Visuelle Effekte machen das Unmögliche möglich

Filmproduktion ist weit mehr als nur das Drehen des Films. Viele Hollywood-Blockbuster werden monate- oder gar jahrelang vor- und nachbearbeitet, während eine Riege von Animatoren, Motion-Capture-Künstlern und Computergrafikern lebendige außerirdische Welten und beeindruckende Bilder designt, die in die Live-Action-Filme eingebunden werden.

Visuelle Effekte (oder Visual Effects, VFX) können wie Zauberkunst wirken. Der Regisseur und Visual-Effects-Künstler Darion D'Anjou erklärt jedoch, dass jeder Filmemacher mit den richtigen Hilfsmitteln und Schulungen beeindruckende, digital optimierte Bilder erzeugen kann.

VFX sind ein Teil der Geschichte von Hollywood

„Visuelle Effekte gehören zu den Technologien, die sich ständig weiterentwickeln“, so D'Anjou. „In den 1930er- und 1940er-Jahren wurden visuelle Effekte direkt auf das Zelluloid gekratzt oder gezeichnet. Technisch gesehen sind das visuelle Effekte, denn du fügst etwas zu dem Bild hinzu, was sich nicht vor der Kamera befindet. Dank visueller Effekte können wir jetzt dafür sorgen, dass Dinge fliegen, schmelzen, sich auflösen oder alles Mögliche tun, was unsere Fantasie hergibt.“

Computer-generated imagery (CGI)

Any digitally created visual effect is considered CGI, whether it’s a two-dimensional background image of a futuristic city or a full 3D model of a spaceship flying through the frame. CGI can be used for subtler purposes as well, such as making a crowd of background actors look larger, or de-aging an actor, like Will Smith in Ang Lee’s Gemini Man.

Compositing

Compositing is the act of combining visual elements from two different sources so it looks like they’re in the same place. To use this process it’s best to film actors in front of a green screen, which can be easily replaced with whatever background you want to add to the scene.

Motion capture

Motion capture, or mocap, is the process of digitally recording an actor wearing a special suit outfitted with markers that track their movements, then using that data to construct an animated 3D model. On Disney’s The Mandalorian, stunt performers wear mocap suits to act out the fight scenes, which are then digitally rendered so stunt coordinators can make changes if necessary. 

Visual effects are a team effort.

It takes a village to create compelling visual effects. A typical VFX team brings together specialists with a wide variety of artistic backgrounds, including: 

• Modelers, who use software like Adobe Substance 3D to create 3D models, known as assets
   
• Texture artists, who digitally paint assets to make them look realistic and lifelike 
   
• Lighters, who ensure assets are properly lit by positioning computer-generated lights around them
   
• Animators, who make assets move
   
• FX artists, who create complex and dynamic simulations of the real world, like water or an explosion
   
• Compositors, who bring all the digital effects together and place them in the scene with the actors

How to become a VFX artist.

“There are a million different paths if you want to get into visual effects,” D’Anjou says. “One is art school. If there was one thing I could redo, I would go to a formal art school and just get all the formal training. Because in the end, visual effects is art.”

“Another path is computer programming. If you think about crowd simulations in a movie like World War Z, where there are thousands of zombies, no artist is going to sit there and tell every zombie what to do. That’s all programming.”

Whether you’re looking for a job at industry leaders like Industrial Light & Magic, Weta, or Digital Domain, or just want to add a little digital pizzazz to your next movie, the best first step is to start experimenting.