Creating the Ship
Renting a cruise liner, assuming there was a company willing to rent a ship given the story line, would have been cost prohibitive. Filming miniatures, on the other hand, would mean a huge amount of work in piecing together the footage. The only feasible option was to create a ship in CG.

However, to create a cruise ship of such massive proportions to a level that looks authentic requires detail. Poseidon needed to be an 1100 ft, 20-story, grand ocean liner, and populated. To achieve this, modular repeating was used with variation, to create the interior of cabins, sun chairs on the deck, etc.

The water simulation in Poseidon called for a 100 strong team of software developers, engineers and artists during a year, to create the proprietary software, Shermis recalled. Courtesy of Warner Bros.

The Water
Poseidon was the third water movie for director Petersen since Das Boot and The Perfect Storm. Shermis said they aspired to push the envelope further than before -- "to 'out-storm' The Perfect Storm and 'out-Titanic' the Titanic."

Therefore, another key challenge to be tackled on Poseidon, was the development of a system capable of generating the masses of devastating water required by the script. To get water to perform with the correct characteristics when interacting with solid objects is no easy task.

"Water is one of the most difficult things in visual effects; we are dealing with very complex simulations," said Shermis. While simple, ocean wide shots can be simulated on a home PC, the water simulation in Poseidon called for a 100 strong team of software developers, engineers and artists during a year, to create the proprietary software.

Bugs Bunny in the 'Era of the Long Tail'
Schwartz focused his presentation on reaching world markets in the "Era of the Long Tail," explaining how today's technology allows people to connect quickly and globally. However, this new era has fractionalized the audience, creating a multitude of niches that generate less money. In the early days of U.S. television when choice was limited, a show could reach 25-50% of the market. Today, however, if a show is viewed by 4%, it is considered a hit.

Chris Anderson, managing editor of Wired, coined the term "Long Tail." He states that "our culture and economy are increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of 'hits' (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail."

In line with this concept, Schwartz maintained that these days, instances of a show making high revenue over a brief period of time by reaching a large share of the market is becoming less common. Instead, income is more likely to be earned by reaching smaller portions of a market over a longer period of time. One has to offer a variety of distinctive products. For example, brands like Fantasia, Rocky Horror Picture Show and Star Trek have experienced a second life through merchandising, re-runs and other spin offs.

Okun (left) and Roth (right) share a light moment with Weta's co-owner Jamie Selkirk.

The fractionalizing of markets also requires a new economic model and structure for funding. The entry costs and financial risk of filmmaking is too high; new sources of funding must be sought, like patch funding or intercontinental co production with other studios.

Schwartz noted the Internet is the best tool in this era, giving increased accessibility to content, "infinite shelf space" and affordable distribution. One example of this is Disney, which sold $1 million worth of movies through the online music store iTunes, within a week of its launch. Robert Iger, ceo of Disney, predicts the partnership will reap $50 million revenue in its first year.

The Current State of the Industry
Schwartz believes that animation is well suited to survive in the era of the Long Tail. Once a character is successful with its audience, it usually stays in the memory. Children grow up and introduce their children to the character - look, for instance, at Bugs Bunny and Scooby Doo.

During the technologist's panel discussion on Emerging Technologies and the Future of the Moving Image, shading writer Steve Upstill (The Return of the King, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life) advertised for a software system to manage animation and visual effects production where currently a "hairball" of software is used. This issue is ever more so important in the age of co-productions across continents where different ends are interacting closely with one another. At this stage, Upstill believes it is just beyond our reach. "This issue is perhaps not as 'sexy' as other technical pioneering issues but nevertheless a huge technical problem and housekeeping issue," added Upstill.

In director Johnson's view, CG animation is still just entering adulthood and he is looking forward to following its development and maturity -- a development that we hope to be able to follow and perhaps even inspire through many AnimfxNZ events to come.

Camilla Havmoller has worked with 2D animation and motion capture for television production and as a university instructor in digital screen production. She is a member of the Auckland chapter of Women in Film and Television and a freelance writer for local, national and international industry magazines for the screen industry.