But instead of creating a fully computer-generated version à la The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Digital Domain applied digital production techniques to give the live-action actors a haunting, hyper-photorealistic quality.
In “Eyes,” a bell tolls as the spot opens on a close-up shot of a pair of very still and vacant eyes. The camera pulls out to reveal that they belong to the macabre face of a recently slain medieval soldier. Other crime scenes follow, showing the just-murdered faces of corrupt noblemen, criminals and other victims. The final face is that of a cloaked man, his skin dewy and his eyes moist. The Assassin Ezio, who is the main character in the game, blinks and turns, taking viewers seamlessly into Assassin’s Creed II game footage.
“Our goal was both to give Douglas’ shot footage a hyper-photorealistic treatment, but to also make the actors appear so believably dead, it really takes the viewer aback,” said Vernon Wilbert, visual effects supervisor, Digital Domain.
“We found this aesthetic by re-lighting and adjusting the live-action faces, treating them so they had a waxy, plastic and synthetic feel to them, while retaining the essence of the photography. From our experience creating digital human characters, we built an intimate knowledge of how light affects human skin. What’s interesting about this project is, we reversed it, using digital tools to relight the skin to take away the appearance of life.”
For an even more unsettling effect, Digital Domain meticulously extracted all movement from the actors such as twitches and blinking, while digitally adding in atmospheric movement like candlelight flickers, water ripples and flies buzzing about.
To achieve the closing shot of the actor playing Ezio as he seamlessly morphs from live-action into an in-game character, Wilbert and his team walked the director through a virtual set within the game, as Douglas evaluated lighting and scenery as if doing a virtual location scout.
“It’s interesting how the same issues that happen on a live-action set can also happen within the game engine,” added Wilbert. “The light in the video game would change, or we’d have to wait for the moon to come back into scene, or the shadows would shift. Andrew Douglas was a great collaborator, and was completely at ease directing action in the virtual world. This converging of the techniques and tools of moviemaking and gaming is something we’re going to be seeing a lot of in the future.”
Digital Domain is an Academy Award®-winning digital production studio with a reputation for innovation and artistry. The studio has created visual effects for 75+ movies that have collectively generated more than $12 billion in worldwide box-office sales, including most recently, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for which it won the Academy Award for Visual Effects.
A creative giant in advertising, Digital Domain works with a stellar group of A-list directors including David Fincher, Mark Romanek, Joseph Kosinski, Carl Erik Rinsch and more. Industry recognition for Digital Domain’s advertising work includes many Clio, AICP, and Cannes Lion awards and other industry honors. The company is continually pushing into new territory and is being recognized for its pioneering work in photo-real digital humans and productions that bring the worlds of movies, games, advertising and the web closer together.
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
CLIENT: Ubisoft
PRODUCT: Assassin’s Creed II
“Eyes” :30 AIRDATE: 11/09/09
“Eyes Extended” ::60 AIR DATE: 11/09/09
ADVERTISING AGENCY: Cutwater SF
Chief Creative Officer: Chuck McBride
Director of Broadcast: Jennifer Golub
Interactive Creative Director: Fabio Costa
Art Director: Jay Lorenzini
Copywriter: Eric Boyd
Agency Producer: Bill Spangler
Account Manager: Jason Bedecarre
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Anonymous Content
Director: Andrew Douglas
Executive Producer: Dave Morrison
Head of Production: Sue Ellen Clair
Producer: Aris McGarry
ANIMATION & VISUAL EFFECTS: Digital Domain, Inc./Venice, CA
President of Commercials, Executive Producer: Ed Ulbrich
Executive Producer / Head of Production: Karen Anderson
Visual Effects Supervisor: Vernon Wilbert
Visual Effects Producer: Melanie La Rue
Coordinator: Nathan Bayne
Coordinator: William Lemmon
Integration: Scott Gsop Edelstein
Senior Flame Artist: Jeff Heusser
Senior Flame Artist: Brad Scott
Junior Flame Artist: Matthew J.D. Bramante
Roto Artist: Hilery Johnson Copeland
Roto Artist: Maura Alvarez
EDITORIAL HOUSE: Final Cut
Editor: Nathan Petty
Executive Producer: Saima Awan
Producer: Jennifer Miller
MUSIC / SOUND HOUSE DESIGN: Elias Arts
Creative Director/Composer: Jonathan Elias
Creative Director: Dave Gold
Composers: Kimo Kemp, Dave Wittman
Producer: Kala Sherman
AUDIO POST/MIX HOUSE: One Union Studios
Mixer: Eben Carr
Producer: Lauren Mask
RELATED LINKS:
www.digitaldomain.com
