The world is a very different place in the dystopian post-apocalyptic Chicago that's depicted in the science-fiction action film Divergent, based on the book by Veronica Roth.
In Divergent, society is divided into five factions based on the personalities of its inhabitants, who are made to declare their selection during a Choosing Ceremony on their 16th birthdays. After that, training begins. For the main character Beatrice, who shows a range of aptitude, this means performing extreme stunts and undergoing extreme training in extreme environments after she selects the group Dauntless. To support the storyline, extreme effects were required, and visual effects house Method Studios, a Deluxe Entertainment Services Group company, took the lead role.
The span of VFX work in the film by Method and the other studios included full-CG environments, city plate enhancements, set extensions, digital doubles, CG trains and buildings, monitors, crowds, and muzzle flashes.
Method's crew was led by Visual Effects Supervisor Matt Dessero. Overall, Method completed 381 shots, creating a variety of complex environments, set extensions, digital doubles, and CG characters throughout the Summit Entertainment movie. Jim Berney was the production's visual effects supervisor, with Greg Baxter producing.
Nothing was done over the top. The director and I wanted everything to look as though it was photographed, says Berney.
According to Berney, a lot of the VFX entailed the construction of various locations around Chicago. We wanted everything to look as though it was captured in camera, but many of the situations, like running along a train on the El, were impossible. So, we always started with some piece, no matter how small, of photography, he explains.
Method in Chicago
Method sets the stage with enhanced helicopter plates to create a futuristic Chicago, generated with matte paintings and CG buildings. The scene sets the stage for the film and is followed by a number of other scenes showcasing the new cityscape. In fact, Method handled all the city enhancements, in addition to the mirror and train sequences, the wall, and Tris's fear simulations that occur in the film. The work was done during a eight-month period, with a team of nearly 100 people.
The majority of effects Method completed for Divergent can be classified as invisible visual effects work. The effects range from environment work to full-CG character work. The most obvious would be dystopian look of Chicago, 100 years in the future, which is based on Production Designer Andy Nicholsons concepts.
On the character side, digital doubles were created and used throughout the film to add scale to the cityscapes. Massive was used for digital crowd extensions to expand the scope of the Dauntless Army attacking the Abnegation neighborhood. We shot motion capture and built libraries of animation cycles to assist the animators, says Dessero.
As for animals, Method created CG ravens and a CG dog for the film. The bird attack sequence contains upward of 50 digital ravens attacking Tris in any given shot in this sequence. The environment work, meanwhile, ranged from simple matte painting extensions to full-CG environments.
Other assets Method built for this film include the El Train track and the futuristic train that runs atop them, plus CG turbines and cables, all seen throughout the movie. One of Method's largest environment builds was the Dauntless compound exterior, including the glass atrium. Futuristic muzzle flashes and digital knives were built and can be seen in during the training and end-battle sequences.
Method also created simulated environments that Tris, our heroine, imagined during her testing. The simulated environments varied from the mirror room with infinite reflections, to wide exterior shots out by the fence where Tris is being attacked by ravens. To accomplish the effects, Method used a range of software, including Autodesk Maya with V-ray, Side Effects' Houdini and Mantra, The Foundry's Nuke and Mari, Adobe's Photoshop, Science-D-Vision's 3D Equalizer, and Vicon's Boujou.
Mirror, Mirror
Indeed, Divergent required seamless effects work, particularly the scene in the Mirror Room. In fact, Berney counts the Mirror Room's 36 shots among the movie's more complex scenes, requiring the VFX artists to construct a mirror room environment using photography for Tris (the newly named Beatrice), and CG for the walls, floor, and ceiling.
Dessero sets up the action during one of Tris's sim tests: As Tris wakes up in this imaginary world, she steps toward a mirror wall, but something is not quite right. She looks to the left and a wall that was solid is now floor-to-ceiling mirrored surface; reflections travel deep into the scene. She turns back one more time only to reveal that the entire room is now floor-to-ceiling mirror; her reflections traveling to infinity, thus setting the tone for this scene.
Previs was completed by The Third Floor under the direction of Berney, with final techvis by Method Studios. The Mirror Room photorealism was realized by capturing as many close reflections as possible on film. To accomplish this, six Alexa cameras were used and mathematically placed for each shot on a greenscreen stage. Back at the shop, the resulting captured imagery was then placed on cards in The Foundry's Nuke at their respective positions in 3D space. For distant reflections, full-CG rotomation of Tris was required.
We decided to render the distant Tris reflections as CG. This allowed us to art-direct the lighting, adding distant pools of light and giving more complexity to the lighting design, says Dessero.
On set, there were some serious technical challenges to overcome, and Alwin Kuchler (DOP), Len Levine (gaffer), and Jim Shelton (key grip) were ins
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The world is a very different place in the dystopian post-apocalyptic Chicago that's depicted in the science-fiction action film Divergent, based on the book by Veronica Roth. 
