In culling through this year’s Visual Effects Society (VES) Award nominations, SHOOT coverage across the board in 2017 carried a connection to many of those in the running for honors, ranging from commercials to features. On the latter score, for example, War for the Planet of the Apes (Twentieth Century Fox) tied with Blade Runner 2049 (Warner Bros. Pictures) for the most noms with seven. And one of the prime contributors to the Apes saga, Joe Letteri—sr. visual effects supervisor on War and a partner in New Zealand-based studio Weta Digital—has known for some time that no matter how War fares at the awards gala (2/13), he will be leaving with some hardware in that he's already been named the next recipient of the VES Georges Méliès Award which honors lasting contributions to the art and science of the visual effects industry by way of artistry, invention and groundbreaking work. VES chose to honor Letteri for his pioneering contributions as a visionary artist adept at using technology to create unforgettable worlds and CG characters that speak volumes about our humanity. His boundary-breaking work with motion capture has brought us evocative characters that are believably alive—and have riveted and entertained millions through exceptional and unforgettable narratives.
Letteri’s creative vision and inventive techniques have garnered him four Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects on Avatar, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and King Kong. He has additionally received the Academy’s Technical Achievement Award for co-developing the subsurface scattering technique that brought Gollum to life in The Hobbit, four BAFTA Awards and six VES Awards. Last month on the strength of War for the Planet of the Apes, Letteri scored his 10th career Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination.
SHOOT editorially crossed paths with Letteri on several occasions last year—including interviewing him on stage after a screening of War for the Planet of the Apes at The James Blakeley Theater on the Fox studio lot in Los Angeles, as well as earlier gaining his reflections on the film in our prequel to this awards season’s continuing The Road To Oscar series of feature stories. In both the prequel and on stage, Letteri shared insights into War for the Planet of the Apes, which was nominated for VES Awards in the following categories: Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature; a pair of nods for Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature (for Caesar and for Bad Ape); two more for Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature (for Hidden Fortress and for Prison Camp); Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature; and Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature.
For Letteri, character is king in that the only way to strike a responsive chord with viewers is through a story advanced by its characters. Letteri cited the development of ape leader Caesar, portrayed by Andy Serkis, as a marquee example of how a character can continue to grow and develop in the realm of performance capture. Serkis’ performance in War reaches inward as Caesar battles demons within, grappling with crossing a moral boundary which has him seeking vengeance for the murder of his family, causing him to abandon his long-held vision of humans and apes somehow peacefully co-existing.
The brilliance of Serkis and Weta’s penchant for being in the moment with the character, delving into what’s happening behind Caesar’s eyes and the subtleties of translating human performance to an ape performance, serve as dynamics propelling the narrative.
This artistry is what evokes empathy and connects audience to characters and story. Letteri recalled when he was first approached with the Apes franchise (starting with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, later followed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and now War). He was immediately drawn to the script for Rise, particularly the character of Caesar and in turn reached out to Serkis. Letteri and Serkis had earlier famously collaborated on the aforementioned Gollum. Letteri saw Serkis as ideal for Caesar. Serkis too was intrigued by the story and character, sparking his Apes odyssey with Letteri. Letteri said he continues to marvel at Serkis’ commitment to Caesar and his fearlessness in defending the integrity of the character he portrays.
Serkis too has benefited from advances in performance capture where he can now be on equal footing performing opposite another actor including, for example, Woody Harrelson who in War for the Planet of the Apes plays his arch enemy the Colonel, the ruthless leader of an army of humans who subjugate the apes.
Caesar isn’t the only ape character who has evolved over the arc of the Apes films—a prime example being Maurice, portrayed by Karin Konoval. Gender becomes incidental in this instance of a woman portraying a male orangutan as Letteri noted that Konoval has embraced the character over the course of three films (Rise, Dawn and War), studying orangutans, their movements and behavior. In preparing for War, she spent time with the since deceased orangutan Towan at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Towan loved to paint, providing Konoval with a taste of how advanced non-human primates can be. Konoval, particularly in War, brings a conscience to the story, maintaining faith that Caesar’s sense of right and decency will prevail in his inner struggle against the dark side of his being in which hatred turns to violence and a quest for retribution.
