DCPTV: Blades of Glory

Rainmaker Animation & Visual Effects in Vancouver, Canada, used sophisticated face-replacement techniques to create the action in Blades of Glory.

“Face replacements aren’t new, but people are used to seeing them shot with lock-off cameras,” says Visual Effects Supervisor Mark Breakspear. “We’ve seen face replacements where actors are running at camera and not turning their heads. But with ice-skating, the relationship to the camera changes dramatically all the time. We did about 150 face replacements in this film and every single relationship to camera was different. You’re spinning, going up and down, and bending over. Will Ferrell is an actor who could use those moments to make us laugh, so we couldn’t just put a CG face on a skater. It had to act like Will Ferrell.”