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MillimeterCaféFX Does a Disappearing Act for Eragon
Dec 27, 2006 8:00 AM
There are magicians with the ability to dematerialize right before your eyes, and teleport themselves anywhere they wish. Mere mortals can only marvel at their powers in the new dragons and sorcery epic Eragon, from Twentieth Century Fox, featuring effects from CaféFX.
The film revolves around the titular young man, who with the help of his pet dragon must defeat the evil King Galbatorix and his sorcerer Durza to rescue the fate of mankind. CaféFX was called upon to create the effects in which Durza makes his quick getaways by transporting from the face of the planet.
"Durza dematerializes twice within the story, under two sets of circumstances," says CaféFX visual effects producer David Van Dyke. "So we used two separate effects for each instance. Once is his normal, everyday teleportation, and the other is done while he is wounded, which is slower and more elaborate."
Designing the disappearing act was much more intricate for CaféFX than a simple 'now you see him, now you don't' routine. "The design was a collaborative effort between the director and our team. Everyone tossed in ideas and we whittled it down to a sort of eroding process in which the character's body turns into gaseous particles layer by layer," Van Dyke says. "We found a combination of Maya and Digital Fusion over the match-moved actor gave the most visually pleasing effect, which initially is to look very magical but once he is injured, the peeling of the layers becomes slower to give an effect of him wasting away."
"The goal of the effects was to add eye candy and serve the story, to not only create a dazzling special effect, but one that accentuates and visualizes what's taking place in the plot." Van Dyke says. "And, it was interesting to come up with a couple of possible solutions and then, through creative collaboration with all involved, hone in on the one that did both the best."
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.