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X-Men: First Class
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Overview
In the fifth installment of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise, Digital Domain’s artistry focused on Kevin Bacon’s Shaw character. VFX supervisor Jay Barton and his team worked closely with the filmmakers to establish how Shaw’s energy-absorbing/releasing superpowers would manifest, then created the ‘kinetic echo’ effect involving muscle ripples, extra arms and effects to the surrounding environment. They also created a digital version of Shaw that was indistinguishable from the live-action Bacon, even in extreme closeup, using Digital Domain’s Academy Award®-winning digital human synthesis techniques. The work also included the creation of complex digital environments that artists then destroyed using extensive CG fire, explosions and debris. In the case of the ‘Mirror Room,’ the task was made more challenging as the shots included projecting and reflecting digital doubles of Magneto and Shaw battling through the sequence.Credits
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Services Provided
Humans
Considered the ‘Holy Grail’ of visual effects, creating a believable digital human is an art Digital Domain has pioneered and mastered. Our photo-real CG Benjamin Button carried Brad Pitt’s performance for 52 minutes and earned an Academy Award® for Digital Domain’s Eric Barba and Steve Preeg. Our photo-real CG Clu character enabled Jeff Bridges to play against a photo-real younger version of himself in TRON: Legacy. From full CG characters to digital face replacements and transformations Digital Domain is a recognized expert in digital humans.
Environments
Applying the best of 2D and 3D, Digital Domain creates complete digital surroundings in which characters, vehicles and objects thrive and interact. We generate locations that don't exist, like the world of TRON: Legacy and Thor’s Jotunheim, places created only to be destroyed, like LA in 2012, and LA/NYC in The Day After Tomorrow; and we re-create places that once existed, like WWII Mt. Suribachi in Flags of Our Fathers and 1970’s San Francisco in Zodiac.
Compositing
The seamless integration of visual elements is at the heart of visual effects, and Digital Domain has been recognized with awards both for our artistry and for our in-house developed compositing and tracking software. Whether the effects are invisible, as in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Flags of Our Fathers and Cinderella Man, fantastic, as in TRON: Legacy, and Thor, or mind-bending, as in 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow, they’re always smooth.
