HisDarkMaterials.org

Quick Facts

• Dæmon deaths incorporate the radiant Dust effect with a gas simulation creating first a flare and then a dissolving of the dæmons
• One of Pantalaimon's forms which didn't make it to the film featured Pan as a baby snow leopard
• Director Chris Weitz was often worried about making Pan look to mean, thus Rhythm & Hues incorporated juvenile traits into the wild cat: overly large paws
• The last scene filmed for The Golden Compass was on October 16th and will feature Pan as a ferret
• The screenplay originally called for Pantalaimon's favored form to be a pine marten. The change to ferret was made because the animal would've been too large on actress Richard's shoulders.
• Nearly 800 effects sequences were produced for The Golden Compass, about 600 of which will make it to the final movie
• A shot of Lyra making mud balls along the Oxford riverbanks was filmed as an additional scene
• Dæmon's eyes match their counterpart humans
• The most difficult VFX sequence, the ending at the North Pole, will not appear in The Golden Compass movie, but is slated for The Subtle Knife if the movie is made
• The deadline for overall VFX production is the second week of November

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Event Report: VFX at Rhythm & Hues

Visual Effects Producer Gary Nolin opened the event with a short summary of dæmons and the work Rhythm & Hues did for The Golden Compass. Visual Effects Supervisor Bill Westenhofer, Co-Visual Effects Supervisor Raymond Chen, Animation Director Erik de Boer, and Art Director Mike Meaker were also on-hand to answer questions. The presentation began with the theatrical trailer to give everyone a quick idea of the world of The Golden Compass.

A reel of finished dæmon work followed, playing out both new and previously available scenes. An originally unplanned for scene of Lyra pressing together mud balls and Pan egging her on: "Let's go get 'em, Lyra!" rolls out first. A shot of Pantalaimon behind the photogram lens sticking his tongue out at Lyra left the audience laughing and cooing. The actress Dakota Blue Richards apparently stuck her tongue out at her dæmon from the other side of the lens. While mischeviously cute, the effect was also very convincing and fun to watch as we later saw the same scene repeated in a making-of sequence. Numerous new effects-laden sequences played out as we were treated to Pantalaimon's multiple form transitions, the handling of weight with reality as Pan jumps on Lyra's bed in Mrs. Coulter's flat, a brief and successful regaining of the alethiometer after the golden monkey steals it, and a new effect which immediately impressed everyone viewing: the dæmon deaths.

Fans of The Golden Compass are familiar with the idea that if a person in Lyra's world dies, so does their dæmon. And, just as in the book, the first dæmon death we see is that of one of Lyra's captors as she is caught in a net running from Mrs. Coulter's flat. The dæmon dusting effect combines the radiant Dust particles (viewable in the theatrical trailer near 00:56) with a simulation to make it act like a gas: flaring quickly into roughly the shape of the dæmon and then dissolving into nothingness with the light force of the surrounding air.

From the dæmon deaths, the reel continued to play out more stunning work from the VFX studio. Kidman's well-acted weight performance as the golden monkey held or lept from her, dæmons interacting with real set objects, actress Dakota Blue Richard's fingers flawlessly gripping Pan's cat fur and masses of a variety of dæmons on-screen as the Gyptian forces arrive at Bolvangar: I was hugely impressed.

The presentation continued as Bill Westenhofer began discussing the initial difficulties of the dæmons to a making-of video playing on screen. Working with Visual Effects Supervisor Mike Fink, Rhythm & Hues communicated particular methods of filming to camera operators to include space for dæmons in each scene. Solutions came up to handle actors working with the CG characters. From a "cat on a fishing pole" to green "football puppets," said Westenhofer, they would make it work. More solutions were created as the dæmons interacted with the physical environment. VFX added footprints as Stelmaria plodded across the northern snow, real envelopes moved under Pantalaimon's weight, a set prop tin picked up by Nicole Kidman is pulled off screen by a string and inked over as it switches to a computer generated image in the hands of The Golden Monkey.

In dealing with dæmon transformations, Rhythm & Hues worked with Mike Fink and Chris Weitz to create a vision of realism that was still distinctly dæmon. An initial idea to create a sparkly effect around transforming dæmons was nixed as Co-VFX Supervisor Ray Chen said for children this was just "part of their daily routine." A scene of Pantalaimon transforming from a ferret into a wild cat (viewable in raw format as early as the sizzle reel near 1:06) repeated while Chen continued to discuss transforming, now in terms of mass. The small ferret's weight changes as Pan takes on the wild cat form, forcing the cat to almost back away from the snarling Stelmaria.

The Golden Compass project was so massive that Rhythm & Hues is one of ten different VFX companies working on the film. Initial film went to Cinesite where backgrounds, set extensions, and water effects were added. The pipeline then came to Rhythm & Hues where dæmons were added. The "how-to" of adding a dæmon began with filming as cameramen include space for dæmons and actors sometimes work with green puppets - most notably Kidman and Richards who had the most physical contact with their dæmons. A scene of Salcilia and Pantalaimon cornering Billy Costa's dæmon Ratter at the feet of their respective children looped, first showing only space, then rough rigs (the raw shape and motions) of the dæmons that would appear, low-resolution fur covering was the next step, then a pass of shadows and fur, any necessary blurring effects, and finally the "dæmon sheen" effect. After the dæmons were in place to an extent, Framestore CFC landed the final slot for creation of the armoured bears.

In developing dæmons, Rhythm & Hues began with photographs and footage provided by production. They also filmed and captured a great deal of their own animal footage, wanting more than just glamour shots. Said Westenhofer, "we like to get as much of our own stuff as we can," pointing out they need information on details like "the corner of the mouth" of a snow leopard. Needing information on the animal's mouths to provide realistic speaking for the dæmons, Westenhofer was jovially applauded by his colleagues as "the man who sticks cameras in a snow leopard's mouth."

