Alita Battle Angel – Berserker Xformation FX

 

Role : Sr. FX-TD

Studio : Weta Digital

Task : Berserker Transformation FX R&D

This was surely a tricky one, but at the same time was probably my favorite FX work.
My task was to create an FX for the Alita’s Berserker armour transformation, from a neutral body shape, to a curvy , super strong and athletic female shape. Mr Rodriguez wanted this FX to give the idea that during the transformation something was happening at the chemical level, but at the same time wanted to add some nano-technology element.
During the developement of this FX I had the chance to develop an OpenCL , GPU-Based implementation of the Reaction Diffusion algorithm , modified to work on an arbitrary geometry (non-quad geometry, points and on volumes as well). The nano-tech side of the FX was driven by the underlying reaction-diffusion pattern.

The whole system was created in Houdini.

The effect I worked on is viewable in the small clip below. Enjoy !

It Follows – VFX Work

Here’s my last work on “It Follows”, a Horror Movie presented at Cannes 2014 in the Critics Week section.

 

Project : It Follows (2014)
Role : FX, Modeling, Rendering, Lighting, Tracking, Compositing, Compositor

Production companies: Northern Lights Films, Animal Kingdom, Two Flints
Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe
Director-screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell
Producers: Rebecca Green, Laura D. Smith, David Robert Mitchell, David Kaplan, Erik Rommesmo
Executive producers: Frederick W. Green, Joshua Astrachan, P. Jennifer Dana, Jeff Schlossman, Bill Wallwork, Alan Pao, Corey Large, Mia Chang
Director of photography: Michael Gioulakis
Production designer: Michael T. Perry
Costume designer: Kimberly Leitz-McCauley
Editor: Julio C. Perez IV
Music: Disasterpeace
Sales: Cinetic/Visit Films

Related articles:
Variety
Indiewire
Yahoo Movies
TheWrap
The Hollywood Reporter