The choreographed chaos of making ‘Cloverfield’
By Behind The Scenes TV on Feb 18, 2008 in Filmmaking, New Releases, Visual Effects
The poster for Paramount Pictures’ Cloverfield depicts the Statue of Liberty standing headless, following a monster’s attack on New York City. The image echoes the graphic of the severed head of Miss Liberty that adorned the movie poster for 1981’s Escape From New York — an image that made a lasting impression on Cloverfield producer J. J. Abrams.
But Abrams vowed that in his movie — which follows a group of friends trying to escape Manhattan’s destruction — Lady Liberty’s head would roll.
This signature moment was one of 160 shots created by the London-based effects house Double Negative (DNeg). “Any time you see destruction, that’s our work,” says CG Supervisor David Vickery.
“We had to build a very, very high-resolution 3D model because it’s visible in full frame for several seconds during the movie,” Vickery says of the sequence where the statue’s head physically rolls down the street.
(Source: Digital Content Producer)
