FILM
VFX CREWS SHIP OUT ON SPACE ODYSSEY AD ASTRA By KEVIN H. MARTIN
Images copyright (c) 2019 Twentieth Century Fox TOP AND OPPOSITE TOP: McBride (Brad Pitt) and company depart from their base on their lunar sojourn to a launch facility on the other side of the terminator line. Method’s lunar surface and production’s desert footage were composited with MPC’s digital matte painting of the expansive construct.
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On its planet-hopping voyage ‘up-river’ to the ends of our own star system, filmmaker James Gray’s Ad Astra, the Fox, New Regency and Plan B release from Disney, follows Army Corps of Engineers’ Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) on a voyage into the infinite darkness chasing down his long-lost father (Tommy Lee Jones), last seen in the vicinity of Neptune. To realize his vision, Gray drew on the efforts of several visual effects vendors, including MPC, Weta Digital, Methods Studios, MR. X, Vitality VFX, Brainstorm Digital, Atomic Fiction, capital T, Territory Studio and Shade VFX, with Halon providing previs and postvis. MR. X was tasked with the film’s big open taking place in low Earth orbit. “We handled those shots seen in the trailer with that big antenna 80,000 feet up,” MR. X VFX Supervisor Olaf Wendt explains. “McBride is working on it when a mysterious surge damages the structure, knocking him off. Production’s art department generated quite a bit of concept illustrations for the antenna, a small section of which was created as a full-size set piece that Brad could be seen climbing. “We spent awhile conceptualizing the core components, using the International Space Station as one of our touchstones, which is reflected in the materials selected,” continues Wendt. “While the antenna is supposed to be a fairly new structure, things weather from sunlight up there differently than on Earth, with ablation patterns differing due to particle winds from the sun impacting structures. Delving into that aspect while getting close to something that could be built with future tech were principal focuses for us.” Gray’s dedication to a gritty realism aims, in some ways, to go beyond the 2001: A Space Odyssey benchmark and groundbreaking sci-fi/space films since. “His vision required a different
“[Director James Gray] was very clear about having this not look like just the next space picture. Keeping it grounded meant being brave and photochemical in look. There’s a very earthy feel to his work, even before Lost City of Z. If you watch The Yards, it is just steeped in an analog feel. Another element to juggle here is the heightened aspect of a cinematic image, which can be a big factor.” —Olaf Wendt, Visual Effects Supervisor, MR. X
MIDDLE AND BOTTOM: Method addressed the numerous cuts featuring visor reflections. Production switched from tinted visors to clear ones during the shoot, so selective tinting was required to create suitable reflection elements on the visors. Method’s visor replacement combined reflection elements from the live-action shoot as well as their CG structures.
feel,” allows Wendt. “He was very clear about having this not look like just the next space picture. Keeping it grounded meant being brave and photochemical in look. There’s a very earthy feel to his work, even before Lost City of Z. If you watch The Yards, it is just steeped in an analog feel. Another element to juggle here is the heightened aspect of a cinematic image, which can be a big factor.” After being dispatched on his mission, McBride’s first stop is the moon, where he comes under attack from pirates while en route to his next launch vehicle. Method Studios handled the VFX for this sequence, which featured principal photography shot on location at Dumont Dunes in the Mojave Desert. “Fortunately for me, this grueling shoot was supervised by another Method Visual Effects Supervisor, Aidan Fraser,” says Compositing Supervisor Jedediah Smith [Method’s Ryan Tudhope also supervised part of the shoot before leaving for another project.] “I heard many stories of buckets of ice being used to keep actors and cameras cooled down
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