With summer upon us, film fans with a taste for blockbuster escapism have seen their share of cutting-edge special FX, from the glorious to the gruesome, in a number of notable releases. Two of the six films featured below shot in Canada: Fantastic Four in Vancouver and Land of the Dead in Toronto. Both productions kept at least part of their post and FX work in Canada. Director Robert Rodriguez brought his U.S.-shot, FX-heavy film The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lavagirl in 3-D to Montreal’s Hybride, after having recently done so with his April release, Sin City. Mr. & Mrs. Smith had some of its post handled in Toronto. And, in every case, Canadian-made software and systems providers figured in the FX mix, including Alias, Autodesk Media & Entertainment, Softimage, eyeon and Side Effects.

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Release date: May 19
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Canadian connection: Many key hands at George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic – where post for his final Star Wars production took place – have been plucked out of Toronto’s Sheridan College over the years.
Maya, a product of Toronto-based Alias, facilitated the creation of full CG characters, including Yoda and the villain General Grievous, and allowed for their seamless interaction with human costars.
Systems include:
FX: Sabre (ILM proprietary software which incorporates Autodesk’s Discreet Inferno and Flame); Autodesk’s 3ds max; Alias Maya and StudioTools; Digidesign Pro Tools
Editing: Avid Film Composer; Avid Unity MediaNetwork

Fantastic Four

Release date: July 8
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Canadian connection: While the film shot in Vancouver, Toronto’s Soho VFX handled the 3D elements of the rubber-band-like Mr. Fantastic. Using Maya for 3D animation and 3Delight for rendering, Soho gave Mr. Fantastic his elasticity and developed tools to create his CG skin.
Some post-production for Fantastic Four also took place at Technicolor in Vancouver.
Systems include:
FX: Softimage|XSI; Autodesk’s Discreet Flame, Inferno and Combustion; Alias Maya; 3Delight
Editing: Avid Media Composer Meridien; Avid Unity MediaNetwork

The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lavagirl in 3-D

Release date: June 10
Distributor: Dimension Films
Canadian connection: Montreal’s Hybride – a favorite of director Robert Rodriguez, who also posted Sin City and his Spy Kids trilogy there – worked on 150 shots, handling FX, editing and color correction.
Systems include:
FX: Alias Maya; Softimage|XSI; NewTek Lightwave 3D; eyeon Software’s Fusion; Autodesk’s Discreet Inferno, Flame, Flint, Lustre, Smoke and 3ds max; Side Effects Software’s Houdini
Editing: Avid Media Composer Meridien; Avid Unity MediaNetwork

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Release date: June 10
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Canadian connection: Toronto FX shop Intelligent Creatures worked on several key segments of the film. Its work included digital matte painting, 3D environments, 3D animation, and compositing.
Systems include:
FX: eyeon Software’s Fusion; Digidesign Pro Tools; Softimage|XSI; Autodesk’s Discreet 3ds max
Editing: Avid Film Composer; Avid Unity MediaNetwork; Avid Xpress Pro

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Release date: July 15
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Canadian connection: Toronto’s Driven Visual Effects shot some of the miniature components for the film, including the factory itself, using a computerized Milo Crane.
Systems include:
FX: Alias Maya; Side Effects Software’s Houdini; Digidesign Pro Tools
Editing: Avid Media Composer Adrenaline HD; Avid Media Composer Meridien; Avid Unity MediaNetwork;
Avid DS Nitris

Land of the Dead

Release date: June 24
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Canadian connection: Many of the digital FX were handled by Toronto’s Spin Productions. Spin’s work included 300 FX shots for the movie, as well as the multi-layered opening title sequence, headed by Naomi Anderlini using Discreet’s Flame FX software.
Toronto’s Switch VFX worked on about 150 LOTD FX shots, including one difficult scene, also achieved with Flame, where one zombie is holding his pal’s head as it is decapitated.
Systems include:
FX: Softimage|XSI for the extensive zombie duplication sequences; eyeon Software’s Fusion; Adobe After Effects; Alias Maya; mental images’ mental ray; Apple Shake; Autodesk’s Discreet Flame and Burn