Proof Inc., one of the film industry's leading visualization houses, provided extensive previs and postvis services to the new Marvel Entertainment motion picture "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," it was announced today by Proof's Creative Director/Founder Ron Frankel. The film was released by Walt Disney Studios on April 4th and is currently #1 at the international boxoffice.
Proof's work on "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" has just been profiled in the Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-on-location-previsualization-20140409,0,1902398.story#axzz2yOoir3fr
"This new film was an extremely important project for Proof," Frankel said. "In fact, this was the biggest previs and postvis assignment in the history of our company. Previs has clearly become a critical element today as a story tool in the planning of action sequences within a 3D environment. We spent 14 months planning the previs for this new 'Captain America' film, and then another eight months during the postvis process. We are especially proud of how we helped craft the finale of the film as well."
Proof's PreVis Supervisor, Monty Granito, said "We were thrilled to have had the opportunity to be involved with every major action and VFX scene in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier.' We began animating the previs for the film six month prior to the start of production. Working directly from the script, we created a number of exciting sequences, such as when Cap squares off again the Quinjet, jumping onto it and destroying it, and when the Helicarriers take off and shoot each other and fall into buildings. We also designed the flying sequences for the superhero Falcon. Additionally, we also visualized a solid chunk of the finale, which translated into about 35 minutes of animation."
Dan DeLeeuw, VFX Supervisor on "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," said, "There has been a real paradigm shift during the past few years when planning a feature film. We used to rely on storyboards, then on animatics, and now today on previs. Previs has secured a place for itself as an extremely valuable tool in helping to visualize an entire movie before physical production even starts. In the case of this new film, a huge third act fell onto the shoulders of Proof's previs team to help structure. We had to first construct the third act in previs, making our way through all of that data to help determine how the sequences would look. This was the first time I was able to see the entire third act of a movie before a film even began shooting."
He adds, "The Proof team and I were involved very early on in the planning of this film. We had to figure out how to fulfill our director's vision to help best tell this story. Previs has become a really great tool these days for everyone to plan, design and ultimately shoot action sequences. Proof also delivered a good deal of postvis on this movie. In the past, it required a lot of imagination to envision, during screenings, what the movie would actually look like. You'd see green screens where future VFX shots would appear, so there would be 'holes' in the story. Now, by integrating postvis, you can watch the entire film and really get a solid feel for what it will eventually look like."
"It was great working with Monty Granito and the Proof team. They are a very collaborative company, and deliver a lot of style when creating shots. Anytime I suggested an idea, they'd show me several variations on that idea in just a mere few hours. They are terrific at delivering fine fantastic images," DeLeeuw concludes.
Adds Gunnar Hansen, Post Vis Supervisor for "Captain America: The Winter Solider," "The Proof team provided very valuable and extremely rapid responses to editorial's workflow. We worked very closely with the editor Jeff Ford and the VFX editor George McCarthy for six months to provide postvis temps for over 1400 shots. We basically created very detailed 3D composites to fill in the pending vendor visual effects shots, as well as precise shots to send to the VFX vendors for timing, animation and design."
"Aside from touching on all the major action scenes, the Proof team and I also created many of the animated screen graphics. For the huge battle finale, several hundred shots were tracked, lit, rendered and composited to a very high level of detail. In the end, these contributions gave VFX, editorial and the studio a seamless, decisive and exciting cut for both final visual effects and for screenings," Hansen concludes.
About "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLIDER"
Released by Walt Disney Studios on April 4, 2014, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," a Marvel Entertainment production, stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Samuel L. Jackson, Emily VanCamp, Garry Shandling and Cobie Smulders under the direction of Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. The storyline of the film: After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America (Chris Evans,) is living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk.
Joining forces with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson,) Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon (Anthony Mackie.) However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy-the Winter Soldier. More: http://marvel.com/captainamerica
About PROOF INC.
Founded in 2002 in Los Angeles by Ron Frankel, Proof Inc. is one Hollywood's leading providers of high-quality visualization services for the feature film and live entertainment industries. In addition to "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," the company's other recent projects have included "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," "Riddick," "Fast & Furious 6," "Man of Steel," "The Hangover, Part 3," "42," "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters," "The Amazing Spider-Man," and "The Hunger Games," to name just a few. Upcoming projects include "Guardians of the Galaxy," "A Night at the Museum 3," "Pan," "Tarzan 3D," "San Andreas: 3D," "Gods of Egypt," and "Fast & Furious 7."
From the start of development through to delivery, the talented digital artists of Proof help filmmakers tell their stories and realize their visions. Whether a major studio feature film, a large-scale architectural installation, a TV commercial, or a live concert, Proof's unique blend of visual artistry and technical expertise ensures that the company's work on any project is as accurate as it is evocative.
Proof specializes in four areas of creative services:
Previs: A collaborative process using 3D animation software and real-time computer graphics to generate preliminary versions of shots or sequences;
Virtual Production: Proof provides on-set visualization, the synchronization and compositing of live photography with 2D or 3D virtual elements, for immediate visual feedback;
Postvis: This is a creative process whereby filmmakers can direct the parts of their film that weren't captured during photography because they were either impractical or impossible to get in camera;
Event Visualization: Proof's artists have the ability to create accurate visualizations to test designs for any kind of event, ranging from a theme park ride to a fashion show, and from a concert to an urban scale multi-media projection.
Proof's Headquarters Office is located at 5150 Wilshire Blvd., Suite # 300, LA, CA, 90036. The phone is 323/465-6930 and the website is: www.proof-inc.com
