Everett Burrell represented CafeFX not only as a visual effects supervisor on Pan's Labyrinth, but also as a production partner. All images © Warner Bros. Pictures. Courtesy of CafeFX. 

If there's one definitive thing you can say about director Guillermo del Toro, it's that this guy sure knows how to turn very dark things into something special. Since his early days as a filmmaker in Mexico, del Toro has made it his celluloid signature to explore the creepy, murky stories that live in the shadows of reality. In 1992, his film Chronos wowed international audiences with its breathtaking storytelling and imaginative vision. Since then with films like Mimic, Hellboy and The Devil's Backbone, critics, audiences and industry professionals alike have become aflutter at the word of a new del Toro vision marked for the screen. Pan's Labyrinth is the director's latest, a period piece set in Fascist 1944 post war Spain that weaves together the sumptuous dream world of a little girl whose only escape from her dark reality is this fairytale existence. Already a Best Foreign Language Film nominee for the Golden Globes and an Independent Spirit Award nominee for Best Picture, Pan's Labyrinth is getting accolades for its incredible production design, cinematography and visual effects. For Everett Burrell, visual effects supervisor for CafeFX of Santa Maria, California, that did the vfx work on the film, it's a much appreciated response to a project that was a long time in the pipeline.

Burrell explains that the project came to their shop through a fellow friend and colleague, Ed Irastorza. "He is my co-sup and my vfx producer on Pan's Labyrinth. Ed was also the vfx sup/producer on Hellboy. He met Guillermo on Blade 2. Ed was working at Tippett Studio at the time and Guillermo really liked Ed and they got along really well, so Guillermo offered Ed Hellboy. So Ed left Tippett and went to spend a year in Prague. They got into a little bit of trouble at the end of post with Hellboy and Ed called me up to ask me to help out. I went and did some CG fire stuff and we all got along really well because we are all ex makeup effects guys. We did a lot of creature stuff over the years and Guillermo knew my work and I was a big fan, so we hit it off. Then the film ended and I didn't think anything of it and then Ed came to CafeFX to help me out with Sin City and he was my vfx sup on that."

"At the beginning of Sin City, Guillermo called us to come meet him in L.A. to discuss this film he wanted to do, sort of a sequel to Devil's Backbone called Pan's Labyrinth," Burrell continues. "So we went to La Brea Tar Pits to shoot reference for Sin City and then after that we went to Chateau Marmont and met Guillermo and he laid out the story right there at the bar. It was really relaxed and we kicked back and he said, 'What do you think? There's not a lot of money, but is it something we can do?' I told him we'd have to partner up with an effects facility that can basically co-produce it with him because they will have to invest money into the project. I was with Cafe at the time and we told Jeff Barnes [CafeFX ceo] about it and he was very intrigued at the idea because there was a lot of character animation they wanted to get involved with. We brokered the deal and did a handshake and then Guillermo disappeared for a year," he chuckles.

"Really, it was a year. He was just gone. Basically, he moved to Madrid and was writing and researching the film. He was doing storyboards and getting into the whole mood of the thing. Then we got a call from him saying, 'Ok, let's go!' I'm like, 'Huh? Go where?' He said, 'Fly to Madrid! Buy a ticket and let's go!' It was really that quick.'

The intricate design of the creatures and fantasy world presented a daunting task for the visual effects team.

With such an ambitious design for the film and a low scale budget, the team to do the vfx really fell to Burrell's partnership pitch with CafeFX. "I know he was thinking about maybe trying to take this show to Tippett, but financially the only way to make to it work was to partner with a vfx facility and that's happening a lot nowadays. Not to toot our own horn, but vfx are becoming stars of the movie. Like a movie actor makes certain deals to work it out if [producers] can't afford them, so there are deals and backend participation and that's what happened with Cafe and their whole production division they started up called Sententia. So with the co-operation of Jeff Barnes, and David Ebner [CafeFX cco] and Guillermo's blessings, Ed and I set out to Madrid for five months."

Not only a vfx supervisor but also a representative for the CafeFX investors, Burrells says it was an interesting experiment for him balancing both commerce and art. "A bunch of stuff got on our plate that we didn't anticipate, like when a shot didn't work for whatever reason, like a puppet didn't work or we couldn't shoot guns off in the forest in Spain because it was a fire hazard and they wouldn't let us shoot any blanks, which really happened. So I had to go to Jeff and say it was going to cost money we didn't have. Because they were producing partners, it was a lot easier to get that stuff to fly. If we are investing in this creatively, we want it to look good. So it makes sense to invest some money, because ultimately we are going to benefit from it down the road if things all look great and it all works out."

He continues, "For example, when I got there I had no idea we couldn't shoot blanks off in Spain because of the fire hazard, so 60 shots turned up because it was a political issue. There is a big battle scene and we had to enhance it. It was a lot of things that were out of my control. Like Guillermo loves physical effects with puppets and a lot of times they don't work. We got on set and had to say, 'This isn't working, Guillermo. Let's pull the puppet out and shoot a clean plate and hopefully, we can find some money somewhere to make it all better.' It's really what happened. And because Cafe was invested in this, I would give them options and say, 'We can use the puppet, but it sucks. Or we can replace it with a CG thing. This is your movie too now. It's not just Guillermo's. It's part Cafe's movie.' So it made the damage a lot easier to swallow," he chuckles.