[ DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS ]
Davis: I GREW UP WATCHING MOVIES,
AND "STAR WARS" AND "ALIENS"
AND ALL THOSE MOVIES AS A KID.
I WAS ENAMORED BY THIS WHOLE WORLD
THAT COULD BE IMAGINED.
AND THE THING WITH VISUAL EFFECTS IS
THAT IT DOES ALLOW YOUR IMAGINATION TO RUN RAMPANT
AND FOR YOU TO DREAM UP BIGGER, BETTER WORLDS,
AND THEN TO CREATE THEM.
THE LATEST MOVIE THAT I JUST DID
IS "EDGE OF TOMORROW" WITH TOM CRUISE.
FROM THE SCRIPT, WE VERY QUICKLY REALIZED
THAT THE MOVIE INVOLVED CREATING ALIENS,
AND THE MOVIE WAS TO TAKE PLACE IN A DESTROYED, FLOODED PARIS.
NOW, OBVIOUSLY, WE COULDN'T GO TO PARIS
AND FLOOD HUGE SWATHS OF IT,
SO WE FOUND OURSELVES LOOKING TO VISUAL EFFECTS
AS THE SOLUTION TO HELP US, YOU KNOW, SOLVE THIS PROBLEM.
ONE OF THE SEQUENCES
THAT WAS A BIG ISSUE IN THE MOVIE,
AND IT WAS A BIG PROBLEM,
WHICH WAS THE ENTIRE THIRD ACT OF THE MOVIE,
IN WHICH TOM CRUISE AND HIS TEAM, HIS J-SQUAD TEAM,
HAVE CRASH-LANDED IN PARIS
AS THEY'RE TRYING TO GET TO THE OMEGA,
WHICH IS UNDERNEATH THE LOUVRE.
TO DO THIS, THEY DECIDE TO TAKE THE CRASHED DROPSHIP,
WHICH HAS NOW JUST GOT A COUPLE OF ENGINES,
AND THE REST OF IT'S ALL IN PIECES,
AND THAT THEY'RE GONNA USE THAT AS A SORT OF HYDRO BOAT
AND BASICALLY SAIL IT STRAIGHT AWAY
DOWN THE FLOODED TUILERIES.
AND ALL THE WAY,
THEY'RE GONNA BE PURSUED BY ALIENS,
AND A HUGE FIGHT SEQUENCE EVOLVES.
SO, TO CREATE A VIRTUAL PARIS, WE HAD TO GO TO PARIS.
WE SHOT LOTS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC TEXTURES
OF THE VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTS
THAT WE WANTED TO DIGITALLY RE-CREATE.
AND THEN WE TAKE THOSE TEXTURES,
AND THEN WE APPLY THOSE
TO OUR VIRTUAL C.G. MODEL OF PARIS.
AND, THEN, WE HAVE A TEAM OF MODELERS
THAT THEN GO THROUGH AND BUILD ALL OF THE INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS
THAT WOULD MAKE UP A CITY.
WE HAVE STATUES, WE HAVE TREES, AND WE'VE GOT BICYCLES,
AND WE'VE GOT CARS, AND WE'VE GOT TABLES AND CHAIRS,
AND, YOU KNOW, JUST AN ENTIRE MYRIAD AND SPECTER
OF ALL THE THINGS THAT BASICALLY MAKE AN ENVIRONMENT
FEEL PHOTO-REALISTIC.
AND ALL OF THESE HAVE TO BE
MODELED AND BUILT IN THE COMPUTER,
AND THEN THEY HAVE TO BE TEXTURED,
AND THEN THEY HAVE TO BE LIT,
AND THEN THEY HAVE TO BE COMPOSITED INTO THE SHOT.
WE HAD A FLOODED SECTION OF PLACE DE LA CONCORDE
WITH A SET OF THE DROPSHIP.
OBVIOUSLY, THIS COULDN'T ACTUALLY MOVE,
BUT IT DID ENABLE US TO GET THE ACTORS INTO THE DROPSHIP
AND SHOOT THE FIRST PART OF THE SEQUENCE,
UP UNTIL THE MOMENT WHEN THE ROTOR BLADES START TO SPIN.
AND ONCE IT STARTED TO MOVE OUT OF PLACE DE LA CONCORD,
THERE WAS NO MORE SET.
SO FROM THAT MOMENT ONWARDS,
WE WERE ALWAYS DEALING WITH A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT.
THIS NORMALLY TAKES US ANYWHERE FROM SIX MONTHS TO A YEAR
TO CREATE FULLY-DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS
AND HIGHLY-COMPLICATED SHOTS,
WHICH INVOLVE CREATURES
AND VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS AND WATER.
AND ON A SEQUENCE LIKE THIS,
WE PROBABLY HAD ABOUT 200 PEOPLE.
WE HAD TO BUILD
A COMPUTER-GENERATED VERSION OF THE LOUVRE.
WE HAD TO DO SIMULATIONS FOR THE SHIP
ACTUALLY CRASHING INTO THE GLASS,
BRINGING THE WATER THROUGH WITH IT.
WE, ALSO, THEN, HAD TO DO ALL OF THE GLASS SIMULATIONS
FOR THE ENTIRE LOUVRE SMASHING AND BREAKING THROUGH
AND LANDING INSIDE THE LOUVRE,
AND WE HAD TO DO A HAND-OFF
BETWEEN A COMPUTER-GENERATED VERSION OF TOM
AS HE FIRST FLIES THROUGH THE AIR,
AND THIS WE THEN HOOKED INTO A PRACTICAL SHOT ON OUR SET
OF TOM ACTUALLY ROLLING DOWN THE LAST 20 FEET
AND DOING HIS OWN STUNT
AS HE ENDS UP LANDING IN THE BOTTOM OF THE LOUVRE.
IT'S EXCITING TO BE IN A BUSINESS
WHERE WE'RE FOREVER TRYING TO CHANGE THE MEDIUM
AND WE'RE LOOKING FOR THE NEXT THING.
WHAT'S THE NEXT EFFECT THAT WE CAN CREATE
THAT NO ONE'S SEEN BEFORE,
THAT PUSHES FILMMAKING TO A NEW LEVEL?
AND THAT MAKES IT EXCITING,
AND IT ALSO IS THE CHALLENGE OF
KNOWING THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY,
YOU'RE GONNA HAVE BEEN PART OF A TEAM
THAT CREATED A MOVIE
THAT HOPEFULLY PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER FOREVER.