Les Deux Mondes
DIRECTOR : Daniel Cohen
PRODUCTION : Gaumont International-MNP
VFX SUPERVISOR : Olivier Cauwet
VFX PRODUCER : Cynthia Mourou
MAKING OF : Charles Labriet
NUMBER OF SHOTS : 145
Gallery
Production notes
A French family man experiences a cosmic crisis. From time to time, Rémy slips through time and space and undergoes a journey to an alternate world, before returning temporarily to his present-day existence. After a series of nutty adventures in this strange new land, Rémy seeks to liberate an enslaved tribe of warriors who live there...
Early on, the director Daniel Cohen and MNP, the production company, consulted with BUF as VFX were a key element of this film. BUF prepped the project over three months, discussed all the shots with the creative team and took part in the location research for three months in South Africa and Paris.
For The Two Worlds, the main characteristic of BUF's work is in its diversity: a 3D time-freezing cat; Remy's transiting to the second world through his kitchen floor; 3D crowds for the exodus and battle sequences; full-CG sets; the inside of the Begamenian Tower; 2D matte painting to integrate the suns and the moons; the design of cities; 3D matte painting to extend or complete the interior and exterior sets of the Begamenian Tower and Remy's kingdom; integration of the giant Zotan; and various other VFX such as war injuries, blood, sparks, freezes and weapons.
For the cat sequence, Daniel Cohen wanted to show time freezing while Remy is entering the second world. In a single continuous shot, the cat interacts with the set, climbing on the table and jumping on the fridge before freezing in the air. For this shot, two passes were shot. The first with the cat in front of a blue screen. The second one for acting with Remy surprised and grabbing the cat (replaced by a black-fur muff), shaking it and finally dropping it. BUF used stills of the cat to model and texture it in 3D and after compositing, integrated the 3D cat in the scene.
For Remy's transit to the second world, Cohen wanted Remy's character to sink into the kitchen floor, grabbing everything he can as he is being swallowed into a dark tunnel representing the passageway. Building a set 5-feet above the ground, using a pneumatic lift and a laser at floor level, we were able to give the illusion of sinking. To give this “shifting sands” look to the sequence, BUF customized its proprietary software to achieve a fluid and realistic movement for this shot as the floor interacts with the actor. Additional work here included Rémy's transition back to the real world for the first time, where he falls from the sky and goes through a building. BUF reconstructed the entire environment in 3D (building, street, Eiffel tower...) and then integrated the character shot on blue screen.
For the battle sequences in which Rémy leads the Begamenian people in a battle against the Zotanian people BUF had to create thousands of virtual characters and their weapons in order for the battle. The 3D characters were created using reference stills and footage shot in a mini-studio created on set during principal photography. This allowed us to be the least intrusive to production and the most efficient in terms of gathering the needed material for the VFX work.
BUF designed several 2D and 3D matte paintings for the film. A 2D matte painting was done for all the scenes at the top of the Begamenia Tower. The Tower was shot in front of a blue screen with lighting for two different times of day (dusk & night). To create the landscape surrounding the Tower a series of stills was shot of the Lorensford mountains in South Africa. Then after stiching together the stills and cleaning them, the team was able to integrate the Zotanian village and the Zotan cave.
All the views from the interior of the Begamenia Tower required an extension of the set thus necessitating a 3D matte painting of the Tower. BUF modeled the tower in 3D and textured it with stills. This allowed us to create the the view from the Tower from various perspectives and many angles with a variety of lightning. To bring the view from the Tower to life, we integrated 3D characters and various elements (smoke, accessories, ladders, ropes...).
For the Exodus sequence, several shots were required. BUF was asked to restore a large section of the road and modify the set in order to emphasize this unique landscape. Additionally, the suns and the moons had to be integrated into many shots. For Remy's kingdom, BUF extended the sets in 3D, designed a street in fire during the Begamenian revolt, the Palace, as well as the wide shots of the entire kingdom.
Lastly, for the Zotan sequence, a blind 12-feet giant monster had to be created. The most unique aspect of this work was that we used the one of the oldest of visual effects techiniques, pioneered by George Melies in 1898. Using his multi-take compositing process we created a convincing giant in no time. All the elements needs for this effect were filmed at the same time. The first pass was shot with the extras, then a second camera setup was shot with all the measurements divided by two. By doing this, everything looked twice as large in the frame. This gave a similar perspective between the passes and the same lighting allowing an easier integration of the two passes.