The year 2015 has already seen some great movie releases with Taken 3, Ex Machina, Kingsman: The Secret Service, among others; but the one that has really managed to turn heads is the Warner Bros. release starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis – Jupiter Ascending.
The VFX for this space opera has been executed by Method Studios. Method was involved from the earliest stages of concept through to finishing the last details which has been instrumental for the continuity of design. It has managed to produce some exquisite work bringing many pivotal characters to life in this sci-fi epic helmed by The Wachowskis.
The Method team produced a number of fully CG environments for the film. These encompassed both natural and urban landscapes complete with elaborate buildings. In the corn field sequence however, most of the environment was real but sections of the vegetation was filled in and enhanced digitally (as can be seen in the video). The VFX artists also generated the CG hover bike and spaceship and removed the giant rigs used to hold the sprinting Caine.
For the interstellar approach to Orous, Method needed to create the sense of a journey into a vastly complex and ancient society. This was achieved with a combination of digital matte painting projections for planets, moons, sections of the vast rings of accreted civilization that surround Orous, and even the approach to the centre of power, the Commonwealth Building. A multitude of CG elements were then used to enhance the depth of grandeur including star gates, traffic, and a huge junk ship in the shape of a tropical fish. Another spectacular environment is the city of Alcazar, a full CG landscape modeled with 3D digital matte painting projections with CG water, mist and re-projected waterfall elements.
Outside of the environments work, there were a number of complex sequences given to Method involving the film’s many characters. This is certainly going to be a serious contender for all the visual effects awards and recognitions that will take place next year.