Australian effects companies are finding work on the biggest Hollywood pictures, as Animal Logic proved with their work on The Matrix. © Warner Bros. All rights reserved.

When the digital revolution swept through the filmmaking community, few could have foretold that some of its leading exponents would come from the land down under. Small budget films had long been the mainstay of Australian films and the cost involved in visual effects seemed to place it outside the reach of local filmmakers. Yet some effects houses saw the opportunity that lay ahead and geared up to take advantage of this new technology.

Breaking In
Rachael Turk, who is the communications manager of Animal Logic, recalls how the company first became involved in film visual effects. "It was around 1994. We started getting involved with Australian productions, doing title designs for films like Dating the Enemy and Blackrock, but it wasn't until 1997 that we actually formalized it by creating Animal Logic Film." That same year Animal Logic won the contract to provide the titles for the John Woo film Face/Off. "That was when we hit the big time. That credential became a calling card for our VFX supervisor Chris Godfrey, so when he went around knocking on doors, he was allowed through. The rest of course has been up to him."

Since their initial breakthrough Animal Logic have provided visual effects for such films as The Thin Red Line, Babe 2 and Holy Smoke, illustrating just how successful they have been in capitalizing on this opportunity. Last year they were afforded the ultimate recognition when their work on The Matrix, for which they created over a hundred shots, won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. "It's amazing how strong that film is," ponders Rachael. "We still get lots of inquiries about it. At the time it was released it had an enormous impact as far as box office and popular culture, so it's only natural that some of that fed directly back to Animal Logic and increased our business."

Photon VFX took to the high seas with their work on Moby Dick. © Whale/Nine Network Australia.