More Than 127 Hours in NUKE
NUKE is proving itself unbeatable on projects of every size and shape, from the biggest of blockbusters to 30 second commercials. Speeding up and simplifying pipelines, it can help put a small scale facility on an equal footing with the big boys…
127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Danny Boyle, the film stars James Franco as Ralston. Released in November 2010 in the US and in January 2011 in the UK, the film has received near universal critical acclaim, including a Best Actor award for Franco from the New York Film Critics Online. Tribute of a different sort has been paid by the many reported faintings that have occurred during the film’s graphic – though unsensationalised – amputation scene.
With an $18m budget, 127 Hours is a very modestly scaled project by Hollywood’s standards. VFX were essential, but they would have to be utterly invisible, seamlessly integrated into a gripping human drama. Boyle turned to London-based newcomers Union for the work. The company provided Boyle with 350 shots encompassing complete CG environments, dust and fluid simulations, CG horses, set extensions, limb removals, prosthetic enhancements and complex rig removals.
Co-Founded by VFX Producer Tim Caplan and VFX Supervisor Adam Gascoyne, Union set up shop in October 2008. “The depths of a recession might not look like the best time to open for business,” says Caplan, “But we felt that, with the right people and kit, there was room for a quality small outfit. Adam had just finished work as VFX Supervisor on Slumdog Millionaire, and I’d just finished working for Universal on Mama Mia. For the next year we picked up a few jobs, including 125 shots on Poliakoff’s 1939.
Early 2010 saw us starting work on 127 Hours, and shortly after that we moved to our current premises in Wardour Street. We worked on about 400 shots for 127 Hours, of which 350 were used in the final cut, with post production occupying around 14 weeks.”
Caplan continues, “NUKE was part of our plan from the outset. We’d been watching it grow over the last few years, and it was apparent that it was the best software for our purposes. In addition, the talent coming through gravitates towards it, so it made perfect sense to bring it on board.” Adds Gascoyne, “It’s particularly useful to us that NUKE bridges the gap between traditional 2D and 3D pipelines. Shots that would previously have to be done in 3D – or with a lot of 3D help – could be incorporated into NUKE. Using a basic 2D pipeline you can get pretty good results. So for a highly concentrated company like us it made a lot of sense.”
For 127 Hours, Gascoyne attended the nine week shoot, both on location in the Canyonlands National Park and at the Salt Lake City sound stage where a replica of the crucial canyon was built. The replica was 60ft long and 30ft high, which meant that a significant amount of set extensions would be required. Says Gascoyne, “We were planning to use a LIDAR of the set, clean it up and texture it in Maya, and then transfer it to NUKE and do all the set extensions. We did this but matters were complicated by the fact that there was no room for a green screen above the canyon set. Because of its shape the lighting rigs had to go right above it, and the only way of lighting it evenly was to use white silks, so we had silks as opposed to green screens, which was…interesting. As was getting the LIDAR gear into the real location, which was also scanned. But working in NUKE we extended it by another 30ft upwards, and also length ways – it worked very well for us.
“We contributed around 50 shots to the amputation sequence itself,” continues Gascoyne, “We projected textures on to basic models inside NUKE. With a little bit of help from Maya and quite a lot of compositing help we managed to achieve some excellent results. We worked closely with the physical effects make-up guys, who’d built a prosthetic arm that was used on set. Our job was to come in and help when needed. Basically this entailed blood addition, tidying up the edges of the silicon, and adding more connective tissue. Also, maintaining the look, keeping it completely consistent throughout the sequence was vital.”
Union were a perfect fit for Boyle’s production and methods of working. “Danny was in several times a week,” recalls Caplan, “He is very hands on and likes to give direct feedback to the artists, which is easy to do with a company like ours.”
Small (and happy to be so), flexible and fast, the company embodies what new technology can allow a smart outfit to do. And NUKE is playing an ongoing role in their development. “A significant plus for us is how NUKE works within a 3D pipeline,” sums up Caplan, “That was why we went for it in the first place – because of the 3D environments that you can create within it that give a lot more depth. NUKE has made things easier and faster – it’s as simple as that.”
Union are currently contracted by LOCOG as part of the creative team working on the 2012 Olympic ceremonies. Their next project, Neds, has just opened in the UK, and another – Will – is nearing completion, so things are looking up for Union, recession or not.