CafeFX was called upon to create the vfx in Twentieth Century's ERAGON (shortlisted for a VFX Oscar), in which the sorcerer Durza makes his quick getaways by transporting from the face of the planet.
"Durza dematerializes twice within the story, under two sets of circumstances," said CafeFX visual effects producer David Van Dyke. "So we used two separate effects for each instance. Once is his normal, everyday teleportation, and the other is done while he is wounded, which is slower and more elaborate."
Designing the disappearing act was much more intricate for CafeFX than a simple 'now you see him, now you don't' routine. "The design was a collaborative effort between the director and our team. Everyone tossed in ideas and we whittled it down to a sort of eroding process in which the character's body turns into gaseous particles layer by layer," said Van Dyke. "We found a combination of Maya and Digital Fusion over the matchmoved actor gave the most visually pleasing effect, which initially is to look very magical but once he is injured, the peeling of the layers becomes slower to give an effect of him wasting away.
"The goal of the effects was to add eye candy and serve the story, to not only create a dazzling special effect, but one that accentuates and visualizes what's taking place in the plot. And, it was interesting to come up with a couple of possible solutions and then, through creative collaboration with all involved, hone in on the one that did both the best."
CafeFX credits include:
* Visual effects supervisor: Jeff Goldman* Visual effects producer: David Van Dyke* Compositing supervisor: Mike Bozulich* Compositor: Michael Kennen, Christopher Scott LeDoux, Toby Newell* Digital artist: Nic Spier* FX animator: David Schoneveld, Greg Jonkajtys, Will Nicholson* 3D matchmover: Kevin Hoppe* Rotoscope/2D paint artist: Steve Hutchins* VFX coordinator: Hui Ling Chang* VFX managing editor: Desi R. Ortiz* VFX editor: Kevin LaNeave* Data I/O: Leopaul DeGuzman , Bernardo Rodriguez* Render manager: Brian Openshaw
CafeFX is headquartered in Santa Maria, California, and maintains a studio in Santa Monica. The company, founded as ComputerCafe in 1993 by Jeff Barnes and David Ebner to produce broadcast promotion and television ID packages, today works on major motion pictures, including PAN'S LABYRINTH, THE DEPARTED, SNAKES ON A PLANE, FAST AND FURIOUS 3 TOKYO DRIFT, SCARY MOVIE 3, SIN CITY, THE AVIATOR, FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, SPY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, MASTER AND COMMANDER, LXG, THE CORE, SPY KIDS 2 & 3, PANIC ROOM, THE ONE, ARMAGEDDON, FLUBBER, while its Santa Monica-based commercial and music video division The Syndicate creates commercials for national advertisers, including BT, Ford, Nissan, Adidas, United Airlines, California Milk Advisory Board, Kinerase, Microsoft); broadcast projects (CBS, HBO, NBC); and music videos for top bands such as Green Day, Dave Matthews, Incubus and J.Lo. Both the Santa Maria and the Santa Monica studio are outfitted with the latest effects, design, compositing and rendering technologies, including Flame, Commotion, LightWave, Digital Fusion, Photoshop and After Effects.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
