COLLATERAL DAMAGE
Flash Film Works performed most of the visual effects work on the Andrew Davis directed film "Collateral Damage" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. These included 3D animations of explosion debris, 3D animation of attack helicopters and the animation of a 3D Arnold for a sequence of him falling over a waterfall. In addition to the animation, we also performed numerous green screen composites and extensive rig & wire removal.


William Mesa on location in Mexico for "Collateral Damage"

We combined a plate of the actors ducking with a plate featuring the explosion and then composited in additional elements of explosions, debris and a falling pole to create the horrific spectacle of our hero's wife and child being killed.

For this shot, we composited a plate of the stunt people and motorcycle sliding across the floor with a secondary explosion plate. We then created an element to simulate the effect of the pipes on the walls catching on fire and burning.


In this sequence, Arnold is thrown through a hallway by an explosion. He was filmed flying through the air on wires and a separate background was shot with the explosion. Arnold was composited onto the background and the wires were removed. The final step was to add debris into the explosion using LightWave.


This is a shot from the FBI Incident Center scene, we composited video over a big green screen on the wall, to make it appear as though the agents are reviewing surveillance cameras.
We composited a plate of the State Department building, shot in downtown Los Angeles, with a separate explosion element shot on a stage. We then added debris elements to make it appear as though the radio antennae were falling apart.


The helicopter on the left is real, the one on the right is a 3D creation composited into the shot.


Both helicopters were created in 3D and added into the existing location plate.

In this sequence, we added extra fire for this scene when Arnold as a firefighter rescues people from a burning building. For this one, we added in the rocket from the helicopter and comped an explosion plate onto the live action shot of the soldiers.
Another shot where we added fire and burning debris. For this shot, we created a CGI version of Arnold to go over the waterfall.
There is an entire sequence in the film where Arnold is going down the river while the bad guys shoot at him. The film was shot in Mexico where it was not safe to go into the water, so Arnold was shot in a tank on the Warner Brothers lot and the river was separately shot in Mexico.
You can see the resulting composite below:

Collateral Damage on the internet movie database 

All Images Courtesy of  Warner Bros. Studios

   

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