Image source: Billdesowitz.com
James Bond is a modern-day super hero. Instead of riding into battle on a white steed he uses sexy sports cars. Instead of using a gleaming broadsword that goes snicker-snack he wields a Walther PPK. And instead of slaying fire-breathing dragons he slays regular Komodo dragons.
The people who play James Bond are usually grade-A actors, but unfortunately lizards aren’t really known for their ability to convey emotion on screen… well, unless “sitting around under a heat lamp” counts as an emotion. So that’s why moviemakers turned to a special effects studio to create the Komodo dragon in Skyfall.
Of course, that presented moviemakers with another problem. The newer Bond movies got rid of crazy pseudo-science like exploding pens and transforming cars, replacing the wonky gadgets with much more believable fisticuffs, intrigue, and computer hacking. These new Bond films are loads more realistic than their predecessors, so would a computer-generated Komodo dragon be realistic enough to fit into Skyfall?
Jon Neill, the VFX supervisor at the European-based visual effects company Cinesite, explained, “[The movie] opened the door for us, but they were still worried that a CG creature might not be up to the realistic quality that was required.”
Image source: Cinesite.com
That’s a reasonable concern. Creating hyper-realistic art of inanimate objects like cars or buildings is tough but doable. Making hyper-realistic art of living creatures is one of the biggest (possibly even the biggest) challenges facing visual effects artists today.
The folks over at Cinesite had to pull out all of the stops to see if a realistic Komodo dragon is even possible. “This meant going through the whole process of modeling, texturing, animation and look development before the sequence was actually awarded,” Neill explained. “I knew that the sequence in the movie was going to be in candlelight, so we decided to do the test with broad daylight – which is even more challenging. They liked what they saw and we were given the go ahead.” They also went to the zoo to get some high-res photos of real Komodo dragons.
They managed to win over their clients, which meant that the next big hurdle was making a big lazy lizard look threatening. How do you make something that barely ever moves look intimidating? For Neill, the devil is in the details! He said, “And it’s difficult to make a mainly static creature look alive. So we focused in on the subtle movements like eye blinks and breathing and how they looked at their environment.” They also mucked with the lighting in the scene “to have a dark, dramatic and sinister atmosphere, with the Komodo dragons silhouetted, rim lit and looming out of the shadows.”
Image source: Fxguide.com
What can visual artists like you and me take away from this tale?
Lesson one: don’t wuss out on the pitch. If a client is trying to figure out whether or not to hire you, then you really need to follow in Cinesite’s footsteps and work around the clock to present a convincing piece.
Lesson two: sweat the small stuff. Be dramatic when the job calls for drama, and be subtle when the job calls for subtlety. Sometimes, you have to practice a lot of self-restraint and focus on tiny little details that might not even be consciously noticed by some audience members. The artists added subtle details like facial scars and visible breathing to the dragon to make it menacing in a believable way.
Lesson three: remember the basics. New artists have to use references in their work. As you grow in skill you might begin to think that you have moved beyond the need for references, but don’t get too cocky! The best artists in the world use references, so why should you be any different?
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