Under the direction of Creative Director/VFX Supervisor John Bair and VFX Producer Vivian Connolly, the Phosphene visual-effects team completed more than 80 complex shots for “Young Adult,” a dark new comedy-drama, starring Academy-Award® winning actress Charlize Theron (“Monster,” “The Road”), Golden Globe nominee Patrick Wilson (“Angels in America,” “Morning Glory”) and Patton Oswalt (“Ratatouille,” “The King of Queens”).
Press Release from Phosphene
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – December 90, 2011 – Under the direction of Creative Director/VFX Supervisor John Bair and VFX Producer Vivian Connolly, the Phosphene visual-effects team completed more than 80 complex shots for “Young Adult,” a dark new comedy-drama, starring Academy-Award® winning actress Charlize Theron (“Monster,” “The Road”), Golden Globe nominee Patrick Wilson (“Angels in America,” “Morning Glory”) and Patton Oswalt (“Ratatouille,” “The King of Queens”).
The film reunites the Academy Award® nominated director of "Juno" Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air,” “Thank You for Smoking”) and Academy Award® winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. Distributed worldwide by Paramount Pictures for Mandate Pictures, “Young Adult” began a limited release December 9, 2011 and a wide release December 16.
Independent design and visual-effects company Phosphene is the only VFX vendor on this film. “The most complex VFX sequence in the film involves Patton Oswalt’s leg. In an intimate scene with Charlize Theron, his severely deformed limb, the result of a brutal high school beating, is exposed. Because of the sensitive nature of the reveal, the leg absolutely had to feel 100% real.” explained Phosphene’s Vivian Connolly.
During production, John Bair and Phosphene’s Lead Digital Artist Aaron Raff were on set to place tracking markers on Patton's leg. Raff explained the process: “We began design tests early on to determine the look of the leg. Extensive medical research allowed us to make sure the deformity was as medically accurate as possible. In post, we stabilized and isolated Patton's leg movement and began applying medically appropriate scarring and texture to the skin. Using warping tools, we redefined the outline of the leg to properly portray the loss of muscle and bone density, maintaining the disfigured shape from every angle as both the actor and the hand held camera moved freely throughout the scene. Because the shot was close-up and intimate, the leg had to move realistically as Patton rolled around on the bed. Since we shrunk the limb quite a bit, we also had to recreate everything that was under his leg as he moved on the bed’s surface including ruffled blankets and other items.”
“Young Adult’s” Post-Production Supervisor Luca Borghese said: “The effect that Phosphene created is a classic example of an unsung hero. The work is so good that the audience immediately accepts Matt's (Patton Oswalt) injury as real, rather than an exceptional piece of digital artistry."
One very lengthy sequence shot in a sports bar, a pivotal scene between the Charlize Theron and Patrick Wilson characters, needed to feel absolutely true. The scene is massive, a technical gorilla, requiring a great deal of green screen replacement. Green screens outside the panoramic windows and a half dozen television monitors needed to be composited and required heavy rotoscoping and tracking.
“We decided the best approach was to use the Flame for this scene because it was over 50 shots that had to be turned around quite quickly and continuity was of the utmost importance. Under the circumstances, being able to pull quick keys and have quick reviews for continuity checks made the process much easier,” explained Phosphene’s John Bair.
In yet another sequence, Theron drives her car hard into a parking spot and has a comical fender bender which required a lot of cleanup and rig removal to make it feel authentic.
Of their collaboration with the Mercury Productions team Vivian Connolly stated: “The film provided us with an amazing opportunity to work directly with Jason Reitman and his editor Dana Glauberman who had collaborated on “Thank You For Smoking,” “Juno” and “Up in the Air.” They both had a remarkably clear vision about what they wanted, which meant we could really jump right into getting the execution of their vision just right. Jason was very involved with the visual effects, and always focused on staying with the realism and truth of the scene, which applied to VFX as much as to any other aspect of the film.”
Glauberman added: “From the very first VFX that Vivian and her crew from Phosphene presented to us on “young Adult,” I was beyond impressed. Not only is their attention to detail and quick turnaround amazing, but their professionalism and understanding of what the director is looking for makes you feel like you're in good hands.”
The Phosphene creative team, led by Bair and Connolly, included Lead Digital Artist Aaron Raff; Digital Compositors Scott Winston and Connie Conrad; Flame Artist Peter Amante; and Compositing Intern Andrew Yates.
Representing Mercury Productions LLC were Director Jason Reitman, Writer Diablo Cody, Editor Dana Glauberman and Post- Production Supervisor Luca Borghese.
Phosphene utilized Nuke X, Adobe After Effects CS5, Autodesk® Flame® and PCs running Windows 7 64-bit in the execution of this project.
Deluxe (New York, NY) was responsible for the digital intermediate and lab processing.
ABOUT “YOUNG ADULT”Academy Award® winner Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who hasn’t quite gotten over high school, either.
“Young Adult” reunites Jason Reitman, Academy Award® nominated director of “Juno,” and Academy Award® winning screenwriter, Diablo Cody.
ABOUT PHOSPHENE
Phosphene is an independent design and visual effects house led by founders/co-owners John Bair and Vivian Connolly who have collaborated on projects since 2005. In 2010, the duo launched Phosphene and immediately hit the ground running with visual effects and title design for Barry Levinson’s “You Don’t Know Jack” (HBO), Phillip Noyce’s “Salt,” George Nolfi’s “The Adjustment Bureau,” Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver,” Brad Anderson’s “Vanishing on 7th Street” and, most recently, Brett Ratner’s “Tower Heist.”
Phosphene has just completed work on Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. The company is currently in production on “Europa,” a contemporary space adventure developed by Wayfare Entertainment and Misher Films, with acclaimed Ecuadorian director Sebastian Cordero at the helm, and a cast that includes “District 9's” Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyquist (“Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), Anamaria Marinca (“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”) and Asian superstar Daniel Wu.
For the company’s television clients, in addition to their Emmy-nominated work for Todd Haynes’ HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce,” Phosphene is busy on season two of CBS’s “Blue Bloods,” ABC’s “Pan Am,” and are currently at work on season six of NBC’s “30 Rock.” In addition, Phosphene has teamed with HBO to create all visual effects for seasons one and two, and is about to begin work on season three of “Treme.”
Phosphene is located at 180 Varick Street, Suite 1621, New York, NY 10014. For further information contact vivian@phosheneFX.com; Phone (646) 350-3370; Fax (212) 671-1734; or visit www.phosphenefx.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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