“Ghouls,” an effects-laden feature film currently in production in Beijing, is represented at the Cannes Film Festival with a sizzle reel including dazzling vfx work by Phenom Films, the largest privately owned visual effects studio in China.
“Ghouls,” produced and distributed by Wanda Film Group, Huayi Brothers and Enlight Media, is set to be released on December18, 2015. The feature is directed by Wuershan and produced by Chen Kuo-Fu. The production marks the first time the three film giants have joined together on the same movie. Ye Ning, Deputy CEO of Wanda Group, Wang Zhonglei, CEO of Huayi, and Wang Changtian, CEO of Enlight Media attended the first poster released event, together with Wuershan.
Phenom Films’ Douglas Smith, Oscar®-winning VFX supervisor, supervised the VFX.
“Phenom Films’ visual effects team was involved in ‘Ghouls’ from preproduction, and was there for all discussions, location scouting and meetings, and was an essential part of the entire production team,” said Sam Wang, CEO/President, Phenom Films Beijing/Los Angeles.
In a shot involving a character who dashes out of a massive explosion and catches fire, the director Wuershan originally intended to use the actor and employ special effects; but after consulting with the visual effects team opted for doing the entire sequence employing CG.
In another sequence shot against green screen, two actors fly up in the air, floating and talking all the while. Phenom visual effects team was able to spectacularly combine the sequence with ideas and designs that express the central idea of the film as well as the emotions of the characters.
“Chinese VFX houses have been growing rapidly in recent years,” said Wang. “As a consequence our industry has greatly contributed to the growth of the Chinese film industry overall, bringing it to even greater levels of quality. Chinese films aimed at domestic audiences are receiving greater reception in international markets and have won more and more acceptance and support around the world. Phenom Films and other VFX studios are proud of the role they have played in this spectacular growth.”
