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April 12, 2016: "Batman v Superman" Interview with VFX Supervisor Bryan Hirota

ArtofVFX.com has published a great interview with Visual Effects Supervisor Bryan Hirota from Scanline VFX, who worked on many sequences in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice". Here's part of the interview...

What are the sequences made by Scanline VFX?

Our largest sequences were the Batmobile chase, the kidnapping of Lois and confrontation with Superman and Lex on top of LexCorp tower and the Martha Rescue sequence which includes the warehouse fight.

We were responsible for building the new post MAN OF STEEL Metropolis, Wayne Manor and Washington DC. Also Scanline created the vignettes showing Superman acting on a worldwide basis while the questions raised by his existence are debating on television.

Additionally we had a bit of fun introducing Aquaman's in his cameo.

How did you approach and created the various sequences of Superman saving people?

Zack had a very specific idea for these four long and distinct shots of Superman saving people on a global scale to be woven into a montage of broadcasters debating what it means for the world to have someone like this a part of it. The genesis of each of the vignettes started (as it does with all shots on his films) with a series of storyboards drawn by Zack himself. To refine the ideas art director Jelmer Boskma created a series of illustrations to help define mood, lighting and some of the more specific details of the individual scenes. Being able to go back and forth with Zack in this manner allowed us to narrow our focus as we moved into actual shot production.

The Colorado vignette that was photographed in the backlot of the studio in Michigan with rooftop sets on asphalt. In post we used our flowline software to simulate the river and debris going around the houses. We extended the environment with added extra houses, trees and distant mountain ranges. We ended up replacing the sky to give it a bit more visual interest and as we turn around we added in Superman.