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Saturday, 18 June 2005 | Levent OZLER
The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3D
After completing successful series "Spy Kids 3D: Game Over," director Robert Rodriguez (Troublemaker Studio) hasn't finished with family films. And, just as Juni and Carmen Cortez have retired, Rodriguez introduces two new teen heroes in "The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3D." The names may have changed, but the dimensions stay the same with CaféFX once again adding visual depth to its' effects.
When 150 Shots are Really 300, Think 3D
"The thing about 3-D is you have to do everything twice," said CaféFX digital effects supervisor Everett Burrell. "What you see in your left eye differs slightly from the right so our 150 shots were instantly doubled to 300. We knew what to expect coming off Spy Kids 3D and Sin City (The Big Fat Kill). But, while those projects used actors on a green screen, with almost no environment, this project had none at all. It was wide open and we had just eight weeks to fill it all in. Thankfully, great care was taken in setting up the 3D shots. And although, it was a challenge to eyeball the stereo aspects and ensure the background was sunk back far enough, and things meant to pop out did so at the correct distance."
The action mostly takes place on an adventure across "Planet Drool," "a land that only exists in a child's dream," explains Burrell. "CaféFX was charged with creating such places as Mt. Neverest, which is an amusement park on steroids," says Burrell. "Real-world parks have roller coasters that go 100MPH, Mt. Neverest has one that goes 1000mph, and never stops. We created the coaster that not only goes around, but into the mountain itself, as well as the other rides in the park."
Then there's the "Dream Graveyard." "It's a place where every toy ever forgotten in a closet goes to die. Of course, it's a much more blue, somber type of place. And, this is where the heroes meet Tobor, a CG robot that joins their quest."
Finally, the CaféFX team assembled "The Land of Milk and Cookies." It's basically, a world made of cookies, chocolate chips, and ice cream. Every kid's dream, which sums up the entire mindset. We were creating a complicated dream of an eight year-old, which is a really fun realm to work in."
A realm that only previously existed as a very plain greenscreen, and was created from the ground up with Digital Fusion, Lightwave, XSI, and Maya. And, toss in a frozen ocean with Lava Girl's volcano home, for good measure.. "We dove in and created Sin City virtually without a map and I think for this one we had even less of a path to follow," laughs Burrell. "But one of the great things about working with Robert is that he trusts and values the opinions of those doing the visual effects, and understands it's a collaborative process. Especially, on this film, which had eight or nine effects houses involved. That trust, allowed us to run wild and know that he would be receptive to where we were going."
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About
ComputerCafe Group is headquartered in Santa Maria, CA, and maintains a studio in Santa Monica, CA. The company, founded as ComputerCafé in 1993 by Jeff Barnes and David Ebner to produce broadcast promotion and television ID packages, today works on major motion pictures, including Sin City, The Aviator, Flight of the Phoenix, Spy Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Master and Commander, LXG, The Core, Spy Kids 2 & 3, Panic Room, The One, Armageddon, Flubber), while its Santa Monica-based commercial and music video division The Syndicate creates commercials for national advertisers, including BT, Ford, Nissan, Adidas, United Airlines, California Milk Advisory Board, Kinerase, Microsoft); broadcast projects (CBS, HBO, NBC); and music videos for top bands such as Green Day, Dave Matthews, Incubus and J.Lo. Both the Santa Maria and the Santa Monica studio are outfitted with the latest effects, design, compositing and rendering technologies, including Discreet Flame, Commotion, Lightwave, Digital Fusion, Photoshop and After Effects.
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