SCRATCH Takes The Amazing Journey To The Center Of The Earth In 3-D
Assimilate's SCRATCH Digital Process Solution was the stereoscopic 3-D workflow of choice for New Line's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, in theaters July 11.
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, features the same high quality of vfx Walden Media brings to all its feature films, such as THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA franchise, THE BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA and CHARLOTTE'S WEB. JOURNEY is directed by Eric Brevig and stars Brendan Fraser.
The film tells the story of a science professor whose radical theories have completely tarnished his reputation. While backpacking across Iceland with his nephew, the two explorers find a cave that leads them deep into the bowels of the planet. Thinking the scientist's missing brother, also a scientist, may have discovered this same cave, the two go on a quest to find out what has happened to him. The journey leads them to a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the Earth, where a bizarre landscape is filled with terrifying creatures.
"JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH offers a depth of imagery that brings the viewers into the film, as if they're looking through a picture window and can feel themselves ready to step into the action," said Jonas Thaler, VP Post Production at AFG/Walden Media.
When planning for the post production of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, Thaler turned to veteran post-production supervisor, Steven Kaminsky (SUPERMAN RETURNS, GRACIE, DREAMCATCHER, THE MASK), who managed the post production, editorial and 3-D mastering.
"My immediate task was to figure out and plan our 3-D mastering process, which included putting together an in-house 3-D DI team of specialists, procuring hardware, selecting software, planning for reusability, and developing the overall business model for mastering of the film. I had experience with SCRATCH from SUPERMAN RETURNS so we looked at their 3-D capabilities. We found that SCRATCH had the sophisticated and versatile 3-D features we needed. On SUPERMAN we really pushed every feature and workflow angle and SCRATCH stood the test. I had confidence that a SCRATCH-based solution could be structured for 3-D that would fit the filmmaker's objectives and allow us to post a 3-D film mostly in-house, with maximum control and flexibility. SCRATCH also offers a compelling price/performance value that fit our budget plan," explained Kaminsky.
Kaminsky added, "We of course knew there would be unique challenges to face, but Jonas and I gamed up a general plan with Editor Dirk Westervelt and 3-D Specialist and VFX Editor Ed Marsh, and the studio gave us their support to build something no one had ever done before. Jonas has a deep knowledge of the nuts and bolts needed to make high-impact films so his confidence in our idea for a process and technical methodology was central to executing the project."
Thaler said, "When researching a 3-D digital workflow, we examined several scenarios that were compelling but none proved to have the flexibility, 3-D features, and price point that we needed to put this together on a project basis. SCRATCH was the only system that met our criteria for 3-D, plus it included an extensive feature set for the DI process. Our biggest concern for SCRATCH was the size of this project. There was a huge amount of footage and content from several sources, and we had roughly 800 visual effects, which means multiply by two for the number of files. This was an ambitious project for a cost-effective software tool that we set up ourselves, but SCRATCH performed amazingly well."
Kaminsky then assembled an experienced and talented DI mastering crew, including Conform Supervisor and Team Lead, Gary Jackemuk (SUPERMAN RETURNS, X-MEN, LAST STAND), who also filled the role of the daily go-to man for operating the digital pipeline; DI Colorist Jeff Olm (ZODIAC, OCEANS TWELVE, ESPN's THE BRONX IS BURNING, SHARK TALE, SEABISCUIT, and the DreamWorks Animation 2008 stereoscopic 3-D debut of MONSTERS VS. ALIENS); I/O Supervisor Michael Fellows (SUPERMAN RETURNS); and VFX Artist Judith Bell, who took on a number of special projects and hundreds of in-house shots done directly by the 3-D DI team.
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, features the same high quality of vfx Walden Media brings to all its feature films, such as THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA franchise, THE BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA and CHARLOTTE'S WEB. JOURNEY is directed by Eric Brevig and stars Brendan Fraser.
The film tells the story of a science professor whose radical theories have completely tarnished his reputation. While backpacking across Iceland with his nephew, the two explorers find a cave that leads them deep into the bowels of the planet. Thinking the scientist's missing brother, also a scientist, may have discovered this same cave, the two go on a quest to find out what has happened to him. The journey leads them to a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the Earth, where a bizarre landscape is filled with terrifying creatures.
"JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH offers a depth of imagery that brings the viewers into the film, as if they're looking through a picture window and can feel themselves ready to step into the action," said Jonas Thaler, VP Post Production at AFG/Walden Media.
When planning for the post production of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, Thaler turned to veteran post-production supervisor, Steven Kaminsky (SUPERMAN RETURNS, GRACIE, DREAMCATCHER, THE MASK), who managed the post production, editorial and 3-D mastering.
"My immediate task was to figure out and plan our 3-D mastering process, which included putting together an in-house 3-D DI team of specialists, procuring hardware, selecting software, planning for reusability, and developing the overall business model for mastering of the film. I had experience with SCRATCH from SUPERMAN RETURNS so we looked at their 3-D capabilities. We found that SCRATCH had the sophisticated and versatile 3-D features we needed. On SUPERMAN we really pushed every feature and workflow angle and SCRATCH stood the test. I had confidence that a SCRATCH-based solution could be structured for 3-D that would fit the filmmaker's objectives and allow us to post a 3-D film mostly in-house, with maximum control and flexibility. SCRATCH also offers a compelling price/performance value that fit our budget plan," explained Kaminsky.
Kaminsky added, "We of course knew there would be unique challenges to face, but Jonas and I gamed up a general plan with Editor Dirk Westervelt and 3-D Specialist and VFX Editor Ed Marsh, and the studio gave us their support to build something no one had ever done before. Jonas has a deep knowledge of the nuts and bolts needed to make high-impact films so his confidence in our idea for a process and technical methodology was central to executing the project."
Thaler said, "When researching a 3-D digital workflow, we examined several scenarios that were compelling but none proved to have the flexibility, 3-D features, and price point that we needed to put this together on a project basis. SCRATCH was the only system that met our criteria for 3-D, plus it included an extensive feature set for the DI process. Our biggest concern for SCRATCH was the size of this project. There was a huge amount of footage and content from several sources, and we had roughly 800 visual effects, which means multiply by two for the number of files. This was an ambitious project for a cost-effective software tool that we set up ourselves, but SCRATCH performed amazingly well."
Kaminsky then assembled an experienced and talented DI mastering crew, including Conform Supervisor and Team Lead, Gary Jackemuk (SUPERMAN RETURNS, X-MEN, LAST STAND), who also filled the role of the daily go-to man for operating the digital pipeline; DI Colorist Jeff Olm (ZODIAC, OCEANS TWELVE, ESPN's THE BRONX IS BURNING, SHARK TALE, SEABISCUIT, and the DreamWorks Animation 2008 stereoscopic 3-D debut of MONSTERS VS. ALIENS); I/O Supervisor Michael Fellows (SUPERMAN RETURNS); and VFX Artist Judith Bell, who took on a number of special projects and hundreds of in-house shots done directly by the 3-D DI team.
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Your article was execlelnt and erudite.
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