The vfx had to sell the gags in Sky High. Effects were created to fit convincingly into the live action, but were somewhere between a cartoon and photoreal in tone. All Sky High images © 2005 Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights rese

It’s hard enough being a teenager trying to prove yourself to your parents and classmates — but imagine if your mom (Lynda Carter) and dad (Kurt Russell) are the most famous superheroes on the planet and you haven’t inherited their powers. Director Mike Mitchell’s imaginative comicbook comedy, Sky High, is a colorful, live-action adventure about teenage growing pains. Set in a world where superheroes are accepted, this coming of age struggle tells the story of Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) and his underdog friends. In the face of an evil threat, he finds the power in friendship and proves himself a hero worthy of family tradition.

Nathan McGuinness (left) and Mitch Drain of Asylum led a team of 60 artists to create the majority of the super-human vfx and animation essential to the story premise.

The talented inmates at Asylum Visual Effects were tapped to create the majority of the super-human vfx and animation essential to the premise. The process began two years ago with script meetings in pre-production with director Mike Mitchell.

Asylum visual effects supervisors, Mitchell S. Drain and Nathan McGuinness, had a tricky mission. Because the director had a specific vision as to what would be funny and sell the gag, they had to create effects that fit convincingly into the live action, but were somewhere between a cartoon and photoreal. The degree to which the effect leaned depended on a give and take of ideas during the development of each effect. The deciding factor, according to Drain, was always that “the gag came first.” For instance, in a sequence where a sapling grows from nothing into a tree, the team created a photoreal animation that had to be pulled back from reality to achieve a giggle. They had fun with the final version creating a look like stop-motion animation to add comic effect.

According to Drain and McGuiness, the director was very hands-on from day one, conveying many of his ideas visually by drawing on paper or over a still frame. He was also sensitive to the needs of the artists and allowed the team a great deal of creative freedom. On three previsualization sequences, Asylum took the lead in creating the shots for the scenes, which the director then adjusted.

The team tackled a variety of effects. The super fast bully can run circles around the other characters, but the enactment required imagination by the animators. They needed to bring a unique take to an effect that has been done before on other films, so they created a blur that by virtue of speed alone, could knock an opponent off his feet. The power punch of the super strong Will varied, dependent on the environment. When he hits the ground the resulting ripple effect differed depending on whether the flooring was hardwood planks or concrete blocks.