The feature Quarantine stages a publicity event. Courtesy of Janet Hetherington.

Bank remembers a situation with Alias, where he assumed a complicated task. "I spoke up before I knew if we could do it," he remembers. "The character had to jump off a building, guns blazing. What we ended up doing was building a CG building, and building all the furniture inside. The day it was due, 17 hours of render time were needed. We needed it finished in 12 hours. So we asked, 'What are the layers that we can turn off?'"

However, at other times, technology -- mixed with good communication -- can help. Orloff says that Jericho posed an interesting challenge. "Green screen cues can be very abstract for actors, and as vfx artists, we key off of actors' performances." To assist in the process, previsualization was used to help Skeet Ulrich in a scene showing an urgent flight to Texas. "We blocked everything out in CG form. It was a full virtual environment, but in very simple shapes and blocking. The DP and director could be shown this, so that they would know exactly what is going on visually."

Relentless 3D
Director Demian Lichtenstein (3000 Miles to Graceland) agrees that previz is an important tool, and he is he using it for his new film Relentless 3D. Lichtenstein is previsualizing the entire movie, and will be sharing assets with a videogame that is being developed at the same time by GRIN Studios.

Lichtenstein, who has an extensive music video background, appeared on a panel with composer Dennis Dreith (The Punisher, GAG) on "Music for My Indie Film," but was also available to discuss his new 3D project with AWN.

Relentless 3D follows the story of four extreme sports professionals who survive a plane crash in the Amazon jungle and must use all their survival instincts as they are hunted by a group of homicidal (and possibly cannibalistic?) natives. "There is a huge amount of CGI in the film... the plane crash will use CGI, full-size elements and miniatures blended together," Lichtenstein said.

As for other technology, Lichtenstein has been following the work of James Cameron on Avatar and was trained in 3D filmmaking by DreamWorks' James Mainard and Phil McNally. Citing the Vince Pace camera system as the stereoscopic system of choice, the director says that the 3D effects will enhance such scenes as the jungle floor rushing up as the plane crashes, but to achieve such an effect, shooting takes four times as long as in 2D: "It's four times as hard per shot, and four times as long."

Lichtenstein plans to begin his Relentless 3D shoot in late fall 2008, in Puerto Rico.

The new Mortal Kombat (MK) vs. DC Universe (DCU) videogame draws its inspiration from two established franchises. The most memorable characters from both worlds pair up well. Courtesy of Midway.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
As its name suggests, the new Mortal Kombat (MK) vs. DC Universe (DCU) videogame from Midway Amusement Games draws its inspiration from two established franchise arenas. Designers Brain Lebaron and Eddie Ferrier, along with senior producer Hans Lo, advise that this game will be rated "T" for Teen, rather than "M" for Mature, because, while the game will be "pushing the envelope," Superman does not kill.

Superman does, however, punch, fly and use his freeze breath on adversaries. The game spotlights the most memorable characters from both franchises that pair up well. On the DCU side, players can choose Superman, Batman, Catwoman, Shazam, the Flash or the Joker. On the MK side, there are Kitana, Liu Kang, Scorpion, Shang Tsung, Sonia Blade and Sub-Zero. Battles can take place in environments ranging from Metropolis to the Batcave to the MK world.

Comics creator Jimmy Palmiotti scripted the game so that it provides a linear story and "so that it made sense. The lead-in explains why the worlds collided, and there are films in between the fight sequences," he says. The game also features original music to enhance the drama.

"Comic book people are going to be playing this game, so we are defending the copyright," Palmiotti says. He also notes that heroes like Superman, Batman and the Flash have different powers, so they need to be presented differently. On the MK side, Lo says, "Fans of MK thought it would be watered down, but we're keeping it true to the MK universe."

The game, which uses a heavily modified Unreal engine and will be available for play on XBox 360 and Playstation 3, is due out November 10, 2008.

Sony DC Universe Online
There was more DC Comics game mania at Comic-Con as fans swarmed the Sony DC Universe Online (SOE) booth for information about the forthcoming SOE massive multiplayer game. With this game, a player can create his or her own character -- either hero or villain -- and can interact with the Justice League.