Lighting created problems, and shadows from the fedora and other objects had to be reproduced. 

"We had developed a two-stage animation process despite the shortage of motion capture equipment," Molnar explains. "The first stage was the animation of the 3D geometry to match the performance of the actor. The second was the animation of the inkblot patterns in the 2D texture space of the UV layout of the mask geometry. We had advanced our knowledge base by developing techniques such as producing faux 3D facial performance using only one camera for capturing in-camera performance. We augmented the faux 3D data with a keyframe animation technique to improve the quality and details for better effects. After analyzing and attempting to customize off-the-shelf packages such as Flash and Toon Boom, we developed our own 2D animation software to augment Maya for maximum performance and flexibility. Finally, the shapes were trimmed using closed NURBS curves for optimal effects."

Intelligent Creatures also delivered various New York City street environments, set piece extensions, blood, gore, snow and breath throughout the film.

A greenscreen New York City was replaced with work from Moving Picture Co. Courtesy of MPC. 

Bits and Pieces from MPC
MPC's work out of its new Vancouver office consisted of 250 shots, including full digital doubles, digital cityscapes, 3D environments and the CG Owlship.

VFX Supervisor Jess Norman oversaw a team of 35+ artists. They basically used a Maya pipeline augmented by a range of proprietary tools. Shots were composited using Shake and rendered in RenderMan. This integrated approach, with assistance from the London headquarters, allowed the team to achieve their vfx challenges.

MPC's invisible effects begin with the death of the Comedian, containing intense fighting in a high-rise condo. For this, MPC created the completely digital cityscape seen outside the smashing window. The shattering of the glass was simulated by the PAPi physics system developed by the MPC team. There was also removal of corresponding wires and rigs necessitated by the live-action shoot. And digital doubles were added.