VFX: World War Z CG

World War Z, Brad Pitt didn't take long to be crowned the highest-grossing zombie film of all time.
But what makes this movie so captivating is the realistic visual effects created by computer graphics artists.
The talented group of people worked around the clock to pull off one of the most believable apocalyptic films we've ever seen.

And now that the sequel has been delayed, we thought we'd take a look at what the original film looks like without all the snazzy the visual effects. Prepared to be amazed.

The Agents
While watching the film, you probably wondered how they were able to get so many extras for many of these shots. But the truth is, most of the zombies are actually agents - digital bots that were created by visual effects artists. Up to 8,500 of these agents were used per scene, and over 24 different body types were digitally created using various textures to give each bot its own unique appearance. MPC did an amazing job building unique humans and zombies that had many moviegoers fooled. Men, women, and children body types were used as templates for these characters. Various zombies were then built, from those with small blood stains to the ones with opened wounds and rotting teeth. The computer-generated people and zombies were also given their own unique CG clothing.

Massive Crowds
Cinesite were behind many of the aerial shots of Philadelphia where thousands of people were running in streets as they were chased by zombies. These scenes were first filmed on a smaller scale, and then Cinesite bulked up the real, on-set extras by adding 25,000 virtual bots to the crowd.

Helicopter Scenes
Actors were filmed in front of a green screen on a soundstage. Later, visual effects artists created a virtual set and added the helicopter's rotor blades and exhaust gas to make the scene look as real as possible.
This shot of another helicopter flying dangerously close to the city was created by the visual effects team at MPC. Photos of the helicopter were taken, and the graphic was later built using "texture variations." They then worked together with the animation department to ensure the aircraft moved realistically while flying over the city.

The Landscape
Most of the ground scenes of Philadelphia were actually filmed in Glasgow, Scotland, and the aerial shots were created by the visual effects team. The structures and landmarks of the City of Brotherly Love were added to the layout of Glasgow so seamlessly, moviegoers can barely tell the difference.
This particular scene took place in Jerusalem, but it was actually filmed in Malta. After filming was completed in front of a green screen, MPC was in charge of mixing in thousands of humans and zombies crawling over structures and running through the streets. Extras were photographed, and then those photos were scanned and used to build even larger crowds. The architecture from Jerusalem was then superimposed into the scene.

The Plane Destruction
This scene was filmed inside a section of a plane, and green screens were set up outside of the windows. A few extras were inside the cabin, as well as Pitt who was instructed to throw a grenade before the plane "crashed into trees."
The explosion, vapor, and debris were CGI and the scene of the zombies getting sucked outside of the gaping hole in the aircraft was also computer generated, as well. Mountains, trees, and the sky were then added outside of the windows by MPC.

Read more here: www.famefocus.com