LOOK Effects produces the visual effects for Grudge Match; fills New Orleans arena with 10,000 fight fans.
VFX company LOOK Effects produced the visual effects for Grudge Match. The Warner Bros. film, which stars Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone, opened in theaters on December 25th.
Directed by Peter Segal, Grudge Match tells the story of two aging boxing rivals who are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout – 30 years after their last match. Because the fight sequences were shot in an empty New Orleans arena, LOOK’s primary job was to create the crowd of 10,000 fight enthusiasts.
“The only people present in the shots were the actors on the arena floor and in the ring,” explains visual effects supervisor Everett Burrell. “We had one day on the set to work with a group of 300 extras. We filled the arena by shooting and re-shooting the extras and compositing the separate shots within the arena. The entire crowd was made up of real people. There were no digital extras in the arena. It was quite a challenge.”
For over 15 years, LOOK Effects has been a leading provider of digital-effects solutions for feature film, episodic television and special venue projects. Film credits include Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, nominated for both VES and BAFTA awards for visual effects, as well as Man of Steel, Warm Bodies, Life of Pi, Disconnect, Moonrise Kingdom, The Muppets, Underworld Awakening, Captain America, Limitless, and The King’s Speech. Television credits include “Bones,” “Game of Thrones,” “Nashville,” “Castle,” “The Finder,” the Emmy-nominated effects for “Life After People” and all of the VES-nominated effects for the final season of “Lost.”
Source: LOOK Effects
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
