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VFX Pro Feature Australian Visual Effects Firm FUEL Takes Flight
Sydney-based design and visual effects firm FUEL handled all the film's visual effects needs. Producer Andrew Mason ("The Matrix," "Dark City") explains, "'Danny Deckchair' is a romantic comedy, so you wouldn't expect it to be a visual effects film. But when you know the hero flies up into the sky with a bunch of balloons tied to a chair -- well, then you figure there's going to be some work to do."
The number of effects in "Danny Deckchair" grew to a total of 126 shots, which includes about 55 digital opticals, a remarkable number given the film's romantic comedy genre. The most complex effects shots to create were those critical to the story's narrative: Danny's launch into the air, his aerial journey through a thunderstorm and his plummet back to earth courtesy of a country town's fireworks display. FUEL's work began during preproduction with extensive previsualization of these key sequences for first-time director Jeff Balsmeyer, whose own background as a storyboard artist working with directors such as Woody Allen and Spike Lee meant he was able to communicate what he wanted very clearly. The previsualization phase was one of the job's most memorable experiences for FUEL visual effects supervisor Dave Morley. "At one stage we had about 10 of the film's heads of department in at FUEL so they could all have input into how best to shoot the bluescreen elements of Danny in his chair. How much rotation did SFX have to build into the chair rig? What size crane did the grips need? Was there a studio in Sydney tall enough to achieve some of these shots?"
Not surprisingly, the bluescreen shoot ran according to plan, with the exception of one instance when it became obvious the previsualized shot contained a fast-moving camera that would be too challenging for the grips to achieve in reality. FUEL used its on-set visual effects workstation to quickly re-block the shot and gain approval from the director. The revised setup information was then translated back to the crew for shooting. Morley comments, "Being heavily involved from preproduction onward meant the FUEL team was just another part of the production process. Establishing a constructive and trusting working relationship with Jeff and Andrew early on allowed us to demonstrate the benefits of FUEL's high-end boutique operation by our hands-on, personal approach." With great live-action elements in the can, FUEL relied on their extensive experience in matte painting and photogrammetry to create the photorealistic CG environments of Danny's aerial journey. Throw in a last-minute build of a fully CG Danny to create one of the film's signature shots and "Danny Deckchair" shows off FUEL's all around skills.
Cement truck driver Danny Wilson's lifelong dream is to travel somewhere, anywhere, by plane. On the eve of a much-anticipated holiday, Danny is traumatized when his wife, Trudy, insists they stay home so that she can close a business deal. During an Australia Day barbeque, Danny, in a small act of defiance, gets his mates to tie weather balloons to his deckchair in an attempt to gain lift-off. When nobody's looking, he unties the safety ropes and floats up and out of sight. He gets a little more than he bargained for when a storm blows him clean off the local map. After several hazardous hours in the air, he reappears way up north in the small town of Clarence. While the media back home run riot with the story of his disappearance, "Danny Deck Chair," as he is dubbed by the press, reinvents himself and finds true love. © Copyright 2003 by United Entertainment Media, Inc. |
