Digital studio Reel FX (Dallas/Santa Monica) revisits 1963 Air Force One for Playtone and Exclusive Media’s feature film, Parkland. Reel FX completed 140 visual effects shots in addition to the titles, main-on-ends and epilogue for the film directed by Peter Landesman and starring Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton, Zac Effron, James Badge Dale, Jacki Weaver and Marcia Gay Harden. Parkland recounts the chaotic events that occurred at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital on the day U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The film premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival, screened at the ‘13 Toronto International Film Festival and hits theatres nationwide October 4th.
Image Courtesy of: Exclusive Media Entertainment
Prior to the commencement of filming in Dallas and Austin earlier this year, film producers tapped Reel FX’s Pete Herzog and Scott Gordon to oversee the film’s visual effects, which included sequences surrounding a CG Air Force One, set extensions, background replacements and additional work to transform modern-day Austin into 1963 Dallas. From the onset of shooting, weather was a major factor in VFX shot planning, tasking the team to execute extensive background replacements to make dark, rainy shoot days appear more like the historically accurate sunny day of November 22nd, 1963. With heavy winds on the day of the Air Force One shoot, the nimble VFX team made the decision to rework their green screen approach, instead utilizing actual backdrop and sky, and doing extensive cleanup in post-production. A physical aircraft door over a small mock-up of the aircraft interior was all that sat atop the air stair—the rest of Air Force One was created digitally by Reel FX.
Notes Gordon, “During post-production, additional visual effects shots poured in and our ability to easily augment what had been filmed became clear. We removed the rain from the scenes shot in foul weather and provided additional set extensions, enhancements to the trauma room, matte paintings, TV burn-ins, and also cleaned up archival footage, re-timed shots, and additional paint work—everything from replacing burned-out car headlights to removing unwanted reflections.”
Reel FX Credits:
Titles and Visual Effects By: Reel FX
Visual Effects Supervisor: Scott Gordon
Executive Producer/Creative Director: Pete Herzog
Production Managers: Molli Leggitt, Neil Weathersbee
Associate Production Manager: Michael Adrian
Lead Visual Effects Artists: Kevin Althans, Will Nicholson
Digital Artists: Jared Brower, Rachel Bradley, Lyn Caudle, Jason Cunningham, Jeff Goldman, Manuel H. Guizar, Crystal Leal, Phillip Moses, Laychin Lee, Chas Naylor, James Rowell, Mike Roy, Karissa Sloan, Patton Tunstall, Shannon Walsh
3D Modeling / Texture Artist: Mike Fischer
Technical Director: Jon Speer
Visual Effects Editors: Justin Gladd, Matt Pittman
Dailies Editor: Michael Sharp
Production Assistants: John O’Brien, Megan Petasky
ABOUT REEL FX
Reel FX is a fully integrated movie studio that develops and produces both animated films and live action movies. The studio also focuses on short form work including commercials, music videos and short films. The company’s development slate includes Free Birds (formerly Turkeys), The Book of Life (formerly Day of the Dead), and Beasts of Burden.
Reel FX launched its feature length development and production slate in 2010 after almost 20 years of experience as an award-winning one-stop studio for the creation of animated content including films, special attraction/live venue projects, commercials, and interactive projects for companies like DreamWorks Animation (Rise of the Guardians), Fox, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios.
Since starting the development and production of feature films, Reel FX has aligned itself with some of the most recognized and respected names and brands in the entertainment industry for its projects including Cirque Du Soleil: World’s Away (Cirque Du Soleil, James Cameron, Andrew Adamson, Aron Warner), The Book of Life (Guillermo Del Toro, Jorge R. Gutierrez), Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse Comics, Andrew Adamson, Aron Warner) and Free Birds (Jimmy Hayward, Craig Mazin).