Set largely in a meticulous recreation of 1970s San Francisco, David Fincher's taut thriller Zodiac captures the devastating impact a cunning serial killer has on the public and especially on the journalists and policemen who hunted him. To help create this relentlessly tense film, Fincher relied on two visual effects supervisors he had worked with in the past. Eric Barba of Digital Domain began helping Fincher with commercial projects in 2002. Matte World Digital’s founder Craig Barron knew him in 1981, when Fincher was a camera assistant in the matte department at Industrial Light & Magic, where they worked on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Click the link below to see a Flash presentation (broadband recommended) featuring Matte World's work on the film, including videos and before-and-after slides.
I just want to say I really enjoyed viewing the slideshow about "Zodiac". As an artist it sparks my interest in doing more with my art. And it amazes me at what you can do to fool the eye of the public into thinking its the actual scenes that took place in real life. Although a horridly tragic event, its like history being recorded while at the same time entertainment.
Posted by jennifer on Saturday, March 17, 2007 @ 12:54 PM
2.
I also read on VFXTalk.com that A52 in LA handled a key VFX sequence. Lotsa work here for top VFX companies....
Posted by Byron Yates on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 04:11 PM
3.
Stunning! What I love about every fincher movie is that it's all about the invisible art - so many stive to recreate realism - this is the ultimate example, if you dont notice you've succeeded! So well done to all invloved and a great article may I add! Keep it up.
Posted by vfx on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 @ 06:00 AM
4.
I saw this film and the scene w/the Transamerica building being built was so amazing to me. Most of the visual effects are invisible so seeing the construction shot was jus a reminder for me...that you are watching a Fincher film. Really liked this film and reading this article makes me even more appreciative of what I saw on screen. Amazing visuals!
Posted by Angus Prospere on Monday, April 2, 2007 @ 12:51 PM
5.
I can't believe there were so many effects in this. Didn't realize this until I read it over at David Finchers blog:
http://fincherfanatic.blogspot.com
Check it out. It has a mass of great stuff!
Posted by Aurelii on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 @ 06:15 AM
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I saw this film just a few days ago. whilst i must admit i didn't enjoy the film itself, i am staggered at the use of CGi. basically, apart from the Transamerica scene, i had absolutely no idea there were any other computer generated elements in the entire film. that's how good the visualisation is. i would absolutely love to have a poke around in the max scenes, and give the shaders a thorough going over
Posted by Bill Nuttall on Monday, May 21, 2007 @ 04:46 AM
7.
I did not know they used CGI in this movie until I saw it 4 days ago. Every CGI scene was very good indeed, but unfortunately they were all detectable to my eyes (actually that's the reason I am here, I was googling about the CGI tricks of this movie, I found this page). Although they are very professionally done, they spoiled the fun for me. I don't wanna see CGI buildings in a detective movie which the story took place in 70's. This is totally unnecessary in my humble opinion (plus they probably spent a fortune for these effects, while movie grossed just slightly above its estimated $75 million production budget).
Posted by Emre on Sunday, July 29, 2007 @ 09:15 AM
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