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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Skydance.
VFX VFX
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The Way of the Samurai VFX supervisor Olaf Wendt takes us behind the scenes of Snake Eyes. By Trevor Hogg
A
n iconic ninja warrior in the G.I. Joe franchise gets his own movie with the release of the summer thriller Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. The action-packed film is directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan) and stars Henry Golding, Andrew Koji and Úrsula Corberó. The storyline centers on the mysterious lone fighter who is trained by an ancient Japanese ninja clan called the Arashikage, but finds his loyalties tested when secrets from his past are revealed, as he eventually goes on the path to become the famous hero. The project utilizes practical and digital effects, with visual effects supervisor Olaf Wendt (Ad Astra) dividing 1,100 shots among Mr. X facilities in Toronto, Montreal and Bangalore. “Snake Eyes [Henry Golding] starts off as a streetfighter and ends up as this accomplished samurai in the Arashikage costume, which is where the story ends,” Wendt tells Animation Magazine. "You also have characters like the
Baroness [Úrsula Corberó] who are wellknown that enter the movie."
Sword Fights on Freeways
The production spent two months in Japan shooting at Himeji Castle, Kishiwada Castle and Horyuji Temple, as well as around Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima. “[Our director] Robert Schwentke was after something that still felt grounded in realism. One of the big things for him was to shoot in Japan to get this feeling of authenticity.
We were also working with a lot of Japanese crew and stunt guys. That was the starting off point. We’re still having sword fights on top of a car carrier whizzing down a Japanese freeway. The Arashikage have their own mythology and this special weapon called the Jewel of Amaterasu. Snake Eyes and Tommy/Shadow Storm [Andrew Koji] have superior fighting abilities, but they’re still [regular] people not superheroes.” The signature action scene where Snake Eyes jumps from vehicle to vehicle on a freeway was filmed in Vancouver. “We shot on an airstrip with
‘One of the big things for him was to shoot in Japan to get this feeling of authenticity. We were also working with a lot of Japanese crew and stunt guys. That was the starting off point. We’re still having sword fights on top of a car carrier whizzing down a Japanese freeway.’ — VFX supervisor Olaf Wendt
www.animationmagazine.net 52
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august 21
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