Following the release earlier this summer of The Flash, The Knowledge spoke to the supervisor behind the VFX, that proved a major talking point when the film came out. 
 

Andy Muschietti directed the feature from a screenplay by Christina Hodson; it is the 13th installment of the DC Extended Universe.

Ezra Miller stars as Barry Allen/The Flash, with a cast including Michael Keaton, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Sasha Calle, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons and Antje Traue. 
 

The Flash filmed for six months in the UK in 2021 with the production base at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden. 
 

We talked to Robin Ashworth-Cape from visual effects studio One Of Us (OOU) about the high points and challenges of working on the project and about the reasons behind the choice of tech. 
 

How long was the VFX work from start to finish?

The project spanned approximately five months, starting from August of the previous year. The initial phase involved defining the brief based on the storyboard animatic provided by the client. 

From there, we progressed through animation blocking passes, refined animation, asset creation, and various simulation processes. The length of the shot, its complexity, and the need for attention to detail contributed to the overall timeline.

Can you describe some of the key challenges and highlights?

The biggest challenge was managing the length of the shot and maintaining consistency and character of the Therapy Dog throughout the whole frame-range. 

Since it was a long, unbroken take, any creative changes, or issues with renders or simulations might require significant adjustments up- and down-stream. Sometimes this could mean starting from scratch or a full re-simulation. This, coupled with heavy render times, added to the complexity of the project.

One of the highlights  of the project was how all of the elements of the shot came together, the feel of “organised chaos“ and the way the dog’s character comes through works exceptionally well. 

The animation team did an amazing job, particularly with the Therapy Dog. The final result is entertaining, visually stunning, and achieved the desired comedic effect. The project was a great platform to show off the talent and skills at One of Us. 

Did you work closely with particular teams or HoDs?

I worked with a team of 30 other artists, supervisors, and production staff on the project. As well as numerous support staff who helped get the project over the line. 

The supervision team consisted of me; Animation Supervisor, and One of Us’ Head of Animation, Catherine Mullan; CG Supervisor Sam Churchill; and Creature Supervisor Chris Gill. 
 

Can you tell us about some of the tech that was used, and the reasons for the choices?

We used many software packages throughout the project. Maya, Houdini, Arnold, Mari, ZBrush, and Nuke to name a few.

Maya served as the primary tool for animation, and has been the industry standard for many years. OOU has built on this and extended its capabilities and fully integrated it with the pipeline

Houdini has become the industry standard for anything FX-related, but has also proven itself incredibly useful for many other tasks in visual effects, including groom simulations and creature dynamics. And used with the Arnold plug-in, it has become the basis for our lighting pipeline and has proven itself many times over. 

Nuke is central to almost all of our 2D output as well as much of our pipeline when dealing with images, and it goes without saying that this was also used for compositing on the project.

Alongside these, there are many modelling, texturing, lookdev, and additional animation tools that are integral to our workflow: Mari, Substance, ZBrush, and a unique piece of shotsculpting software called Mush3D. One of Us also has a plethora of tools and utilities developed by our inhouse team that support, extend, and integrate all of the above into our pipeline.

Which aspects of the work are particularly memorable for you?

Working with director Andy Muschietti and the team at Warner Bros. was a fantastic experience. The project felt very collaborative and allowed us a lot of creative freedom to contribute ideas, and Andy and his team were very receptive. It was a fun and rewarding process overall and seeing our ideas incorporated into the final product was incredibly satisfying.

With many thanks to Robin Ashworth-Cape, VFX Supervisor at One of Us, for his help in compiling this article.
 

Images credit: Warner Bros. Pictures TM & © DC Comics.