Louis Morin, Source Code, and Modus FX Building a riller with Invisible VFX

April 1st, 2011

Visual effects supervisor Louis Morin's latest project, SourceCode, comes to the big screen across North America today. Modus FX, who collaborated recentlywith Morin on Barney's Version, was one of six facilities that contributed stunning, seamless CGfor the new thriller by emerging British director Duncan Jones. The film is just the latest in the newgeneration of films blending brilliant, yet imperceptible, visual effects with live action.

Some people still think of visual effects as something artificial, said Louis Morin, but digital toolsare no different from any of the other illusions that we use to tell great stories. I think it is becausesome of the early CG work was not as sophisticated, that visual effects got a bad reputation, butthat time has passed. Visual effects have become a powerful tool for the filmmaker at the sametime as they have become mostly invisible for the audience.VFX supervision is actually Morin's second turn in the international limelight. In his teens he wasa competitive freestyle skier. When I was 14, I saw the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, herecalled. I decided then that my first goal was to become a world champion skier, and after that I wanted to become a filmmaker.

He came very close to realizing his skiing dream, reaching the World Cup, but ultimately kneesurgery forced him to retire from competition. Meanwhile, in 1981, the young Morin had startedfilm school, and soon after that moved to Europe where he spent several years making ski films.I learned as a director and camera man about shooting, lighting, lenses and so much more, saidMorin. That experience was so important for the work I do now. Filming forces you to thinkconstantly about how to grab reality with a camera, how reality is perceived by the audience, andhow to capture it and make it look great on the screen.

Back in Montreal, Morin moved on to producing commercials and became involved in visualeffects. Commercials are a great place to learn the craft, he related. You have good budgetsand the best tools. His breakthrough came in 2004, as VFX supervisor on Eternal Sunshine ofthe Spotless Mind, which was nominated for a VES award. Since then, Morin has worked on arange of high-profile projects, including Brokeback Mountain, The Aviator, Mr. Nobody, TheAmerican, Barney's Version and Source Code.

Bringing Source Code to Life

The new film, Source Code, is a sci-fi thriller. While the storyline involves obvious fantasy, thevisuals for the film are almost entirely based on live-action reality. Visual effects shots for the filminvolved CG trains, snarled traffic, complex set extensions and incredible explosion scenes.To create photo-real effects, I try to make as many live elements as possible available to the artists, explained Morin. For example, on Source Code we went to a quarry and set off all kindsof explosions, shot at different speeds and angles, to use as plate elements. Later, we bring thelive elements into compositing, and only then do we go to CG for enhancements, or to fill in anygaps.

In total, Source Code has over 850 visual effects shots, the majority of which are set inside acommuter train. These included hundreds of greenscreen windows showing passing landscapesor train station backdrops. Here the use of CG in post allowed the director and the actors to workwithout outside distractions during production. I wanted to give the director total freedom insidethe train, so that he could focus on storytelling, said Morin. Set extensions on the train station in Source Code provide another example of the critical linkbetween digital and traditional filmmaking tools. Production designer Barry Chusid based the setdesign on an actual train station in Chicago. The postproduction component called for extendingthe train station building and the surrounding parking lot. At some point in post we decided tochange the parking lot, recalled Morin. As a result, in the final sequences the whole side of thetrain station is digital. That meant more than 65 new shots, but it was a small price to pay. This ishow CG gives the director more room to maneuver, not only in planning the shots, but also in thefinal stages of fine-tuning the story.

Director Duncan Jones, whose first feature, Moon, won him kudos from audiences and criticsalike, worked closely with the team, designing transition shots and carefully storyboarding thefilm's climactic scene. Duncan's background is also in commercials, so he has an excellentunderstanding of the tools, explained Morin. He has a very respectful and collaborative way ofleading that was critical on a complex project like this.

Editorial was done in tandem with the visual effects. As they were cutting the film in L.A., I had aVFX editor with me with a mirror image of the cut, explained Morin. As the editors worked, wegot the new EDLs, so if they changed the cut, we knew right away where we'd have to changethe effects. This way we were always ahead of the curve.

Six facilities, including Modus FX, participated in the project. Rodeo FX crafted most of thegreenscreen windows for the train interiors. MPC Vancouver handled the big explosions andcrash sequences. Fly Studio provided key transitions, Mr. X did additional window backgrounds,and Oblique FX created bomb interiors, a virtual stuntman, and slow-motion explosion sequence.

Modus FX on Source Code

Modus started early on in the project doing pre-visualization, including the film's climacticexplosion scene. Once those sequences were roughed out, the shots were handed over to MPCVancouver for completion. Modus also created the CG commuter and cargo train models for theteam at MPC, as well as producing shots depicting enormous traffic jams.

There is widespread panic at one point in the

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