American Cinematographer - August 2008 - (Page 57) moves. We also shot some new performances in Hong Kong with Jet, using witness cameras. Then we spent a lot of time rigging and texturing the 3-D version of his head and body to see how gory we could make it and still have it look like Jet.” In order to implement the change in creative direction, Digital Domain had to alter approximately 25 shots. In the sequence, “the terracotta mummy gets shattered and reveals the ‘undermummy,’ a charred, desiccated Jet Li inside a terracotta shell,’’ explains Hynek. “We initially lobbied for minimal cracking out of concern that a terracotta mummy that doesn’t crack would be less believable.” Butler adds, “We halted development on that approach and started on a more conventional animation process at Rob’s request. We did a lot of stress/strain analysis and pro- cedural animation to achieve the final look. Instead of having a brittle, non-dexterous character, we now have an elastic figure that can articulate sounds and shapes in a more human-like manner than was originally planned. He comes across as a malleable stone figure.” The digital intermediate (DI) for Tomb was carried out at Company 3 by Cohen and colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld. At press time, Duggan was shooting another project in Australia but still hoped to participate in the final grade. “We got great dailies from Stefan, and Company 3 set up a private Web site where we could download them while on location. Throughout the shoot, I sent Stefan digital stills of each scene that I’d corrected in Photoshop, so the look was clearly established well ahead of the DI.” Contemplating the process from start to finish, Duggan is very pleased with the picture. “I think it was a fantastic idea to set the story in China,” he says. “It’s a fascinating setting for a film and a fresh approach for the Mummy series. These were some of the most diverse locations and settings I’ve ever shot.” I TECHNICAL SPECS 2.40:1 Super 35mm Arricam Lite; Arri 235, 435 Cooke and Angenieux lenses Kodak Vision2 250D 5205, 500T 5218 Digital Intermediate 57 http://www.bmlighting.com http://www.bmlighting.com
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