Hybride, a division of Ubisoft, is very proud to have produced VFX for Quebec Director Philippe Falardeau’s first Hollywood film, The Good Lie. The movie, which is also the Director’s first feature film in English, premiered at the Festival du nouveau cinéma of Montréal on October 8th, 2014.
Produced by Alcon Entertainment, The Good Lie stars Reese Whiterspoon, Corey Stoll, Sarah Baker, Thad Luckinbill, Sharon Conley and Mike Pniewski. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film was released in Quebec theatres October 17, 2014.
About Hybride
Hybride Technologies, a division of Ubisoft, specializes in producing outstanding digital visual effects for visionary film and television creators worldwide.
Founded in 1991, the company comprises a team of inquisitive, creative and dedicated professionals committed to producing spectacular results. Hybride offers a complete range of innovative and technical services such as 3D animation, digital editing and compositing. Among some of its most memorable contributions to the film industry are several international mega-productions including Sin City, 300, Avatar, White House Down, Pacific Rim and, more recently, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles, The Good Lie and Unbroken.
All brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. ©Copyright 2014 Hybride Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
THE FILM
Inspired by real events, The Good Lie centers on a young refugee of the Sudanese Civil War who wins a lottery for relocation to the U.S. with three other lost boys. Encountering the modern world for the first time, they develop an unlikely friendship with a brash American woman assigned to help them, but the young man struggles to adjust to his new life and his feelings of guilt about the brother he left behind.
THE CHALLENGE
Completely undetectable, the visual effects produced by Hybride blend perfectly with the film’s narrative and help visually support the storyline. The studio tackled a considerable amount of digital compositing work, replacing backgrounds for several scenes and retouching landscapes—creating the impression that the Savannah countrysides are authentic. Since the story takes place between 1983 and 2005, Hybride artists retouched several images in order to reflect the movie’s time period.
For the exodus scenes in Sudan, the studio integrated CG characters, created refraction and mirage effect, and also recreated a refugee camp in 3D. Hybride also modeled and animated rockets, machine guns, and simulated ballistic, bullets impacts and explosion effects.
The Good Lie”
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Black Label Media, Blue Sky Films, Good Lie Productions, Imagine Entertainment, Reliance
DISTRIBUTION: Entertainment One Benelux (Netherlands), Ascot Elite Entertainment Group
PRODUCERS:
Brian Grazer
Genevieve Hofmeyr
Ron Howard
Karen Kehela Sherwood
DIRECTOR: Philippe Falardeau
WRITERS: Maragret Nagle
CAST:
REESE WHITERSPOON – Carrie Davis
COREY STOLL – Jack
SARAH BAKER – Pamela Lowi
THAD LUCKINBILL – Matt
SHARON CONLEY – Erin Sullivan
MIKE PNIEWSKI – Nick Costas
The Good Lie
VFX Workload: 70 shots
Cumulative Duration: 6 minutes
Project Timeframe: 4 months (July to October 2013)
Human Resources: 62 employees
34 – 3D department & Compositing
28 – Administration & technical support
Technical Resource : 2D – Flame, Smoke, Nuke 3D – XSI (ICE), Photoshop, Unfodl3D, 3DE, Fusion, Mental Ray
VFX Description
2D VFX & 3D VFX: tracking /modeling / animation / compositing / enhancement & image correction / SFX / matte painting
2D – COMPOSITING /INTEGRATION & IMAGE CORRECTIONS
- Image compositing (CG elements or live elements on live environments):
CG elements: Refugee camp tents, rocket, machine gun, bullet impacts in sand, explosion, smoke, dust, breath.
Live elements: Floating bodies in a river, line of children walking in the horizon, window contents and reflections, computer screens, muzzle flashes.
- Image clean up
Removal: Cheetah leashes, truck, fence, telephone poles, cows, marks on ground, expiration dates on cardboard boxes, papers in Carrie’s hand, stunt pad, villagers, water flask.
- Image correction
- Image enhancement
Helicopter shadows on the ground, writings on a wooden cross
3D – MODELING/ANIMATION/DIGITAL MATTE PAINTING/SFX
- Object creation & animation
Rocket, machine gun.
- SFX & animation
Smoke, breath, explosion, bullet impacts in sand, dust.
- Matte painting:
Refugee camp
