OUT OF THE SHADOW
Find out how the incredible ink-brush painting look of Chinese production Shadow was achieved, with insight from the VFX crew
Like his idol Akira Kurosawa (Seven
Samurai), Zhang Yimou (To Live) moves between directing intimate dramas and action-laden historical epics;
Shadow represents the latter and is set in China’s Three Kingdoms era (220-280 AD), where Commander Yu makes use of a doppelgänger named Jing to manipulate the King of Pei and General Yang Cang of Jingzhou. “Yes, you are right, this film feels like a Shakespearean tragedy,” states Yimou at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival. “The screenplay was presented to me and at the time it was simply a story about the warring Three Kingdoms. I’ve always wanted to make a film about a body double so I incorporated my idea into the story. It took over three years for me to finalise the screenplay.”
Chinese ink Brush Painting
Another creative ambition was fulfilled with the colour palette of the production. “In traditional Chinese paintings there are two different styles: rich vibrant colours and ink brush,” explains Yimou. “Even when I was making a lot of films with rich colours, in my heart I was wondering, ‘When can I make a film in this unique ink brush style?’ Finally, I have fulfilled my wish, because this story is about human nature, which is complex. It’s not simply white or black. There are different shades in-between. We decided to achieve this effect not through a computer but from real objects such as costumes, props, sets and make-up.
“It took us more than a year to simply make preparations for
Shadow. For example, you will see a large standing shield with Chinese calligraphy on it. It’s made of silk and was custom-made in China, as were the costumes. People told me when visiting the sets that it felt as if they had entered a real Chinese ink brush painting!”
Not everything could be achieved practically. Supervising the VFX was Samson Wong
(Power Rangers) who oversaw contributions by Pixomondo, Digital Domain, Time Axis, Visual Impact Digital Productions, Jiaxing Pictures, Trust Studio and in-house compositing supervisor Zixiao Yin on 900 shots.
“The infinite layering of mountains was the first step to producing gradient layers in the composition,” he says. “We did a simple 3D render to get the depth pass, then a volumetric pass, and a matte painting touchup when layering the mountain ranges. We aged the sets in post with dripping water and moss, adding CG rocks to help define the textures in the black and white world. Since colours could not be used to separate objects, we used specular, reflection and volumetric mist passes to bring the CG to life. Combining all of these together created the ink brush look.”
no storyboards or Previs
“There were no storyboards, previs or techvis as Zhang Yimou and
“People told me When visiting the Sets that it felt AS if they had entered A real chinese ink brush Painting!” Zhang Yimou, director, Shadow
“yimou Wanted to create A chinese Shakespearean drama” Samson wong, production VFX supervisor
DP Zhao Xiao Ding have been working together for many years, so they know each other well,” states Wong. “But there was postvis for full-cg shots and animation blocking purposes. Shadow heavily relies on light and shadow with minimal camera movement, as Zhang Yimou wanted to feel as if you were watching the actors perform onstage.”
Deng Chao portrays both Commander Yu and his doppelgänger Jing. “There are two long static shots where they interact with each other,” remarks Wong. “I used Ricoh Theta to record the camera and lighting positions for when we shot Deng Chao and a stand-in performer for plate A. Editor Zhou Xiaolin passed the plate that the director had picked to our visual effects editor Wei Li, who analysed the timing of the interaction between the two characters. It took a month for Deng Chao to lose weight so he could come back to the same location to shoot plate B. We loaded the data in our ipad and iphone with the camera and lighting department, to get an accurate position of everything so that the lighting in both plates matched. During the second shoot, we played a beep sound to cue Deng Chao and his stand-in. In post, we used 2D and 3D techniques on the fingers, arms and hands in order to match the two actions perfectly.”
steampunk umbrellas
An unusual lethal apparatus is utilised by the soldiers of Pei. “The idea of using umbrellas as a weapon was a beautiful idea, but challenging to execute,” reveals Yimou. “It took us half a year to build.” In total there were five types of umbrella provided by the props department. “One was made of foam with completed blades that was used when the actors and stunt performers are fighting,” states Wong. “The second version was only the umbrella pole without any blades on it, so the actors could act as if they are opening them and we added CG blades. The third one was a damaged version with broken blending blades. The fourth version had detailed plastic blades which were scanned to build the CG model. The fifth had wheels on the bottom so the stunt performers could sit on them and slide.”
Yimou, who choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, makes great use of his expertise when Pei invades the walled city of Jingzhou. “For the scene of the soldiers sliding
down the slope, we actually made the slope 200 to 300 metres long with a 35-degree angle. We used one rope to pull them down and another one to make them swirl on the umbrella. You can imagine it was like a roller-coaster ride for the actors. We had to cheat a lot of times to achieve the perfect effect.” The set was LIDAR scanned and photographed. “Production manager Henry Wan and I used work Shotgun software and cinesync to communicate with Digital Domain in La/vancouver,” remarks Wong. “Digital Domain VFX supervisor Nikos Kalaitzidis and his team helped to create the background extension, digitally replaced the prop umbrella, and added CG rain and water splashes.”
Shadow has a definite visual sensibility that was rewarded at the prestigious 2018 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards with Best Director, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Makeup and Costume Design.
“Shadow is a very Oriental movie. Zhang Yimou wanted to create a Chinese Shakespearean drama by developing an ink brush look rather than produce hyperrealism.”
Painting a Cinematic reality
Pixomondo Beijing was the lead vendor developing the environmental look and feel in 244 shots, which include the final battle and palace pier. “Pixomondo got involved with the project before the final script was locked,” states Pixomondo producer Herbie Han. “Therefore, the core team had enough time to break down the visual effects workload with production VFX supervisor Samson Wong scene by scene, who provided technical consultation in regards to shooting.” The art department produced mood boards, style frames and layouts. “Throughout the whole process we were always trying to find the balance between classic Chinese water paintings and physical correctness of light, shadow and perspective. The director had a clear image in his mind for each