I hope so. Or still living in his mom's basement. One or the other. Well, he did a-- Later in the film, I'll talk about an effect he did. This was... This must've been fun for you. This was great. - These are the sort of... Well, I had some people down on the ground there, ready to catch me if I fell. And they were just covered in popcorn by the end. Now, do you--? I mean, on the whole, did you have--? I mean, do you remember having fun shooting the film'? Yeah, I had a lot of fun doing this stuff. Actually-- Any time we're just actually getting down to work and stuff like that... ...I always have a blast, and this was just so much fun. Basically it was just, you know, me being a bratty kid. Which was pretty easy for me to do. - Right. Just be very loud and big.

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Michael Mann

One thing important to note here is that there is no CGI in any of this. There's no digital duplication of extras. Everybody you're seeing is a real human being. It's a real extra. It's a really built physical fort. Today, you'd be hard-pressed to make an argument to actually build the fort and live within the fort. 90% of the fort would be digital construction, which has its own art, which achieves tremendous, tremendous heights.

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that I'd be your first mate. Well, here I am. I am a man of my word. Now, in those days, you did that the old-fashioned way. For real. I like to compare this whole debate, I guess, or question about digital effects to the microphone. You know, nobody says...

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Taylor Hackford

...and we are going to forget conscience. Conscience doesn't exist. "It's a bag of bricks. Drop the guilt." So at this moment, now it comes down to Connie Nielsen and Keanu... ...and our special effects. I want to give credit to Glen Eytchison... ...who helped us design the bas-relief. Ray Prado, who designed it. All of these ballet dancers, they're actually dancers that we shot under water... ...and then were able to key in for the background. I don't think this has ever been done. I noticed some photography of ballet dancers shot under water. It gives a support to the body. They're very interesting. We shot these people in advance. We carved the bas-relief using... ...their likenesses. Then I had to shoot each one of the sequences... ...and the movement that they do, early and then we keyed them in... ...and they came alive in the background then through the digital process. You can see this in the background right now. Those are people under water that we made work... ...and then inserted them into the sequence. These are the ways that you have a problem and try to solve it... ...and to try to make it languid and seductive. And now Keanu has his moment of choice. How does he beat the devil? By killing himself. He destroys the instrument of the devil. I thought this was something... ...that I haven't seen before in a film. Where you have that moment... ...where he's admitted his own guilt... ...he realizes what he's done, and now he beats the devil. He fools Al Pacino, who wasn't expecting this. Now you see the devil for what he really is. He gets angry and he's destructive, and he destroys his own daughter. The people that are dancing up there and being very seductive... ...you know, turn and burn in flame. And this is our moment of kind of orgasm, if you will, where the devil... ...kind of shows his true colors. And, at the same time, he's very, very... There's something sad and tragic about him. He's tried so hard for a thousand years. He's right on the verge of success. And, in fact, now he's got to go back to the beginning, back to start all over again. And what we did is that we went back. You know, he looks like Keanu. If that's his father, he would. And, in fact, we go back and look at Lucifer... ...and come down in this wonderful moment of phantasmagoria. And then, shock of all shocks, we're right back at the beginning of the film. That moment that he was looking in the mirror and making a decision... ...of what he's gonna do. Whether you want to interpret this as a flash forward: He looked in the mirror and he had that moment and all this happened. You know, when people talk about drowning they say their whole life... ...goes in front of their eyes. That could've happened. Or maybe, in fact, it did happen, and because he beat the devil... ...he was granted another reprieve. He has to go back and see what he'd do the second time. I'll let you have either one of those interpretations. But in reality here, it was important, because this is a moral tale... ...to return to the beginning and realize that decision that one makes. Every day we make decisions in our lives. We make decisions and then justify them. And we say, "Well, maybe I crossed the line there, but what the hell... "...it doesn't mean anything." These things mount up, until finally you're morally bankrupt. And at this point, he's back at the beginning, which most of us don't get. He gets a second chance. He has to now decide what's the right thing. But he's looking, you know, at the person that he destroyed. He looks at that sweet face, and he realizes, "My God, she's alive." And at this point he says, "I am now"... ...meaning, "I'm all right, I am now. "I thought I destroyed you. I thought..." You know, it's a reprieve. And in a film, it... This is an allegory. It's a moral tale. You know, you come to the point again, he's got to make the same decision... ...at the beginning that he made. And will it be the same or will it be different? And he has his moment of choice. Again, the score, James Newton Howard used the same cue... ...that he used in the courtroom when he had to make his choice about... ...whether to call Melissa Black or not, which, I don't know whether... ...it's subliminal or not, will make you recall that moment. What is he gonna decide?

