CIS Hollywood, working with VFX Supervisor Mark Stetson on 20th Century Fox's comedy, MEET DAVE, completed 163 effects shots the film directed by Brian Robbins. Dave Ming Chang (Eddie Murphy), newly arrived in New York City, may be the ultimate fish out of water.
There's something about him that's not quite right -- for starters, he seems remarkably out of place and uncomfortable in his own body. And for good reason: "Dave" is not a man at all, but a ship made in the image of its miniature-sized captain. It's Eddie Murphy in Eddie Murphy in MEET DAVE. Visual Effects Supervisor Bryan Hirota oversaw the work for CIS Hollywood.
Hirota said, "CIS worked on 12 major sequences and we pre-viz'ed quite a number of them. Because of the unique look and size of the characters, it was a challenge to make the crew and their objects look real within their world. In one sequence we created digital crew members who explore the 'outside Dave' and then climb back in through his mouth where in addition to the crew members we created the mouth extension. And for another 2000 frame shot, we modeled, lit and animated the various open parts of Dave's body. Our team came up with realistic looking environments."
Inside Dave is a crew of well-trained miniature people -- a world within a world -- that feverishly attempts to direct Dave's every action and conversation. In each section of Dave's "body," a skilled crew person (average height: one and three-quarters inches), sporting an insignia depicting a specific part of Dave's anatomy, mans a high tech console controlling Dave's movements. And Dave's crew, under the direction of the Captain from whom Dave takes his appearance -- experiences a steep learning curve.
"For example," Hirota said, "One of our funnier sequences is when the crew gets washed away by a mojito that the starship is drinking. It required fluid simulation along with the lighting and animation of the ice cubes and mint leaves."
CIS Hollywood also worked on a shoe spaceship, an orb probe, the solar system, CG coffee, a ball toss, various crew objects and mishaps (ropes/broken foot/access panels), scrambled eggs, and smoking chalk.
"It was great working with Mark Stetson," Hirota said. "With a comedy like this, it was fun to collaborate and come up with creative solutions to the outlandish scenarios we were presented."
