A Monster Evolves: Raising the Game in "Venom: Let There Be Carnage"

A Monster Evolves: Raising the Game in "Venom: Let There Be Carnage"


*** This article originally appeared in the December '21 issue of Animation magazine (No. 315) ***

One of the benefits of producing a sequel is that filmmakers can build on what has already been established, which is exactly what director Andy Serkis (To breathe) and VFX supervisor Sheena Duggal (The hunger games, Agent Carter) have achieved with Venom: Let there be carnage.

"Venom and Eddie Brock" [Tom Hardy] are still in a symbiotic relationship, but they're more of a quarrelsome couple that gets on each other's nerves, "observes Duggal." We get to see a lot more of Venom's individual personality. For example, there is a scene where he uses multiple tentacles to cook Eddie's breakfast and another where they have a physical fight. We hadn't developed anything that broad in the first film, and this time around we have focused much more on comedy than these moments ".

Something unexpected was the blockade caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “Working from home in multiple time zones was enormously challenging and everyone used different ways to communicate,” Duggal recalls. "Initially I didn't have a server setup in my home, so coupled with the limited bandwidth internationally meant it was too difficult to download directly from the server in the UK, I was spending hours downloading Aspera data packets from visual effects providers. , columnists and concept artists on my laptop! "

Duggal says the process required a lot of perseverance and hands-on intelligence to achieve the team's initial goals. “We took some additional photographs during the lockdown in the UK, New York and Toronto. Our actors were in different countries even though they sometimes acted in the same scene. We did a lot of previz and tech viz to figure out how to best shoot. I was fortunate to have the help of additional VFX supervisor Marty Waters, who is based in the UK and was our filming supervisor during the main shoot. Tools like QTAKE and Moxian allowed me to be connected to the set and give feedback on the visual effects work. "

Sheena Duggal

Tactile tentacles

Among the improvements the VFX team was able to achieve was the interaction of the tissue with the tentacles exiting Brock's body. “The idea is that the Venom symbiote will penetrate through its pores and increase in volume. It pushes through the threads of its clothing, creating many small tentacles, which then combine into the creation of the adult tentacle, "explains Duggal." The effects of the creatures were designed to create all the interaction between the tentacles and clothing. "

Approximately 1.323 shots with visual effects are in the final editing phase with the sharing taking place between an internal team, DNEG, Framestore, Image Engine and, in some cases, The Third Floor for camera locking. Duggal notes, "The desire for Venom to be even more realistic and ferocious, so DNEG, led by VFX supervisor Chris McLaughlin, upgraded its muscle system using a three-layer muscle / fat / skin simulation. A completely new facial implant has allowed for better lip sync, dialogue delivery and overall performance. More weight was added to its animation. The Wraith Venom appears in many more shots this time around, so the animation rig was rebuilt and a new job had to be undertaken development, as well as redesigning Wraith's connection with her host [which was not visible in the previous film]. "

Venom: Let there be carnage

The main antagonist is the Carnage symbiote, the alter ego of serial killer Cletus Kasady (played by Woody Harrelson). “I decided it was useful to sculpt a maquette to give us something physical that everyone could interact with in the beginning rather than waiting for it to be built in CG,” explains Duggal. “This allowed all of us to see what the character would be like and gave me something to do lighting studies with. The maquette was scanned in 3D and became the basis of the digital model ”.

According to Duggal, Carnage is a more complex character than Venom. "He has more transformation abilities, including the ability to have multiple armed tentacles, to project weapons from his body, and to use his biomass to grow and expand to any size he desires," says superhero VFX. “Unlike Eddie hosting Venom, Cletus brings Carnage to life and they share DNA. Based on some concepts from Danny LuVisi, we have created complex anatomical transformations where we see the shared anatomy being broken and torn apart. When the tentacles first grow, I have observed the intertwined growth of mold and tentacle-like vines. To get ideas for weapons, I looked at animals in nature and how they use them ”.

Venom: Let there be carnage

"We also had to sell the idea that the symbiote had a serial killer as a host, so I had to find ways to make it scary and dangerous and add that extra touch to its character," he notes. "We definitely did it with the way Carnage moved and held his body, weapons and tentacles of anger."

Digital doubles such as digital face and limb replacement were necessary for the transformations of Shriek, the female symbiont living within Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris). “Shriek has a powerful scream that we had to convey visually. We looked at sonic booms and cymatics, the study of sound and visible vibrations, "observes Duggal." It's something I had studied in the past and it was perfect for that as it gave us an extra layer of complexity. "

To achieve the desired effect, Image Engine (which completed all of Shriek's shots) relied on two ingredients: the visual representation of the scream and its interaction with the environment. "The impersonation was performed using a combination of effect levels and composition treatment," explains Duggal. "The way he interacted with the environment ranged from replacing live props to flying them around a cell room, to completely replacing Shriek digitally so he could make his cheeks, his hair react. and his clothes ".

Director Andy Serkis convinces star Tom Hardy to act well with a bust of Venom.

Double digital to the rescue

DNEG and Image Engine created Brock and Kasady's digital doubles for the scenes that take place at the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane and Grace Cathedral. “These were used as full CG characters where stunts were not feasible, as well as in all of the character transformations between Eddie / Venom and Cletus / Carnage,” Duggal points out. "To some extent, digital doubles were also used for Ms. Chen / Venom and built for other non-protagonist characters who transform."

The film also required extensive CG world construction. “Once we take off at Ravencroft, all environments are fully CG, with CG assets: Shriek, Cletus, '67 Mustang, Kia Tellurides and Carnage [shared DNEG asset],” says the award-winning supe VFX. “A lot of FX elements were also created, from simple atmospheric effects to complex car and building destruction, and a couple of Carnage transformations. The Grace Cathedral set was shot on a blue screen stage at Leavesden Studios, with part of the set built. Everything becomes completely CG once we get up in the air and are fighting on the steeple. This was the most complex sequence for DNEG, it was almost half of the given shots and required the construction of the larger environment because in the film the cathedral is being renovated / built. Eddie's apartment had a green screen exterior and there were a lot of various green screen shots scattered throughout the film.

Venom: Let there be carnage

Duggal says one of the highlights of the project was working on a beautiful storybook animation piece shot on green screen, with Eddie and Cletus sitting at a table as the postcard designs come to life. "It was necessary to create an animated sequence that told the twisted backstory of Cletus, a manic serial killer, using his deranged scribbles on a postcard as a device," he recalls. "This was a highlight for me and for Framestore VFX supervisor Dale Newton."

Venom: Let there be carnage set pandemic-era box office opening records in the US ($ 90 million) and overseas, surpassing $ 100 million on its fifth day of release. The film is currently showing in cinemas around the world via Sony.



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