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Peter Hyams

Right here, where Gabriel comes through the door, the set caught fire. The whole thing almost went. Luckily, we put it out in time, and we could then shoot just parts of it. Except it got hairy for a second. This film is filled with effects that you frankly couldn't have done 10 years ago. It takes digital effects

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recognition. Thank you, Van Ling. Thank you, Van Ling. That's completely CGI. That's a shot of a window in which Van Ling removed Ryan and put in Juliet because... From her getting in the elevator, right? Because I didn't know how to shoot this scene and make it work. Actually, my reading of it is... There are people very confused by what's going on in this scene. My reading of it is that maybe you just went a little too far and you're like, why do I need to give the audience to...

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Richard Curtis

Come on. Now, this bit's very good. I had so much trouble with this shot. We had to go right underneath. And that shot... ls that CGI? - No, it wasn't an effects shot. We actually... There we go. Okay, did you have to pay for that shot? Or did they just let you use it? - I don't know what the situation is. -/t was brilliant that they did that. - lt seems you haven't checked anything. 'Cause we tried... I leave that to other people. So disappointing, that moment when you don't see what happens. What do you think happens to those two? God knows. I'm very grateful, may I say now, for being allowed to use that bit of film. l've got a toothpick in my mouth. - Yeah, there we go. This toothpick business. Oh, my God. And Liam's leg's crushing you to make sure you dont move. The toothpick thing is because Liam is obsessed with toothpicks. He's never seen without one. - Since he gave up smoking. Is that what It is? When did you learn to act, Thomas? How come you're so good? 'Cause there's some very poor acting in this next scene, but tell us... When was the first time you acted in anything? Yeah. It was a little BBC film called Station Jim, but... Was that your first? - Yeah. We saw you in that... - Did you? ...and Em said, "That guy's brilliant. He should be in your film." And I said, "No, he's too small and he's got a Yorkshire accent." And then... - You did it in a Yorkshire accent? Yeah. - And then we saw about 60 other children, and then Em said, "What about that guy who was too small "with the Yorkshire accent?" And you came in and you were just unbelievable. That was your first thing? - Yeah. Do the people at school now hate you or admire you for being a film star? They don't really mind, actually. - They don't? No one is saying that you've got too big for your boots? No. - Despite the fact that you have a trailer in the playground? No. - Do you employ some of your friends now? As PAs and things like that? - Personal assistants. Now, this scene here is one of my favorite scenes because of the weirdness of the setting. We just tried to find... - Where is it? It's just on a motorway in Marseilles. So instead of trying to find a sentimental place with high buildings and cobblestones, we just found this weird lay-by. It almost starts to feel like a French film for a second here. It does. Particularly the rinse that Colin has gone for.

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Len Wiseman

I'll stop. I'm into this. I feel like I haven't seen this. You haven't. - You slept in the premiere. I left. I didn't watch the premiere. I had to fly somewhere. I'm not good at sitting around. This is all pretend, isn't it, darling? This wasn't really happening. This is the what thing? - This is pretend computer stuff. Yes, this is pretend computer stuff. That is? - Yeah. Isn't that just liquid and water? No, it's... - Very, very expensive swirly stuff. That's exactly what that is. - Really? It's not CGI, it's... - Yeah. What Is it? It's swirly, fake computer stuff, as she explained. Okay, all right. Just trying to get a hold of what's going on here. What movie is this? - You love this shot. Look at me. I mean, look at me. That is the worst. I look like a bug-eyed git. - You love it. You weren't very thrilled with it. Oh, look at that corpse. - The shadows were not working right. It was the only shot I had. - Thank God she sat up. I think this is unclear. Thank you. - No, I'm sorry, but I do. But it's quite a good shot of Speedman there. I didn't Know I was on camera. - None of us did. That was at the premiere. - That was actually at the premiere. That was after a long evening. Oh, I'm dreaming. Where am I? Who are you? - Oh, I've got that top on. That looks good. - What didn't make sense? What didn't you think made sense? It's not clear that the wound is healed, because the shot... You can't really see the... - She's right. And I think it's not clear why I've changed into a leather thing... ...with the frill on the bottom. It felt like a black-leather wedding outfit. When I stand up, it's got a ruffle. It's horrible. Very shiny. What's going on there? - I'm wet. You're sweaty. You just had a violent dream. Do you see that? You're very good at all the sort of gasping and panting. Well, it's all the running I do. - Very good at that. There was two bits where we did the passing-out thing... ...Which I actually thought was a bit weak. By me? - Not by you, no. By just... It's all right. You can say it, man. - No, you pass out really well. What am I, passed out again, suddenly? That's what I mean. - You pass out too much. Well, I was tired, man. I was tired.

