MUMBAI: Prime Focus has contributed to five of the ten films that are in the running for the 84th Academy Awards.
The work involved ranges from creating complex VFX shots for Tree of Life and X-Men: First Class to being lead 3D conversion facility on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, to completing 3D conversion and delivering stereoscopic VFX shots for Transformers: Dark of the Moon and supplying on-set equipment for Hugo.
The Tree of Life saw the highly anticipated return of acclaimed director Terrence Malick. Prime Focus delivers a number of detailed sequences including the creation of stunningly realistic dinosaurs.
The film, based on Malick‘s original screenplay, is an impressionistic story of a 1950‘s mid-Western American family. It explores difficult human issues, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith. Majority of the visual effects in the film come in the opening creation sequence that features subtle images from the prehistoric era and astronomy.
The 50-strong Prime Focus team, spanning facilities in Los Angeles and Vancouver, worked closely with VFX Supervisor Dan Glass to determine the species of dinosaurs they would create as well as the environment around them. A huge amount of research was undertaken with specialist biologists and paleontologists brought in.
The film picked up the prestigious Palme D‘Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and is expected to fare well in the upcoming awards season.
Elsewhere, Prime Focus was called in to provide VFX shots for Matthew Vaughn‘s superhero adventure X-Men: First Class, with work on the Marvel and Twentieth Century Fox film being completed in London, Vancouver and Mumbai, using the Prime Focus Global Digital Pipeline.
"Up against a tight deadline, having this span of resources available enabled the team to deliver a number of high quality shots in a short amount of time, proving that a company with a global reach can offer significant advantages," Prime Focus said.
Prime Focus delivered stereoscopic 3D visual effects and converted 230 shots into 3D for Michael Bay‘s Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
2011‘s highest grossing film was the final installment of Warner Bros‘ incredibly successful Harry Potter franchise - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Prime Focus was the lead vendor in the 3D conversion of this film, and working closely with director David Yates and studio stereographer Hugh Murray, the teams in London, LA and India took on the conversion of some of the biggest and most challenging VFX sequences in the movie, delivering 400 3D shots overall.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on 24 January, with the Awards ceremony taking place on 26 February at Hollywood‘s Kodak Theatre.
