How Surpreeze leveraged their digital asset for ‘Haunting of the Queen Mary’ in an unusual way. A new excerpt from issue #15 of the magazine.
Danish visual effects studio Surpreeze is known for straddling the practical and digital effects worlds by often working on both practical models and digital visual effects shots.
But for Haunting of the Queen Mary, the studio was called upon to capitalize a little differently on its pre-existing skills with miniature effects.
“Overall VFX supervisor Matthew Kemper approached us to create a 3D model of a miniature model of the RMS Queen Mary ship which was in use from 1936-1967,” details Surpreeze CG supervisor Troels Kruse Thomsen.
“Those kinds of miniatures are not uncommon to have displayed so that passengers can get an overview of the ship in its entirety and to see inside the different rooms and compartments. It was important for the client to have a completely photorealistic look and really sell the model as a miniature.”
For this production, however, only a cardboard cutout of the ship was present on set to give actors some kind of reference. One shot did feature a practical miniature made by the art department of a single room that was then mounted onto the cardboard cutout. “That made it easier for the director of photography to frame, and it made our camera matchmove easier as well,” says Thomsen. “We then extended the room with the rest of our 3D miniature.”
The miniature CG ship was based on a full-sized digital version used for at-sea shots, with Surpreeze’s focus for the small ship being the compartments, figurines and rooms
“We made them to feel small and physically tangible and not just downscaled of the full size ship,” notes Thomsen.
The task was one that perhaps could have been achieved with an actual miniature, except that there were a number of camera moves in the shots, which made a CG model a more suitable approach. The project offered Surpreeze artists a chance, says Thomsen, to apply their wide range of skills in CG as well as demonstrate their “affection for practical and on-set effects work.”
“It was important to make the VFX as integrated as possible to not draw unwanted focus on the ship being CG,” adds Thomsen. “Daniel French, VFX supervisor and owner of Surpreeze, has extensive hands-on with on-set miniatures and practical effects. His insight and eye for detail was a key resource in making sure the shots have that miniature feeling.”
Find out more about models and miniatures in issue #15 of befores & afters magazine.