Models were also provided by Neil Scanlan Studio for dæmon references. The models were scanned, deconstructed, and then digitally reassembled to include the inner movement systems, muscle movements, skin, and fur.

A question and answer session revealed more insight into The Golden Compass project from the speakers. Throughout the movie, Pan takes on a number different forms. Notably, a brown moth, a sparrow, a ferret, a wild cat, a field mouse, a hawk, a seagull, and a cobra. Pan's hawk form appears in the now-displaced aurora sequence, but I may have spied it earlier as well. A number of Pan's forms developed by Rhythm & Hues went unused in the final production, including Pantalaimon formed as a baby snow leopard.

An early claim that there were no real animals used in the production was taken back as Chen explained that a few animals were used at Mrs. Coulter's flat, in brilliant fashion, to represent severed dæmons. Truthfully, I was also quite fooled by Billy Costa's rat-formed dæmon.

In developing the dæmons as character extensions of their actors in another world, Rhythm & Hues created some interesting ideas surrounding dæmons. To obtains character continuity across transitions, the studio added a "bandit mask" to Pan's various forms, an idea inspired by the ferret. As Erik de Boer explained, Pan is largely a "reactionary character" for Lyra, giving them a great deal of fluidity and personality to handle. "We had a lot of fun with the wild cat," de Boer said.

Dæmon's eyes are also modeled from their respective actors, a trait most noticeably shared by Daniel Craig and Stelmaria.

In response to concerns from director Chris Weitz over making dæmons clearly distinguishable from normal animals - if speaking weren't enough - Rhythm & Hues created a number of differences in individual dæmons, as well as an overall "dæmon sheen," a slight colorization that plays off the light on a dæmons's fur. Individually, the golden monkey is so otherworldly that he has no real-world counterpart. Said Chen, the golden monkey has coloring based on a golden lion tamarin, with the movements of a spider monkey or capuchin monkey. His individuality combined with the ability to make humanistic features and his interactions with Nicole Kidman made the golden monkey the most challenging individual dæmon to animate. Unlike normal animals of prey, Hester's hare eyes were moved to be forward-facing. Also, Stelmaria's snow leopard fur was shortened from the true animal to show more sleekness and power from the dæmon.

Inevitably, the question came out about what the most difficult piece of animation to create was. Our presenters looked a little befuddled a moment before calling back and forth with the New Line representatives to see what they were allowed to say. It was decidedly the ending sequence with the aurora, but despite Weitz's address to the public, Rhythm & Hues wasn't allowed to say a great deal more. The ending sequence itself was apparently creatively motivated by a painting from concept artists, rather than by readily available technology and the desire to use it. de Boer noted that despite the potential to simplify visual effects creation, Rhythm & Hues didn't work a particular direction on any single effect due to technological availability. The group decided that beyond the aurora the most challenging scene to make it into the film was the fight between Pantalaimon and the golden monkey over Lyra's alethiometer.

When asked about sequels to The Golden Compass movie, de Boer responded with a passionate and emphatic "yes" only to have the microphone quickly taken from him as Gary Nolin clarified that there are plans and stunning visual effects sequences available, but no official confirmation. However, to me the rest of the enthusiastic panel might well have been mentally designing effects on spectres and angels. There seemed to be a great deal of hope and happiness among the speakers for potential sequels to The Golden Compass.

After the presentation ended and press members began filing out I got to meet and talk briefly with a number of our presenters: Ray Chen, Erik de Boer, Mike Meaker and another I will introduce presently. An earlier question from the audience regarding fan reaction toward the dæmons brought a response from Chen that they would have to ask the fans. I thought I'd let them know about the community a little and the overall very positive reaction, especially toward dæmon transitions. While talking with them, it was revealed that the initial sizzler reel scene (and then teaser trailer scene) of Roger's dæmon Salcilia being "Gobbled" by the golden monkey has been replaced. Now, instead of only Roger the scene includes Billy Costa as well, introducing Billy to the audience earlier. I was also introduced to Edwin, who had been running our visuals from a computer. Edwin should probably be infamous in the sraffie community after Weitz's letter to the public. He is the sequence animator behind the so-very-talked-about and now displaced Aurora Borealis sequence, which Ray Chen assures is "freaking awesome." From the noticeable group passion over the sequence and overall enthusiasm for the trilogy (they're all readers) it's clear to me that if New Line gives the green light on it's sequels, Rhythm & Hues will be there through the aurora and back providing stunning and realistic effects all along the way.

Right to left: Ray Chen, Mike Meaker, Edwin (whose last name I apologize for not catching), and Erik de Boer

There are a great number of people I need to thank for their part in this event. I'd like to thank New Line Cinema for opening and arranging the invitation to us at HisDarkMaterials.org. An obvious and grand thank you to Rhythm & Hues for putting together a stunning visual display and combining it with an excellent and passionate group of speakers. Thanks to all the speakers there: Gary Nolin, Bill Westenhofer, Ray Chen, Erik de Boer, and Mike Meaker - the hard work and thoughtful dedication of you and the staff at Rhythm & Hues really gave a hand in the (let's face it, soon-to-be) success of The Golden Compass. And thank you to the press members and New Line group who arranged and waited on me while I took the "six minute tour" of the Rhythm & Hues studio.

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Related Links

• Movieweb.com event transcript
• Official Blog Review
• CHUD.com event review
• Sci-Fi Wire
• ComingSoon.net
• IESB.net event review

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