In the visual effects-filled PLANET TERROR segment from director Robert Rodriguez, a small town has to deal with an outbreak of dangerous infected people called Sickos, now on Blu-ray from The Weinstein Co.

As on most of his movies, Rodriguez acted as vfx supervisor, splitting the shots between his own Troublemaker digital unit (320 shots) and The Orphanage (106 shots). Ten shots were shared by the two companies. The Orphanage also handled 35 shots for Quentin Tarantino's DEATH PROOF segment. Troublemaker Digital (TMD) comprises of four key artists: Rod Brunet, Chris Olivia, Alex Toader and Drew Dela Cruz. "We are generalists with experience in 3D and all things 2D, including compositing final shots," Brunet says. "In preproduction, we focus on different sequences of Robert's script. Sometimes, that means concept art and storyboarding, but it always evolves into the 3D realm and grows from there. GRINDHOUSE was the first Rodriguez project on which we completed so many final shots."

Compared to Rodriguez's previous vfx projects, GRINDHOUSE required very little greenscreen work. Most of the plates were shot on real sets, providing TMD with a new challenge. "In the SPY KIDS series, you accepted the exaggerated designs because they were part of an overall stylized look," Toader observes. "In SIN CITY, nearly all the backgrounds were CG, which made it easier for us to art direct and create. On GRINDHOUSE, we had to do a lot of reverse engineering on the lighting set up and camera work. Everything we did had to match the live-action plate. So, there was less room for artistic license, if you will. It was far more challenging than creating a whole computer-generated shot, which made this project different for all of us."

Special Features Include:

-- Commentary with Robert Rodriguez
-- Scratch-Free Version
-- Audience Reaction Track
-- 10-Minute Film School
-- The Badass Babes and Tough Guys of PLANET TERROR
-- Casting Rebel
-- Sickos, Bullets and Explosions: The Stunts
-- The Friend, the Doctor and the Real Estate Agent