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a p r i l • m ay • j u n e 2 0 2 1 c g w 2 9 for a number of digital opticals. In all, the film contains approximately 700 VFX shots, although it is difficult to pin down as to what actually constitutes a VFX shot versus a digital optical in the film, so the number of VFX shots may be as high as 1,200 or so when taking that into account, according to Mavromates. A Drive Down Wilshire Although Territory worked on just one scene, it is quite complex: a drive down Wilshire Boulevard. The studio, under the VFX super- vision of Simon Carr, re-created a section of 1930s Wilshire, approximately a mile in length, which played on an LED screen be- hind Mank and his wife, Sara, as they "drove" in their vehicle on the way to the beach. The concept is an updated version of rear pro- jection, only using a large wall of LEDs and CG camera projections instead. "Outside the car, everything you see is a 3D world," says Mavromates. "It's married in-camera, so there is no compositing required." The work for that scene took months to do and a good amount of research, such as identifying shops and landmarks from archival footage. Train Station/Mansion Among the work by Artemple, overseen by that studio's VFX supervisor, Wei Zheng, was the creation of the Glendale train station as Mank shows up to catch a train to San Simeon on his first drunken journey to Hearst Castle. The background is a digital matte painting. Artemple also craed the 3D matte paintings of the vaulted ceilings at the Hearst mansion, which were used to expand the space and give it a grand, luxurious feel. "By adding that crane shot with those dig- ital vaulted ceilings, it expands the location and makes it feel more like a castle," notes Mavromates. Sky's the Limit Savage Visual Effects, meanwhile, generated a cloud dome when Hearst is shooting a movie with Marion, and Mank meets Hearst for the first time. "We had clear skies on those days, and David wanted texture in the sky. So Savage created the sky dome for consistency," explains Mavromates. Because it is a fairly lengthy scene with numerous shots and a multitude of camera angles and lenses, Savage decided to create a 360-degree CG cloud environment as opposed to matte paintings. This was done with SideFX's Houdini using Epic's Unreal Engine, giving the team the ability to control sky continuity shot-to-shot beginning in the early stages of lookdev to final comp. Pro- prietary tools were used to randomize the cloud sizes, rotation, and placement. In order to keep the continuity of each shot and match the lighting accurately, Savage created an Unreal build of the entire set to match size and position of all the actors and set pieces. The artists then were able to navigate through the virtual set and place cameras to match shots for the scene. Aer a camera was created, they could adjust framing, change time of day, aperture, and focal length to match individual shots. Each camera was then contained within the virtual set for later use. This process was repeated for all the shots in the sequence. Once approved, the clouds were exported back into Houdini for rendering and brought into Foundry's Nuke for the final composite. Houdini-simulated smoke and custom lens flares added to the final shot. DI The overall challenge faced by the VFX teams was making sure the effects "fit" into the scenes, along with the rest of the footage – a traditional challenge, even when shooting in color, to get the elements to seat properly. "Here was the added minor char- acteristics that were part of our DI effects, the effects with the blooming blacks and then the grain structure," says Mavromates. "Which again, I think is a very traditional challenge and is one that everyone fights ev- ery day in VFX-land. Because if your element is too sharp and it pops out, if the grain is different, it can look off." With black-and-white, it's the same general challenge, but the specifics are different, Mavromates adds, because you're hitting grayscale and also we are adding a certain amount of soness. So, it becomes a question of what help do you need from DI to get that to sit in the scene. Although he has worked with Fincher for over 25 years, Fincher approaches each mov- ie differently, says Mavromates. "So, there are always new challenges and new techniques that he's trying," he notes. And no doubt it was a unique experience turning back the clock and working in a long-ago era, even if it was for a brief amount of time. Karen Moltenbrey is the chief editor of CGW. Territory re-created nearly a mile of 1930s Wilshire Boulevard in 3D, as seen outside the car windows. Images courtesy Netflix.