Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 29, 2016. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The scene with the CG grizzly received a VES Award for “Outstanding Animated Performance” in a photorealistic feature and for “Outstanding Compositing” in a photorealistic feature. The work did not win an Oscar in the VFX category; that went to Double Negative and Milk VFX for their work on “Ex Machina”.
Reference Basis
A mother bear who really only wants what is best for her cubs and attacks the trapper is responsible for Hugh Glass’s physical misery in “The Revenant”. As in most VFX cases, good reference material was crucial to a credible execution.
The ILM team used, in particular, an online clip from a German zoo (not for the faint-hearted, “viewers discretion is advised”), in which a drunken man climbs into a bear’s enclosure and is attacked by the wild animal, as a source of inspiration. Since this recording was also uncut, it offered an optimal visual reference for the film attack in a single shot. “It was the basis for our choreography,” said VFX Production Supervisor Richard McBride. Based on this movement sequence, Leo was pulled and dragged precisely for the shoot while it rained and was bitterly cold on the outdoor set.
Even though this bear was computer-generated, the team was constantly exposed to the danger of real bear attacks during the shoot, so the crew was accompanied by a bear-safety expert.
Grooming and Simulation Separately
For the realism of the bear’s fur and its animation, ILM was helped by its current work on the feature film “Warcraft“. “One of the project’s unique features was that the usual separation between grooming and simulation was not made,” said McBride. “The flesh was simulated over the bones, then a skin layer with another round of simulation, and the fur over all of that was simulated again as well. That is how we achieved the complexity of the movement. But we had to dial the whole thing back somewhat because the sheen of the fur was too strong in some shots and therefore looked too computer-generated.”
The bear was created by ILM with its Zeno pipeline, Maya was used for animation and rendering was done with Renderman.
Lots of Invisible VFX
Alongside ILM, MPC, Soho VFX, Image Engine and Cinesite supplied effects for the elaborate project “The Revenant”. In the upcoming DP issue 03 : 16, published on April 18, we speak with VFX supervisor Nicolas Chevallier about the work on the project, which primarily consisted of shot stitches, snow extensions and many other invisible landscape VFX.
