Pre-Viz Panic

Pixel Liberation Front's pre-viz on thie PanicRoom shot focuses on placement of cameras and griptrucks.

Officials at Pixel Liberation Front (PLF), Venice, Calif.,creditdirector David Fincher with pushing them to expand the traditionalconcept of CG pre-visualization during their work on Fincher's newmovie, Panic Room.

Ron Frankel, creative director at PLF, says Fincher wanted them tocreate a 3D blueprint for virtually the entire movie as a productiontool to assist every department involved in making the film.

“David initially wanted to do the entire movie in terms ofgearing the CG pre-viz to creatively assist every department, and notjust visual effects,” says Frankel. “We ended up creatingover two hours of animation [built in Softimage|XSI], covering most ofthe film. The only reason we didn't do the whole film was that thelevel of detail necessary for every shot kept inching higher, and thatwas requiring us to do more character animation than we initiallyenvisioned. Head movements, sight lines, started to become moreimportant, so simple, raw, round CG heads weren't always enough. Whenwe realized there might not be time to do every scene, David asked usto focus on the remaining key shots from the end of the script,figuring that simple compositions he could figure out for himself onset.”

Frankel emphasizes that the pre-viz attempt eventually evolved into“an information clearinghouse” for the entire production.“One unexpected use, for instance, was helping the productiondesign people with set dressings,” he explains. “To plotthe movement of characters, we had to work with David to figure outplacement of props and other items as characters ran around thistownhouse where the action takes place. We ended up essentially givingthem a map of where they needed set dressings, with all sorts of 3Dviews for that department to work with.”

The “clearinghouse” approach also led to the creation ofa thick, detailed production book that went to most crew members,including information on camera placement, character movement, setpieces, lighting, equipment requirements, and even camera housings andlenses.