Character development for Weta in the Apes movies isn’t confined to Caesar, Maurice and other returning protagonists. War, for example, brings us a new character, Bad Ape, an intelligent chimp and zoo escapee who’s trying to survive, having learned rudimentary language on his own. Portrayed by Steve Zahn, Bad Ape provides comedic relief at times while still serving as a serious character who’s important to the overall story and the plight of different apes.
War for the Planet of the Apes features a dozen key ape characters, which is more than in the previous Ape films. These characters speak with more polish and fluency, posing yet another challenge to Weta Digital in terms of facial expressions and lip sync.
Environs for performance capture have also matured. Not that long ago, performance capture was confined to a soundstage. Breaking that mold was Rise of the Planet of the Apes in which performance capture was brought out into the woods. Fast forward to War for the Planet of the Apes, and we find performance capture on mountains amidst snowfall.
Integral to the recent success of the Apes franchise has been the collaborative relationship between director Matt Reeves and the Weta team. Reeves directed both Dawn and War, developing a rapport with Weta artisans. Letteri has said that Reeves and Weta reside happily on the same wavelength, wanting to make the Apes story an emotional journey.
Spectacular spots
Among the commercials nominated for VES Awards were “Hero’s Journey” for Kia Niro and “Do What You Can’t: Ostrich” for Samsung. The former was selected by SHOOT editors as the #4 entry in our rundown of the Best Work of 2017, while “Ostrich” emerged as #5.
“Hero’s Journey” was up for the VES Award recognizing Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial as was “Ostrich,” which scored two other VES nods—Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial (for the Ostrich); and Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial.
MPC Life, MPC Advertising’s character development team, helped realize “Ostrich.” Directed by MJZ’s Matthijs Van Heijningen for Leo Burnett, the ad gave MPC the opportunity to create a fully photo-real and anatomically correct ostrich—and give him his own quirky personality. The ad promotes Samsung’s revolutionary VR technology and hopes to change consumers’ ideas on what is humanly possible via the mantra, “Do What You Can’t.”
Opening with a curious ostrich stumbling into a VR headset, the spot shows the character beginning to dream of achieving the impossible. “We make what can’t be made so you can do what can’t be done,” Samsung proclaims as the ostrich reaches new heights to the beat of “Rocket Man.”
A reference shoot involving several real ostriches took place in South Africa before the computer generated counterpart was re-born via MPC London creative director Diarmid Harrison Murray and MPC LA creative director Michael Gregory and a global team of experts in LA, London, Paris and Bangalore. Murray noted, “You could tell from the beginning that if we got it right, this could be a special film. A photo-real ostrich definitely ranks as one of the toughest CG creatures I’ve faced, bar none. Their feathers are insanely fluffy and dynamic, and not like any other bird we have created before. We completely upgraded our existing feather system to deal with these challenges. You know you are onto something when we you start freaking yourself out with the realism of your own renders.”
Van Heijningen also directed the Kia 2017 Super Bowl spot “Hero’s Journey,” this time collaborating with VFX house The Mill. In the :60 from agency David&Goliath, Melissa McCarthy is out to save the environment, learning that it can be perilous to do so. Each time she gets the worst end of the exchange, including when a surging whale emerges from the sea and dives back down onto her small motorboat, catapulting McCarthy towards the side of a distant ship with a thud. Clearly trying to be a savior carries its pitfalls—albeit in this case McCarthy experiences a harmless strain of cartoon-like violence which has her up and running in no time to take on the next challenge, including more mishaps centered on a falling tree, breaking icecaps, and then a hard charging rhino.
Luckily, McCarthy drives a Kia Niro, the vehicle that’s up for any adventure, underscoring that “it’s hard to be an eco-warrior but it’s easy to drive like one.”
The Mill LA primarily worked on “Hero’s Journey” with its London office also contributing. The commercial posed assorted creative challenges, some of which were explained by The Mill’s Tom Graham who served as VFX shoot supervisor and 3D lead artist on the piece.