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I like the contrast with the old record player and the digital technology. We had a great shot when Tom was outside of the window. It's like one of the techniques I would

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The shot just before this, the one outside, we actually shot at the Prague airport, which is another advantage to shooting in Prague. I don't think there's any way you could get a camera crew right on the departure gate of an American airport anymore because of security. Of course, one of the downsides of shooting at the real airport in Prague is that we had our day curtailed by a bomb threat. Bomb threat, which I still maintain... - Potato, potato. I maintain may have been because of us, and there was no bomb. There was no bomb. - I'm sure some... A grip left a bag of clamps somewhere and... But that was another scene, too, where, when we look at it, there was sort of a way of shooting it, two different ways of... We started shooting them sort of looking out where we were shooting into those boring offices, and obviously the prettier shot... I Know I'm talking backwards... In hindsight, we should've shot the other direction. We should've shot in the other direction, because when they do turn around, you see that background. And again, these are lessons that were sort of both imparted to us as we were going along by our wonderful DP, who we should mention, David Eggby. - David Eggby, who saved us from ourselves every day. And there's a certain amount he can tell us, which he certainly did, and there's a certain number of times where we have to be wrong before you learn and certainly that was an example again, something we did where... The other thing in the deleted... - He warned us and we didn't. In between the courier counter and this scene, there's some fun stuff in the deleted scenes, which is they realize that they're gonna have to take all these courier packages, so they don't know what to do with all their clothes. They have to wear all of them onto the plane and through the airport. There was about 15 minutes of stuff which... Decide for yourself whether it works or not. It didn't work in the movie, but it's fun to look at. And by the way, Jacob's T-shirt says, "I'm rocking on your dime." Travis owned that T-shirt and we thought it was funny, so we put it on Jacob in the movie. These transitions-- That's my dog. These transitions were... That's my queen of England. - That's your beaded London flag. Yeah, it goes on the back of my cab seat. These transitions were also done by Kyle Cooper at Prologue. There's a few more of them coming up. You'll see. And this is our first big visual effects shot. Yeah, this was an amazing debate. That's not the real Jacob Pitts. That's a robot. This was shot in Prague by... There's a big river in Prague and that's all real. That's real. And we put a little British flag there, and basically the background was replaced. Not in these shots. In that shot. - In that shot, the background is replaced because on that side, I think, was... Is that where our hotel was? I don't remember. No, we were further down. - Further down, okay. And I guess we should mention Kevin Blank, who was our visual effects guru supervisor, who we found from the TV show A/as, where each week they do a lot of really amazing things like this. Right. If you look in the background, you see the buses on the bridge. The bridge is real and the buses are real, but the stuff behind that is not real. But the flag, for example, I don't think that's real. They added that. If you look at the clouds move... - There's cars moving on the side. The clouds are moving. They put those clouds in. And what Kevin allowed us to do, besides being a really good guy, as everyone on this movie was, he let us do a lot of big effects like that on sort of a TV budget which allowed... This was a "smaller budgeted movie," and it let us do some special effects without bringing in these, like, big effects companies where it would cost a lot of money. By the way, this is about the time that we should mention the Feisty Goat. This is the Feisty Goat pub. And we saw the sign out in front, which we misspelled. I think this is the right time to say that Alec, David and I went to Harvard and we didn't know how to spell "feisty." We spelled it wrong in the stage directions. Spelled it "fiesty." - The guys who made the sign just took our spelling. We showed up on the day and the crew was laughing and we couldn't figure out what they were laughing at. We shot an entire day without anyone noticing and on day two, people realized. - No, they knew. Did they know? Okay. - Oh, yeah. They were laughing their asses off at us. And then finally, it was like, "Did you guys know?" And they're like, "Yeah." - And this is the incomparable Vinnie Jones who, when we wrote the part of Mad Maynard, the chief hooligan, we hoped that maybe we could get Vinnie Jones. We wrote it with Vinnie Jones or a Vinnie Jones-type in mind, never thinking that we would get the real Vinnie Jones. The dream being Vinnie Jones or someone that would rip Vinnie off. And the pleasure of getting him was just so great. It was amazing. He scared the living daylights out of these two. They're not... This is, again, method acting. We told Vinnie that they were really... that the kids were really scared of him, and he did nothing to make them feel at home for this scene.

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Most of the bullets are CGI, and the sequence owes a lot to the talent and tireless work of Jan Blundell of Lest. It's a visual effects company based in Paris. Obviously, the sequence is the lifespan of a bullet as it journeys from a factory in Ukraine, eventually ending up in the head of a child soldier, and it also mirrors

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situations where you have to direct cats they're not very good as actors even when computer generated they can cause problems but the small one is quite good it's doing a good job

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