X-Men: First Class, with Visual Effects Made in Malaysia
If you stayed on during the end credits roll for Matthew Vaughn’s latest masterpiece, X-Men: First Class, you’d probably notice a number of distinctly Malaysian names as the credits started listing the visual effects wizards responsible for the spectacle you just witnessed. These names are part of the crew of Rhythm & Hues Studios, a world renowned visual effects studio.
| X-Men: First Class and Team Malaysia | ||
| Match Movers | BG Prep Artists | Digital Coordinator |
|---|---|---|
| Nazri Abdul Rahim Chang Woon Bing David Chen Julian Gregory Hamizi Haron Collin Hee Lau Choon Ming Ivan Leong Norman Low Michelle Ong Nelaton Ong Resham Aaron Teo Elaine Mimi Thian Lee Yon Hui Matthew Kee Matt La Brooy Wan Muhd Afif |
Steve Chong Dazrene Darus Shae Lyn See Tan Yee Jenn Izhan Faridzahari Raymond Thian |
Sebastian Ng |
The studio was established in Los Angeles, California in 1987 and has since grown to become a leading producer of computer-generated visual effects and character animation for movies and commercials. It has contributed to more than 100 feature films and received Oscars in 1995 for Babe and in 2008 for The Golden Compass, as well as being nominated for its work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. After setting up facilities in California and India, Rhythm & Hues set up its fourth studio in Kuala Lumpur in April 2009 to act as an extension of its global production infrastructure.
For X-Men: First Class, Rhythm & Hues is involved in the “design and realization of the character Emma Frost in her diamond form, Angel’s wings and the Mystique transformations… also created digital set extensions for the Lincoln Memorial, the X-Jet in it’s hanger and the MIB headquarters.”
Emma Frost with diamonds
Angel Salvadore’s wings
Transformation of Mystique
In the Kuala Lumpur studio, the main body of work revolves around match moving and background prepping. Match moving involves “the insertion of computer graphics into live-action footage with correct position, scale, orientation, and motion relative to the photographed objects in the shot.” Background prepping covers rotoscoping, prep, wire/rig removal and dustbusting.
In addition to the VFX for X-Men: First Class, the Kuala Lumpur team is also involved in such upcoming films like Poppers Penguin, Life of Pi, Everybody Loves Whales, Moneyball and Alvin 3. We can’t wait to see what magical effects they will be conjuring up next.
Rhythm & Hues – Kuala Lumpur Studio
