The Great Wall Visual Effects Breakdowns

VFX Online June 2, 2019, 10:28 am 2.1k Views

The Great Wall Visual Effects Breakdowns

The Great Wall (Chinese: 长城) is a 2016 action monster film directed by Zhang Yimou, with a screenplay by Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro and Tony Gilroy, from a story by Max Brooks, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. The US-China co-production stars Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, and Andy Lau. It is Zhang’s first English-language film.

Principal photography for the film began on March 30, 2015, in Qingdao, China, and it premiered in Beijing on December 6, 2016. It was released by China Film Group in China on December 16, 2016, and in the United States on February 17, 2017 by Universal Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who said it “sacrifices great story for great action.”[8] Also, despite grossing over $330 million worldwide, it was a box-office bomb, with estimated losses for the studios running as high as $75 million.

The Great Wall VFX by Weta Workshop

Weta Workshop, Check out this VFX breakdown from The Great Wall.

We’re proud to have provided concept design and handheld weapon manufacturing services for the Chinese epic, The Great Wall, directed by the fantastic Zhang Yimou and co-produced by Legendary, China Film Group, Le Vision Pictures and Atlas Entertainment.

The Great Wall VFX by Universal Production Partners

Universal Production Partners, Check out this VFX breakdown from The Great Wall.

The Great Wall VFX by Double Negative

Double Negative, European mercenaries searching for black powder become embroiled in the defense of the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures.

As the exclusive 3D conversion partner on the movie the stereo team decided that one of the key notes was to make it as immersive as possible, so the team augmented certain key sequences to pull the audience even further into the film. As this was a monster movie, the team had action coming out of the screen at the audience whenever possible, and played the show deep.

Extra VFX elements were used to achieve this effect; for example, to enhance a ferocious battle in the fog, extra VFX elements were layered into the shot to create the effect of the fog rolling out of the screen and into theater space, addressing the director’s request that the audience share the sensory deprivation that the characters were experiencing.

Stereo Supervisor: Ben Breckenridge
Stereo Producer: Cassius Vaz

The Great Wall VFX by Animal Logic

Zhang Yimou is known for his visual flair and rich use of colour, which meant the VFX team at Animal Logic had to pull out all the stops to bring his vision to life. The team delivered 50 shots for the film, developing a range of environments and elements for key story points.

Directed by renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou, The Great Wall is set during the Song Dynasty, 960 through 1279 AD, and follows William Garin (Matt Damon), Lin Mae (Jing Tian) and Wang (Andy Lau) as they try to discover the real reason behind building the 13,000 mile long ancient fortification (SPOILER ALERT – it’s to keep out flesh-eating monsters known as Tao Tei!)

The artists created set extensions for the top of the Great Wall, as William takes off in pursuit of Lin Mae, set amidst burning balloon debris and surrounding chaos. They also worked on traveling balloon shots following the “path of destruction” left behind by the Tao Tei. They created views from William’s cell room, shots of William rescuing Lin Mae from attacking Tao Tei in the Imperial City and cliff and tunnel extensions at the base of the wall. The photo below shows the moment when the generals discover that the Tao Tei has tunneled under the wall.

The tunnel opening was shot on stage as a partial set build against green screen. For the opening shot Animal Logic extended the wall up from the base of the cliff and the tunnel entrance below. CG soldiers abseiling down the wall were also added to the shot.

One of the most iconic scenes in the film is when William and Wang are atop a wall preparing to launch their hot air balloon. To create this sequence, Animal Logic used ILM assets of the wall and its surroundings. Houdini was then used to create the balloon silk extensions, which needed to blend into the practical silks. Fire, smoke simulations and extra soldiers were also added to the wall.

The Animal Logic team built a CG environment for shots of the “Path of Destruction” left behind by the Tao Tei. Animal Logic’s proprietary instancing tool ‘Spawn” was used to populate the terrain with trees and debris. The sequence also features a CG balloon with digital doubles, CG fire, burning debris and smoke.

Animal Logic also worked on the Imperial City sequence which sees William aboard the hot air balloon rescuing Lin Mae from the Tao Tei. “They had a practical base for the balloon gondola, with Lin Mae on wires against green screen” explained Andy Brown, VFX Supervisor. He further adds, “we had to add in the entire view below, which was the courtyard, an asset that we got from ILM, to match the practical set. We dressed the set with burning debris and animated the attacking Tao Tei below.” The sequence ends when Lin Mae throws a grenade down the throat of a creature and it explodes. In the wide shot Lin Mae is replaced with a digital double to improve performance. All of Animal Logic’s shots were rendered using our in house renderer Glimpse.

Animal Logic VFX Supervisor: Andy Brown
Animal Logic VFX Producer: Jason Bath, Edwina Hayes

Director: Yimou Zhang
Release Date: 17 February 2017 (USA)

The Production VFX Supervisor: Phil Brennan

The VFX are made by:
Industrial Light & Magic (VFX Supervisors: Samir Hoon and Jeff Capogreco)
Hybride (VFX Supervisor: Joseph Kasparian)
Weta Workshop
UPP (VFX Supervisor: Viktor Muller)
Double Negative
Animal Logic
Base FX
Lola VFX