Deluxe Entertainment’s Aussie VFX studios Iloura and Method sink their claws into The Wolverine
Produced by 20th Century Fox and directed by James Mangold, The Wolverine recently celebrated its global premiere. Filmed in Australia, The Wolverine also undertook a significant portion of its VFX down 
under.
Fox Studios called in the world-class VFX talent housed at Iloura (Melbourne) and Method Studios (Sydney) to help demonstrate Logan’s (Wolverine’s) incredible strength and his ability to heal, as well as promoting the intricate architecture of Japan.
Both VFX studios had the pleasure of working with VFX Supervisor and Academy Award nominee Philip Brennan; Iloura was also able to work again with VFX Producer Jamie Stevenson.
The Iloura crew, led by VFX Supervisor, Glenn Melenhorst, completed just over 100 shots for the film, including a sequence that featured a futuristic medical ‘Pin Bed’ made up of steel pins that follow the contours and movements of the patient’s body.
Says Melenhorst: “The bed was a 3D animated object that posed several complex challenges due to the meticulous integration detail required with the actor across more than 60 shots.”
Iloura also helped bring life to a tiny robotic medical ‘beetle’. The crew modelled, rigged and animated the 3D beetle based on production artwork and gave it an aggressive personality. Despite its diminutive size it threatens Logan in one highly memorable sequence.
One particular challenge for the team involved very complex body tracking, rotomotion and FX in order to see Logan healing from severe total upper body and facial burns. The shots included full hair regrowth as Logan’s healing powers are shown to their full effect before the audience’s eyes.
Method Studios completed 122 shots for the feature, divided into five sequences which included shots of metal claws, Tokyo apartments, and Alaskan and Japanese streetscapes. The scope of work relied heavily on 3D compositing and matte painting, using projected backgrounds, point-clouds and image-based modelling to bring the immersive environments to life.
The Sydney studio created a digital version of Shinjuku station platform, made views of Tokyo from Noburo’s penthouse, Tokyo downtown, as well as a large number of shots of the Yukon; most of which were set extensions or environment shots.
Says James Rogers, Method VFX supervisor: “The Tokyo sequences were particularly challenging as the original shoot elements and references source were shot on public streets. While they looked busy, it was a challenge to make the action work for the purposes of the film, especially in terms of continuity. We used a lot of techniques to patch the backgrounds together, in addition to perspective tricks to make them work for the studio-shot foregrounds”.
Both the Iloura and Method teams relished the opportunity to work on the project.
Says Simon Rosenthal, Deluxe head of VFX, Asia Pacific: “The project provided a great opportunity for us to showcase the diverse skills within the Australian businesses and further reinforced our position as high-end facilities.”
The Wolverine stars co-producer Hugh Jackman (Movie 43, Les Miserables) and Famke Janssen (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Taken 2).
Set in Japan, the story centres on Wolverine’s fight for survival as he battles his own immortality. Although technically shadowing the third-released film X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), The Wolverine very much stands alone in its own right.
Australia continues to be a premier production location; increasingly US studios are coming out to shoot Hollywood blockbusters and make use of the first-class post-production services.
Iloura and Method Studios are divisions of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc, the studios’ recent collective credits include; The Wolverine, I, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby. Iloura’s additional credits include; After Earth, Emperor and Ted, and Method Studios Australia’s credits include; The Railway Man, Argo and The Sapphires.
Images: The Wolverine – © 2013 20th Century Fox
8 Comments
I understand Deluxe has laid off the Method VFX staff, How will they do Fury Road? Or any other film for that matter!
I wonder why they laid off their Sydney staff?
@observer: They just outsource everything to India and china for 50c and charge the client $8,000,000.
Much better than employing staff.
Dear Readers,
My name is Alaric McAusland and I’m Managing Director of Deluxe Australia.
As a rule I tend not participate in these type of on-line forums but as a number of my VFX team were particularly upset to read the ill-informed comments on this page it would be remiss of me not to break this rule in an effort to correct them on their behalf, so here I am.
Firstly addressing the comment on outsourcing made by ‘observer’; this assertion is simply not true. We do not outsource VFX to India and China at Deluxe Australia – in fact every single frame of the VFX projects mentioned was serviced on-shore by our local Iloura and Method Studios artists. I would add that we are one of the largest employers of creative and technical personnel in Australia with some 150 very talented individuals working in our Sydney and Melbourne VFX businesses alone.
Addressing the comment on our capacity to service Fury Road and other films made by ‘indie’; given the sporadic and inconsistent VFX volumes locally and globally, similar to every other company operating in the VFX space we expand and contract our workforce in-line with the projects we have in-hand. Regrettably the local feature VFX market is experiencing a down turn currently and after much careful consideration sadly a small number of our team were retrenched because of this. These recent personnel changes have not impacted our ability to service Fury Road or anyother film for that matter by one iota. We have dedicated project teams in-place for all our confirmed features and plenty of capacity to take on additional work, in fact we’re interviewing candidates right now for a number of new roles.
I would address each of the respondents personally but I note they have chosen to contribute anonymously for their own reasons. If either Mr (or Mrs or Ms?) Indie or Observer would like to enter into a well-informed discourse about the state of the local VFX industry or indeed Deluxe Australia’s outsourcing or employment policies I would be delighted to engage. I am very approachable and can always be reached during business hours on my direct line 02 9429 7322 or through our Deluxe Sydney switchboard which is 02 9429 6500.
Kind regards,
Alaric.
That’s a wonderful response Alaric and congratulations for getting on the front foot and addressing the apparent untruths blurted by people hiding behind anonymity.
This website is filled with anonymous people venting their own shortcomings and laying blame at anybody and everyone with no apparent facts to back up statements.
It will be interesting to see if Observer or Indie have the courage to take you up on your offer of having a discussion face to face or on the phone.
But in reality I think we all already know that won’t happen!
@ Alaric, I must say my comment was meant to be a tongue in cheek response to Observer, (whose comment I found absurd, being ‘How will the do fury road?’) hence I addressed the comment to him.
I must give you and the team my most courteous of apologies for any offense given, no matter how unmindful.
Sydneysider
Why are you anonymous? You are having a laugh right?
and where are methodstudios sydney now,
they are not, gone
“Alaric McAusland and I’m Managing Director of Deluxe Australia.”
he was replaced by someone else who came to dismantle the company