Q&A With PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES Visual Effects Supervisor AARON MCBRIDE

This week, WAMG had the opportunity to participate in a virtual roundtable with Aaron McBride, the Visual Effects Supervisor for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES, and ask him some questions about his experiences in the visual effects world.

Since coming onboard with the ILM Art Department in 1999, Aaron McBride has worked as a concept artist on such films as A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report and Men in Black 2. Aside from his concept art Aaron’s talent for storyboarding has been widely recognized by Directors such as Steven Spielberg and Oscar-winning Visual Effects Supervisors Dennis Muren and Scott Farrar. With the first Pirates of the Caribbean film in 2003 Aaron’s skillful visual effects art direction has served numerous productions including the second installment of the Pirates franchise Dead Man’s Chest which won the Oscar for Visual Effects in 2006.

Having served as the Visual Effects Art Director on all three films in the Pirates films, Aaron’s work is also chronicled in the recent imprint The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean.

McBride is from Mystic, Connecticut. He received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Film fromRhode Island School of Design in 1996. Currently he resides in San Francisco.

ILM CREDITS / Feature Films

• 2011 RANGO (currently in production) – Art Director / Concept Artist
• 2008    HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE – Visual Effects Art Director
• 2008 IRON MAN – Visual Effects Art Director 2007 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END – Visual Effects Art Director
• 2006 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST  – Visual Effects Art Director
• 2005 STAR WARS: EPISODE III “Revenge of the Sith”– Visual Effects Art Director
• 2003 PETER PAN – Concept Artist2003 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL – Visual Effects Art Director
• 2003 THE HULK – Concept Artist2002 MINORITY REPORT – Concept Artist
• 2002 MEN IN BLACK 2  – Concept Artist2002 STAR WARS: EPISODE II “Attack of the Clones” – Concept Artist
• 2001 A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – Concept/Storyboard Artist

Q. What exactly is a visual effects art director? (as distinct from an art director or a visual effects creator)?

A. A Visual Effects Art Director generates artwork to serve as a ‘look target’ or visual guide for the CG artists, modelers and viewpainters. Often times early in pre-production we will generate design concept art for characters, vehicles, environments or particular effects. Then, once a design has been approved by the Director we will do supporting artwork for the CG Artists, Technical Directors and Compositors of how a creature or vehicle will look in a shot or sequence of the final film once it is textured and lit.

Q. Were there any specific achievements in the “look” and “style” that your team wanted to achieve above and beyond the first three films?

A. One of the challenges of designing a look for the mermaids was that, in the previous three Pirates of the Caribbean films, the supernatural creatures were, by design, monster-like and frightening. The Mermaids were these supernatural creatures that needed to be beautiful, seductive sirens which we hadn’t seen before in the previous Pirates films. They were not the rotting cursed skeletons or encrusted with the marine life like the creatures in the previous films had been…. but they needed to look like they belonged in that same world.

Q. How do you think special effects should fit into a movie? Should they be impressive and attention-getting in their own right?

A. My favorite effects are the ones that service the story. Sometimes when there are so many amazing things to look at on-screen it can be like eye-candy overload and compete for your eye’s attention. It can make for a very busy frame of film. I like effects that make sense in the context of the story and really serve the narrative.

Q. How are matte paintings used now? Are they actually painted or is it all done by computer?

A. Our matte paintings are all created digitally now, though by many of the same artists that used to work traditionally in oil on glass. Some ‘digimatte’ painting shots involve very elaborate camera moves so much that our teams create entire 3D environments.

Q. How did you decide to go into film and specifically visual effects? Were there any particular films/people/events that inspired you?

A. I was a big fan of effects films growing up. Star Wars, Alien, Bladerunner. I was a big fan of Ridley Scott and how he used so much atmosphere in his films. All the same aesthetics that he used in filming the sets and the actors were the same as the effects shots. There were areas of the frame that would fall to just a rimlight silhouette. Nowadays with visual effects being digital there is sometimes a tendency in the work to over light and show off all the detail and we’re always conscious of that.

Q. What kind of research did you do for the mermaids? Did you go into mermaid myths throughout history? Were there any particular images that influenced the look of these mermaids?

