Visual effects house Method Studios, a Deluxe Entertainment Services Group company, was one of the lead vendors on Columbia Pictures' White House Down, which opened this weekend. Method's crew was led by Ollie Rankin, visual effects supervisor, and Christopher Anderson, visual effects producer for the team in Vancouver. Overall they completed 185 shots comprising four sequences. White House Down was directed by Roland Emmerich. Volker Engel and Marc Weigert were the production's visual effects supervisors.
Completed scene. 2013 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
The scene before the CG added in. 2013 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
We visited Volker and Marc in their war room in Culver City, recalls Rankin. The walls were lined with frames from the most challenging shots in the film. The majority of them were marked as belonging to Method and it's fair to say that recreating the White House, US Capitol building and three Black Hawk helicopters challenged our VFX team in the best possible way. Around a fifth of our shots were either fully CG or contained only a small component of practical photography.
Volker and I were extremely pleased with Method's team and their work, says Weigert. Their enthusiasm and sense of humor made the experience so much easier than it often is. One of their sequences is the biggest highlight in the film. It's simply awesome. We're all, Roland included, very proud of the outcome.
Method's sequences included the explosions inside and outside of the US Capitol, the collapse of the Capitol's iconic dome, the crashes of three Black Hawk helicopters around and into the White House and its surrounding lawns and fountain, and the interior shots of a helicopter's tail section crashing through several floors of the White House. With all the recently accomplished CG simulated destruction and pyro work on recent projects, Method was a natural fit for these shots.
The single most challenging shot was the first Black Hawk crash. It features a burning, smoking Black Hawk spiraling over the roof of the White House, slamming into the ground, then crashing into a tree directly in front of camera, breaking apart in a big explosion, before continuing to carve up the ground as it comes to rest. The final comp for this shot used around 150 rendered elements, each with multiple layers.
Since the majority of the films action takes place in and around the White House grounds, Method shared the CG assets they built with the other eleven vendors located around the world and with very different CG pipelines. A small number of shots required sharing of rendered layers between vendors.
Method Studios President Chris Kubsch says, Roland Emmerich's action movies contain epic visual effects. Method was one of the lead facilities among the vendors because we've upped our game consistently. Ollie, Chris and our crew did exemplary work on this one. It was a tough schedule and they didn't miss a beat.
In White House Down, Capitol Policeman John Cale (Channing Tatum) has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation's government falling into chaos and time running out, it's up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country. The film is directed by Roland Emmerich, written by James Vanderbilt, and produced by Bradley J. Fischer, Harald Kloser, James Vanderbilt, Larry Franco, and Laeta Kalogridis.
For even more about White House Down, see our talk with Ollie Rankin, Visual Effects Supervisor, Method Studios in Method Studios Wreaks CG Havoc for White House Down.
About Method Studios:
Method Studios is an award-winning international visual effects group with facilities in Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, London, Sydney and Melbourne. As an artist-driven company known for its creativity, Method services high-end feature film, commercial and motion graphics clients. Post production offerings include conceptual design, look development, 3D animation/CGI, motion graphics, matte painting, compositing and finishing. Credits include the commercials DirecTV Troll (AICP Award for Animation), Super Bowl hit Kia Space Babies, Chevy 2012 Silverado (VES Award and HPA Award winner); and films Iron Man 3, Cloud Atlas, Argo, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Wrath of the Titans. http://www.methodstudios.com
About Deluxe:
Method Studios is part of Deluxe's Creative Services Group, a close-knit group of facilities including Company 3 , Beast, Deluxe New York, EFILM , Encore, Level 3 Post, Method Studios, Rushes and StereoD. The group leverages a comprehensive suite of end-to-end services, access to world-class artists, technical expertise and a tight infrastructure with global connectivity. The Creative Services Group businesses are wholly owned by Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. http://www.bydeluxe.com
###
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
Visual effects house Method Studios, a Deluxe Entertainment Services Group company, was one of the lead vendors on Columbia Pictures' White House Down, which opened this weekend. Method's crew was led by Ollie Rankin, visual effects supervisor, and Christopher Anderson, visual effects producer for the team in Vancouver. Overall they completed 185 shots comprising four sequences. White House Down was directed by Roland Emmerich. Volker Engel and Marc Weigert were the production's visual effects supervisors.
