“Super,” a new comedy film from director James Gunn, features the extensive integration of both practical and digital FX in two mind blowing sequences. Working in tandem, the practical effects created by MASTERSFX, and the CG effects created by Modus FX, were seamlessly blended digitally to create two somewhat gruesome but comedic sequences, starring Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page.
Other stars appearing in “Super” include Liv Tyler and Kevin Bacon. “Super” is the story of an ordinary guy (Wilson) who decides to become a superhero after his wife (Tyler) leaves him for a drug dealer (Bacon). He is soon joined by an eccentric teen (Page) who becomes his sidekick. Together they go around town telling crime to shut up.
To view the “Super” trailer online at Yahoo, click here.
James Gunn said, “Todd Masters and his MASTERSFX company are partners in the truest sense of the word. Like actor Nathan Fillion and composer Tyler Bates, Todd is someone I’ve worked with on numerous projects, and I can always expect him to understand my vision and to go above and beyond the call of duty. Todd and MASTERSFX specifically are the best in the business at combining practical effects and VFX in a way that the audience is never quite sure what they’re looking at. We mix practical and visual effects numerous times in both Super and Slither, and I’ve rarely had anyone guess where that line is drawn. I’m personally sick of the practical vs. CG debate – both are useful in different situations. What I care about is keeping the audience in suspense and mystery – and Todd and his team are the best at that.”
In addition to the practical/digital blended scenes mentioned above, MASTERSFX also supplied a number of other highly realistic gore FX to Super, involving prosthetics, dummies and blood rigs.
Regarding the integration of both practical and digital FX in feature films and TV, Todd Masters, founder of MASTERSFX, said, “A good analogy for this approach to on-screen effects would be comparable to the music industry. In years past, rock bands played their own instruments, before synthesizers and digital instruments came along and worked those new sounds into the mix. Many of today’s digitally-dominated songs often include ‘samples’ of real music played by real musicians. In much the same way, many film and TV ‘gags’ require the on-set inclusion of physical props and prosthetics to deliver a more accurate, and more ‘real,’ look and feel to a scene. By later blending these practical FX into a digital realm, we offer the audience the most realistic representations possible from both art forms.”
"By integrating our visual effects with the physical elements created by MASTERSFX, our two facilities were able to deliver James Gunn’s vision," said Yanick Wilisky, VP of production and VFX supervisor at Modus FX. "MASTERSFX’s prosthetics helped us to find the right over-the-top-gory style for this film. The special effects were also crucial, for example, for our CG work on the ‘Finger of God’ sequence, and in the interaction of the tentacles with Rainn Wilson’s face. I think the audiences will be able to see why we all had a lot of fun working on this project!"
About THE RAINN WILSON “EXPOSED BRAIN” GAG
One of the key scenes in “Super” depicts a moment where the Rainn Wilson character “Frank” has a vision of meeting God (who appears via tentacles, rather than hands, which were created in CG by Modus FX). God opens the top of Frank’s skull, exposing his brain, and then illuminates the brain by touching it with his finger.
To achieve this effect, Todd Masters, Dan Rebert and the MASTERSFX team first created a replica head and shoulders mold, called a lifecast, taken from actor Wilson. The team then added a flip-top hinge in the back of the skull portion of the lifecast, so that it could open, “like a Jack-in-a-box,” to reveal a silicon-based, highly detailed human brain also crafted by the MASTERSFX wizards. “We paid special attention to replicate Rainn’s skin and hair color, his skin pore structure, and all of his other facial details to best ensure an accurate digital integration,” Masters says.
This prosthetic piece was shot in Los Angeles, while actor Wilson was shot with tracking marks on his head for this scene in Shreveport, LA. Modus FX took the film of the detailed lifecast from the MASTERSFX team, next created a 3D CG model, and then composited the lifecast head footage onto the footage of Rain Wilson’s real body with tracking marks.
About THE ELLEN PAGE “SHOTGUN FACE WOUND” GAG
In a shocking scene within “Super,” Ellen Page’s character receives a close-up shotgun wound to the left side of her head. To accomplish this effect,
MASTERSFX’s Dan Rebert first crafted a silicon, female head similar in size and shape to Page’s real head, even replicating her ears and hair. The MASTERSFX team then created a shotgun delivered gore crater within the left side of the head, with the translucency of the silicon offering a highly realistic representation. Page’s real head, and the dummy head, were then shot, side by side, one after another, on set, within the set’s same lighting scenario, to maximize believability.
“Gore effects typically benefit by the use of practical elements which are actually present in the scene,” Masters says. “When you cannot do an effect practically on an actor, the benefits of integrating a practical effect with digital can still be utilized to get the best of both techniques. The pluses of practical are that the effect already looks real, since essentially it is. The drawbacks of practical effects, particularly in this case, were that…well…we couldn’t actually blow out a large crater from Ellen Page’s head now, could we? The artists at Modus FX, using their powerful compositing tools, ultimately give the audience the best of both worlds in that scene, by mixing the two mediums flawlessly.”
About SUPER
“Super,” directed by James Gunn and produced by Ambush Entertainment and This is That. The film features a star-studded cast, including Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler and Kevin Bacon and will make its debut in the U.S. on April 1, 2011, with distribution by IFC Films. Super was executive-produced by Matthew Leutwyler of Ambush Entertainment and Rainn Wilson. Louis Morin served as visual effects supervisor.
About MODUS FX
Since launching in 2007, Modus FX has become an industry leader in high-end feature film visual effects, boasting an international clientele and a talented team of hand-picked artists from around the globe. Led by co-founders Marc Bourbonnais and Yanick Wilisky, Modus has developed a unique approach to creating digital effects, combining a cutting-edge production pipeline with personalized ongoing project coordination. The studio collaborates with each director through the artistic process, from editorial, script and on-set supervision to final delivery. Based just outside of Montreal, Modus offers a full scope of services in its modern 12,000 square foot studio. For more information visit www.modusfx.com.
About MASTERSFX
Founded in 1987 by Emmy Award winner Todd Masters, MASTERSFX is a full-service Character Effects company headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, with an additional studio in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The company has designed, created and produced prosthetics, animatronics, and character effects for many hundreds of motion pictures, television programs, and commercials.
Recently, MASTERSFX provided prosthetic FX for such high profile feature films and television series as “True Blood,” “Underworld 3D,” “Slither,” “The Haunting in Georgia,” “Big Love” and “Fringe.” Historically, the company has contributed FX to such other hits as “Stargate SG1,” “The Horse Whisperer,”
“Star Trek: First Contact,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” both “Addams Family” films, “Six Feet Under,” “Tales from the Crypt,” “Battlestar Galactica,” and many more.
MASTERSFX is the winner of numerous entertainment industry awards, including an Emmy, a Saturn and a Gemini. The company has also been nominated for dozens of additional Emmy, Gemini, Leo, Saturn, and Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards. MASTERSFX’s Los Angeles office can be contacted by phone at 818/834-3000. The web is www.mastersfx.com.
