Digiscope, one of the entertainment industry’s leading visual effects production studios, has completed over 300 FX shots for the upcoming Summit Entertainment/Icon Productions feature film entitled “Push.” For this project, Digiscope also worked concurrently with UK-based Peerless Camera Company, which produced an additional 100 FX.
To view the trailer for “Push,” please see:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809922967/trailer
“Push,” directed by Paul McGuigan, is a sci-fi thriller slated for release Feb 6, 2009. The film stars Dakota Fanning, Chris Evans and Djimon Hounsou. Producers are Glenn Williamson, Bruce Davey and Willaim Vince.
Executive Producers are David Bourla, Amy Gilliam, Michael Ohoven, Gretchen Somerfeld, David Valleau and Stan Wlodkowski. Bourla also wrote the script.
Digiscope and its in-house Supervisor Dion Hatch worked directly with Paul McGuigan and the film’s VFX Supervisor Kent Houston to create the FX shots for “Push.” Said Hatch, “We had a very collaborative relationship on ‘Push’ with both Paul and Kent. One of their first concerns was locking down the design of the ‘mover ‘ effect. Both Nick (Chris Evans) and Victor, (Neil Jackson), are ‘Movers;’ they are adversaries with psychokinetic powers. Initially Paul wanted these ‘move’ effects to be subtle. Brent Prevatt, the Digital Supervisor designed dozens of different looks using a combination of 3D and 2D constructs. Paul then combined a number of these designs, ultimately favoring a very chromatic energy burst combined with a subtle ripple effect. He liked Brent’s final design so much that he decided to amp up the effect as the fighting intensifies making the fights between Nick and Victor more visually powerful.”
Hatch adds, “Our greatest challenge on ‘Push’ was to design and build a 60 story skyscraper and drop it in the middle of downtown Hong Kong. The top of the building was designed to match the set where the final big fight scene happens between Chris Evans and the ‘bad guys’—members of the Division. The rest of the building was to be under construction with bamboo scaffolding and covered in green netting. Kent supplied us with hundreds of textural and environmental references to complete the look.”
“The interior of the building was also a challenge. The final moments of the film takes place with the actors fighting on an unfinished glass floor. Below them Paul wanted a large central shaft that dropped away sixty floors creating a frightening sense of vertigo. Originally, we planned to do the void as a 2.5D projection but in order to meet the creative changes that Paul and Kent asked for we ended up building the void completely in 3D,” Hatch concludes.
ABOUT “PUSH:”
The storyline of “Push” concerns people in the world born with psychic powers. In 1945, government agencies set up for psychic warfare began trying to turn those people with abilities into soldiers. After the war, governments began to set up divisions with agents trained to hunt them down like animals, test and categorize them. There are various types of psychic abilities featured in “Push:” A Watcher can see the future, a Mover is telekinetic, Sniffers can see the history of an object, Shifts can temporarily change the shape of things, Wipers can wipe away memory, and Pushers can put thoughts into other people’s heads. Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning), a Watcher, teams with a young man named Nick Grant (Chris Evans), to take on a clandestine agency called The Division, in a race against time that will determine the future of civilization.
ABOUT DIGISCOPE:
Currently celebrating its 13th anniversary year, DigiScope specializes in the design, creation and production of original visual effects and main title sequences, primarily for major motion pictures. Digiscope recently produced visual effects for “Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer” for director Tim Story, “In the Valley of Elah” for director Paul Haggis, and “Salomaybe” for writer/director Al Pacino, as well as for “Georgia Rule,” “Next,” “Gracie” and
“The Reaping.”
Since its launch in 1996, the company has worked on over 150 feature films, many of them blockbusters. These hits include such titles as “Terminator 3,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Spiderman,” “The Fast and the Furious,” “Racing Stripes”, “The Mummy Returns,” “Gladiator,” “Mission Impossible 2,” “Austin Powers 2,” “Blade”, “Godzilla,” and “Titanic,” to name a few. Members of the company were also included within the Academy Award winning “Independence Day” visual effects team.
Digiscope celebrates its close relationships to many of the top directors in Hollywood on projects ranging from comedy to drama, action/adventure to thriller, horror to sci-fi. DigiScope has provided visual effects on multiple feature films for such highly esteemed helmers as Ridley Scott, Roland Emmerich, Robert Rodriguez, Martin Campbell, Frederik DuChau, Stephen Sommers, Keenan Ivory Wayans, and others. The company’s stunning effects have also earned critical and popular acclaim as seen in other high profile films directed by Sam Raimi, John Woo, Tim Burton, Michael Bay, Wolfgang Peterson and James Cameron.
Located in a modern glass and brick architectural building, Digiscope’s facilities include a 15-seat digital projection theater outfitted with a 20-foot-wide screen. Clients and artists can review dailies in digital formats, eliminating the need for daily trips to the film lab. The company also has the ability to record to film, though most projects are delivered on FireWire drives for clients to bring to their DI facilities. For additional information, please visit www.digiscope.com, or call 310/315-6060.
