Eden FX created the stereo 3D opening sequence for DreamWorks Pictures’ feature film “Fright Night,” which opened August 19, 2011.
Describing the work, Eden’s VFX Producer Andrea D’Amico said, “The famous DreamWorks logo had never been used in a stereo Live Action movie before so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to convert it to 3D. Then the design of the ‘Fright Night’ opening called for the clouds of the logo to transition seamlessly into the CGI clouds of an ominous sky with lightning. Director Craig Gillespie’s vision was for the viewer to fly through a tunnel of menacing clouds and lightning flashes before bursting out to an aerial shot of the landscape below which begins the film.”
Eden’s Lead Artist Fred Pienkos created the 3D conversion of the DreamWorks logo. Said Pienkos “working with the original elements from 1995 to turn them into 3D felt like being entrusted with a little piece of cinematic history.” Then, working closely with the production’s VFX Supervisor Joe Bauer, Pienkos and Eden’s Lead Artist Stefan Bredereck created the ominous stereo CG cloudscape for the opening sequence.
Said Pienkos, “We had a lot of fun creating this seamless sequence which runs just under a minute long. Stefan created a unique cloud system which included roiling animated cloud volumes through which the viewer can ‘fly,’ with very realistic lightning inside of the cloud volumes. This cloud system had to seamlessly transition from the trademarked DreamWorks clouds and logo, which was the first challenge, then the sequence needed to once again seamlessly transition into the first shot of the movie which was a helicopter shot flying into the small town.”
He continues, “To further add to the complexity of merging these three segments of the sequence which each had slightly different camera focal lengths was the fact that these seamless transitions had to be seamless in stereo. The cloud systems were created using 3D Studio Max and the stereo compositing, color correction, stabilizing, tracking and interactive elements were accomplished in Eyeon Fusion.”
About “FRIGHT NIGHT”
Senior Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) finally has it all—he’s running with the popular crowd and dating the hottest girl in high school. In fact, he’s so cool he’s even dissing his best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). But trouble arrives when an intriguing stranger Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a great guy at first, but there’s something not quite right— yet no one, including Charley’s mom (Toni Collette), seems to notice! After witnessing some very unusual activity, Charley comes to an unmistakable conclusion: Jerry is a vampire preying on his neighborhood. Unable to convince anyone that he’s telling the truth, Charley has to find a way to get rid of the monster himself in this Craig Gillespie-helmed revamp of the comedy-horror classic.
DreamWorks Pictures presents “Fright Night,” directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Michael De Luca and Alison Rosenzweig, with a screenplay by Marti Noxon and story by Tom Holland, based on the film “Fright Night,” written by Tom Holland. The film released in the U.S. on August 19, 2011.
About EDEN FX
Formed in 2000, Eden FX is an award winning studio specializing in 3D animation, virtual environments, compositing, matte painting, character animation, and on-set supervision for film and television. Eden FX, a Point .360 company, is located at 12421 West Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90064. The phone is 310/481-7002. Please visit www.edenfx.com for more information.
