Visual Effects

Magic Camera Lends Their Magic To James Bond. Shepperton, England-based The Magic Camera Company produced 92 digital effect shots for the 19th James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough.. One of the effects sequences done by Magic involves Bond (Pierce Brosnan) and Christmas (Denise Richards) hurtling through miles of unused oil pipeline on board a service Rpig (a trolley-like vehicle used to safety check the inside of the pipeline) while chasing another one. Shooting the tunnel as a miniature was not a viable option, so Magic Camera was given the task of creating the interior of the pipeline as both complete CG shots and CG backgrounds for the live-action footage. Other shots created by Magic Camera involved animating flying paraskis for a mountain ski chase sequence. The paraskis (flying skidoos) were shot for real on location in Chamonix, France, but for the over-the-shoulder shots of the craft chasing Bond and Electra, clean plates of the actors were filmed. A real paraski, complete with piolet, was then cyberscanned by Viewpoint and the data supplied to Magic Camera, where the model was further refined. The CG paraskis and piolets were then animated in 3D using Lightwave, adding CG parachutes and reflections before being tracked into the live-action plates. Digital Effects Supervisor at Magic Camera was Angus Cameron and Digital Effects Producer was Angie Wills. Supervising 3D animator was Gary Coulter and lead 3D animators were Royston Wilcox, Iain Anderson and Caroline Garret. 2D animators were Robin Huffer, Helen Ball, Richard Little, Ed Plant, Sean Danischevsky and Chris Harding.

Disney Forms The Secret Lab. Dream Quest Images, the visual effects division of The Walt Disney Company since 1996, joined creative forces with Disney's in-house Feature Animation computer graphics unit to form a new entity called The Secret Lab (TSL). The Secret Lab, which will be based at Feature Animation's Northside facility in Burbank, California, will provide state-of-the-art CGI character animation and visual effects for a variety of the Studio's live-action projects in addition to producing computer-animated features. Thomas Schumacher, president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, will be responsible for TSL with Andrew Millstein, vice president and general manager of Dream Quest Images, overseeing the operation. Commenting on the announcement, Schumacher said, ``Merging Dream Quest and Disney's computer animation operation represents a tremendous pooling of talent and resources. Both groups are involved in creating spectacular digital imagery and the formation of The Secret Lab brings together a group of visual effects experts that are tops in their field. Disney has built a first-class digital animation studio and together with Dream Quest Images will continue to push the boundaries of digital filmmaking.'' Disney's Feature Animation computer graphics unit is currently in the final stages of completing its first in-house feature, Dinosaur, which combines computer character animation with digitally enhanced live-action backgrounds. Dinosaur is due for release in May 2000. Dream Quest's artistic and management team moved from their Simi Valley, California headquarters to the Burbank location. Physical production (model shops, engineering and stages) will continue to be based at the Simi Valley facility. Dream Quest received Academy Awards for its contributions to Total Recall and The Abyss. Among the other films it has worked on are The Sixth Sense, Armageddon, Mighty Joe Young and Con Air. Their list of upcoming feature film credits includes Bicentennial Man, Mission To Mars, Gone In 60 Seconds, Shanghai Noon, Tennessee and 102 Dalmatians.