Getting into a Zombieland Mood

Mark Breakspear tells VFXWorld what it was like making a zombie flick.
Posted In | Magazines: VFXWorld | Site Categories: CG, Films, Visual Effects
Wireframe-Retime
Wireframe-Retime - Additional "seat belt" sequence. © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. all rights reserved. Images courtesy of CIS Vancouver.

 

 

FG-Retime
FG-Retime - Additional "seat belt" sequence. © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. all rights reserved. Images courtesy of CIS Vancouver.

 

 

Stuntwoman-Retime
Stuntwoman-Retime - Additional "seat belt" sequence. © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. all rights reserved. Images courtesy of CIS Vancouver.

 

 

Final Comp
Final Comp - Additional "seat belt" sequence. © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. all rights reserved. Images courtesy of CIS Vancouver.

 

BD: That's quite a change of pace for you.

MB: Yeah, it's a fun romp around America heading towards this theme park, where they all seem to want to go. They've heard there are no zombies there, which couldn't be further from the truth. And this fantastic battle ensues in this theme park.

 

Wireframe Greyscale
Wireframe Greyscale - The opening, which turned out to be a full CG environment of Washington, D.C, was re-worked and then re-roto'd because it was more complicated than originally envisioned. © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. all rights reserved. Images courtesy of CIS Vancouver.
Plate with Pan
Plate with Pan - The opening, which turned out to be a full CG environment of Washington, D.C, was re-worked and then re-roto'd because it was more complicated than originally envisioned. © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. all rights reserved. Images courtesy of CIS Vancouver.
Final Comp
Final Comp - The opening, which turned out to be a full CG environment of Washington, D.C, was re-worked and then re-roto'd because it was more complicated than originally envisioned. © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. all rights reserved. Images courtesy of CIS Vancouver.

 

BD: And talk about the opening shot.

MB: It's this introduction to Zombieland and it's a documentary-style guy just filming and describing how America has been destroyed and he's looking at the Presidential limo, which is upside down, and flags flying and you see the capitol building in the background and it's burning, and there's smoke and fire everywhere on the buildings and there's blood on the ground and you pull back a bit further and suddenly you hear this noise and it swish pans across and you see a zombie jump over the Presidential limo and almost down on top of [this guy with the camera]. He starts to run away -- it's all one shot about a minute long -- and the zombie finally catches up to him, pulls him down on the ground, tears him apart and eats him. So if you can make it through that…

BD: How did you pull that off?







Comments


Zombie movies were big in 2009 - I love them. But I think they have had their day. Wolfman is more this year's flavour - but I think its time for some new ghouls. Any ideas?

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Phrantic | Fri, 03/12/2010 - 06:49 | Permalink
5
Liked the movie and the effects!
richard4u | Wed, 03/10/2010 - 00:43 | Permalink
5

GREAT movie, really awesome with the special effects and has a tinge of edge to it!

  is a good means to get mileage, as the movie has done awesomely well with the technical details,

richard4u | Tue, 03/09/2010 - 23:39 | Permalink
5

This movie really got me wide-eyed and totally grossed out but i still couldn't get up and leave! I just had to finish the movie! This is a great one!

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Daleann Miami Mortgage Refinancing

Daleann | Tue, 03/02/2010 - 11:11 | Permalink

Excellent and superb work. I simply loved it.

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Shilpa | Mon, 03/01/2010 - 22:12 | Permalink

hehe love zombieland!

web 2.0 graphics | Images (not verified) | Mon, 03/01/2010 - 21:52 | Permalink

This was one of the best movies of the year. The first 30 minutes alone is worth the price of admission - brilliant directing and editing. This visuals couldn't have been any better. And the whole Bill Murray thing was simply hysterical. Hats off to Woody, who does a fantastic job and the kids were simply wonderful as well.

Dmitry (not verified) | Wed, 02/03/2010 - 14:28 | Permalink

The movie was amazing. Some scenes were surely worth the effort they put in. Lets see how well it does with the awards.

seo articles (not verified) | Mon, 01/18/2010 - 12:52 | Permalink

Well interesting stuff i hope i will get some more good content and stuff here:)

brochure design (not verified) | Thu, 01/14/2010 - 05:21 | Permalink

WOW, seems interesting enough to so i better check it back soon:)

logo design (not verified) | Wed, 01/13/2010 - 00:05 | Permalink

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