I was at the movies recently to watch the high-octane thriller WANTED. You have to take your hats off to Russian director Timur Bekmambetov and his team for all the special effects … all made possible with computers!
Wired explained how they pulled off the adrenaline-pumping stunts:
“Riding the rails in Chicago, Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy) and Fox (Angelina Jolie) sprint over the roofs of the city’s elevated trains. Wesley avoids decapitation by leaping above an oncoming tunnel and landing on the other side when the train emerges.
To achieve the effect, several full-size “L” trains were constructed as stationary units on a green-screen stage. In a studio briefing, Bekmambetov explained: “The train was too big to move, so we moved the bridge instead!” Special effects supervisor Dominic Tuohy elaborated: “We moved the bridge with computerized winches. We knew exactly where it was and at what speed it was traveling. That gave confidence to the artists doing their own stunts — 3 meters up in the air — by ensuring that each take would be the same, repetitive move.”
High-Speed Train Crash
The hellacious train wreck, staged in a fantastically beautiful setting, looks unbelievably real. To pull off the stunning scene, the Pendolino car was constructed on a gimbal equipped with hydraulics that rotated 360 degrees and tilted at a 32-degree angle.
“When the train derails itself, our train carriage tilts and rolls to simulate a crash,” Tuohy explains.
“Rolling around inside were all of the stunt crew as well as our actors, who did every scene themselves. It’s far more interesting when you actually have real people trapped behind chairs or getting flung around. Our actors said they felt like they were in a tumble dryer.”
Digital Stunt Doubles
For especially high-risk sequences, Bekmambetov augmented his flesh-and-blood performers with scanned digital stunt doubles. The scanner rotates around the actors for about 15 seconds to create 3-D models. Downloaded to a computer as a CG mold, the virtual models were then “rigged” with skeletal and muscular systems, layered with textured exteriors, fitted with scanned wardrobes and programmed to move like the actors. ”
Crazy Car Chases
To execute Wanted’s first big car chase scene, when Fox hurtles across town in a red Viper shortly after snatching up the hapless Wesley, Jolie was rigged in a harness strapped to the side of the sports car going 30 mph. Stunt coordinator Mic Rodgers says: “The camera platform was on the back of the Viper and we chased it with the camera bike. Angelina as Fox did a head-on, near miss with an oncoming car, which throws her off to the driver’s side of the Viper.”
For those who have not seen WANTED, I strongly recommend you to go and watch it now. Watch how a Viper “pick up” its passenger !
James McAvoy has been signed on to do the sequel. Wow!
Hold your seat and watch the trailer here:
