PRODUC T I ON . THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS
BEST IN SHOW DNEG have won six of the last ten Academy Awards for best VFX – the fine details above show us why
circle when reflected in the glass-still waters below. “We received the scene from Epic and readjusted as we progressed it, adding details such as rippling waters, swaying trees and falling leaves,” explains Evans. “Our plan was to push real-time rendering in Unreal to get final quality renders that would hold up at 4K. But building the Unreal pipeline was a challenge.” The team started with version 4.25 of Unreal. However, it didn’t have the tools needed to use images in their pipeline, such as OCIO colour support and rendering passes separately. These features are now available, but are a result of close dialogue between the Epic Games team and DNEG. “It was super exciting to be at the forefront of driving forward how Unreal Engine can be used,” explains Evans. “If we were to do it again, having set-up for the painful technical issues, it would be a lot smoother. Nonetheless, the ability to quickly block out the cut, and figure out lighting direction and how it was going to look through the camera, was an incredibly big thing for us – as was being able to view it at a decently rendered quality.” EXO-MORPHEUS Another challenge for DNEG, both technically and artistically, was creating
explains DNEG VFX supervisor Huw Evans. “It’s a love story.” The Matrix Resurrections opens with a familiar retread of the first movie’s opening scene, but doesn’t include the bullet time shot. The effect was a point of careful consideration, with Wachowski cognisant about trying to imitate themselves too directly and risk losing the edge of being self-aware. In fact, there is no real bullet time like in the first film. Instead, the characters can move at different speeds – faster than a bullet. This was achieved through use of stereo rigs capturing two frame rates (24fps and 120fps) simultaneously. Therefore, enabling the team to shoot the same scene at two different speeds for compositing in the edit. THE DOJO DNEG, split between its London and Vancouver offices, created 723 shots for the film. It was responsible for moments in the ‘real world’, including the training dojo in which an epic fight between Neo and Morpheus occurs. The scene was created entirely in Unreal Engine and is based around Germany’s Rakotzbrücke, an arched bridge that creates a perfect
“Characters can move at different speeds. This was achieved by capturing two frame rates simultaneously” the physical manifestation of Morpheus’ digital self. In The Matrix world he’s human, but in the real world he’s an exomorphic particle codex, characterised by animated ball bearings. “In the conception stage, Lana gravitated towards creating Exo-Morpheus
THE DEVIL’S BRIDGE The famous German structure in Kromlauer Park was a key inspiration in the movie
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