Graham related, “Everyone was in agreement that the CG had to be completely seamless. With full CG ocean shots with a whale and a digital double, a tree falling off a cliff, icebergs crumbling, and a rhino, we knew it would be tight in the amount of time we had. The clients were mainly concerned with keeping the story clear to the viewers with so much happening.”
Additionally, continued Graham, “It was also a challenge to complete a massive job like this in the midst of Super Bowl season. We had some heavy rendering to do with large Houdini sims. Therefore, we had to manage our render time and set priorities for each sequence in the commercial. For example, we set high priorities on certain shots for water simulation and ice breaking to get the heavy rendering in a good place that kept us on schedule.”
The Mill team deployed varied software on “Hero’s Journey.” On the 3D front, all assets were modeled in Maya/Zbrush, and textured in Substance Painter (except for the whale which was textured in Mari/Zbrush). The Mill team rendered the rhino, tree and ship in Maya using Arnold. The whale, water and ice were rendered in Houdini using Mantra. 2D tools deployed included Flame and Nuke.
The Mill also had a hand in another VES nominee for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial: Monster.com’s “Opportunity Roars” from agency KBS, a SHOOT Top Spot of the Week in April 2017, also helmed by Van Heijningen. The ad features a 60-foot purple monster who grabs a woman from a high-rise building, rescuing her from an unsatisfying job. At first she screams in horror but eventually she comes around to view the monster quite differently even as he seemingly wreaks havoc on the city. Turns out the beast is taking her to a better place of employment. The piece is a metaphor for the job process—a little daunting, but Monster will be there every step of the way until you find the right fit.
The monster is an anthropomorphization of Monster.com—he’s in the corner of job seekers as their champion and equalizer, by helping to smash through the challenges they may face in the workplace. He knows you deserve better, and will stop at nothing to help you find it.
The Mill’s CGI team built a full muscle system under the monster’s fur in order to simulate the weight in his body while moving. This heightened the level of realism in the character’s movements and interactions. The team meticulously crafted each wrinkle, pore and hair, which were carefully simulated to interact with his surroundings, from lighting to wind changes. The spot features several fully CGI environments, including streets, alleyways and office spaces, which are seamlessly integrated with live action shots captured in Toronto and augmented to mirror the streets of New York with matte paintings and digital assets.
The spot posed myriad challenges to The Mill NY ensemble. VFX supervisor and 3D artist Kevin Ives said, “The design of this character was a unique challenge. Its original introduction was in a U.K. print campaign, where there were only a few poses and limited lighting. The challenge for us was to bring him to life, without veering too far from the original reference material. To do this we looked to nature. We gave Monster a bone structure and muscle system similar to that of humans. We then sculpted the hands to have similar wrinkling and color variety as orangutans, but because Monster is so giant, a straight orangutan scale up would have looked very odd, so we looked to larger animals such as elephants, rhinos and alligators to add coarseness and scale to the skin texture.
“For the fur we looked to bears and apes. The texture was more bear but the back fringe and arms were more chimp or orangutan. We really wanted the fur to look lived in, so we had to groom the fur to have clumps, partings, and flow that reflected how his body moved. This actually developed alongside the animation—the more we saw Monster move, the more indication we had of where the hair needed to be pinched and flexed permanently. The goofy walk really came out of Monster’s anatomy and the desire to undercut the muscular physique with an awkward comedy. Last but not least, the feet were elephant mammoth.
Kyle Cody, The Mill’s VFX supervisor and sr. compositor on “Opportunity Roars,” noted that “the obvious challenge we had creatively was how to composite a 60-foot giant purple monster into live action plates with no reference. It was a fine balance of managing the purples throughout the spot and adding the right amount of haze and atmosphere to the monster in order to show that he is giant…but not too giant.
“One of our biggest creative challenges in compositing,” Cody continued, “was the sheer number of set extensions and enhancements we did on each plate. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side when we shot, and as such the majority of our street photography was dark and dreary. Creatively, the spot has to be hopeful and optimistic so the compositing team set about painting with light to add sunny blue skies, shafts of light and reflected lighting all throughout the streets and buildings. The compositing team and DMP department also managed a great deal of set extensions and matte paintings. Some of the locations we shot at were not the right size, so we created a number of background replacements in order to get the right city feel.”