A. We looked at a lot of the traditional representations of mermaids in classic paintings and literature where they are often portrayed in a very romantic way. We also looked at some references of ballet dancers performing underwater. They would use these large pieces of translucent fabric in large sweeping gestural moves. It created this cool veiled look to the dancers, so we tried to find a way to incorporate this in our mermaids. We tried giving the mermaids drapery that could hang from them like strands or tendrils of translucent fish fin or jellyfish membrane or sheets of kelp. So while we stayed faithful to the classic folklore imagery of the mermaids, there were still elements that we added to give them a more graceful and dramatic appearance when they moved through the water.

Q. I know a lot of design happens before filming, so how hands on where you on set?

A. We started by meeting with Rob Marshall the director to get a sense of what he liked and how he wanted the mermaids to look and behave on film. He showed us a lot of reference of qualities he liked. So we did an initial rough design pass, casting the net wide and exploring a lot of different possibilities. We experimented with finding a good balance between the mermaids being very beautiful while also being these ferocious creatures that had very vicious predatory qualities as well. Then we presented some concept paintings to Rob based on what he liked and he responded positively too. So we then proceeded in that direction and did more, tighter iterations to refine the final details.

Q. Were the mermaids fully CGI motion capture or actresses with an effects added tail?

A. The mermaids were a combination of a lot of those techniques. We ranged from completely digital mermaids to the actresses which were digitally augmented. Sometimes, as in the case with Gemma Ward’s character when we see the mermaids face close-up as she comes in for the kill, it was her on set but then we added some digital elements to her appearance…shaper teeth, and a slight sense of shimmery fish scale qualities to her skin. Rob really wanted to retain as much of the actresses true beauty appearances in their faces as possible. They needed to be these creatures that had evolved to be the perfect seductive predator. The idea was that they could appear very beautiful but that their actions should be very vicious like ferocious animals.

Q. What challenges does water, or being underwater, bring to art direction in scenes like these? Are there aspects that give you more freedom to experiment? Are there more restrictions because of the properties of water?

A. In working on all the Pirates of the Caribbean films there’s almost always a scene or shot underwater. When you compose or design something for an underwater sequence it’s always fun because there’s always more atmospherics underwater. You get a lot of depth fall-off when forms become dark silhouettes quickly and when they moved away from you. Also you get a lot of light shards and caustics. It’s naturally a very haunting and dense environment to play with. Designing something like the mermaids was fun because you could play with various dramatic ways to compose them.

Q. When did the change from matte paintings to digital matte art happen?

A. For ILM it happened around the early-to-mid 90’s when Photoshop was becoming more of a standard tool in our visual effects work.

Q. How often do you have to redo a sequence of effects, either because it doesn’t work as hoped or the director changes his mind or doesn’t like it?

A. Oftentimes a design or concept is revisited once principal photography starts and we start seeing the rushes or dailies and how the scenes play out as they are edited together. The filmmakers may decide to make changes or additions later on in post-production that work better in the context of the film. Fortunately, our pipeline is very flexible and accommodates changes that need to be made late in the process.

Q. What initially brought you to ILM back in 1999? Was it a dream come true for you? Is it still as much fun 10 years+?

A. I’m a huge Star Wars fan and I grew up with all the movies that ILM worked on. So yes, it has definitely been a dream comes true.

Q. Having contributed to all four films in the “Pirates” franchise, are there any characters or designs that really stand out for you?

A. The “cursed” pirate characters that served on Davy Jones crew were really fun and challenging to work on. I especially liked working on the hammerhead shark Pirate character, ‘Maccus’ from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Also the jellyfish Pirate, and Wyvern, the crusty Pirate embedded in the wall of the Flying Dutchman.

Q. Can you tell us what makes a good storyboard for a film? Is it pre-visualizing a lot of detail? Pacing?

A. Storyboards are primarily a visual shorthand to communicate shot composition and how a design or effect will be featured in a shot. A good storyboard will provide enough visual information to serve as a blueprint for a shot.

Q. Was the latest Pirates film filmed in 3-D or converted afterwards? What are the challenges in doing both/either from an FX point of view?

A. It was filmed in 3D using the ‘Red’ camera system. There are a lot of technical reasons why stereoscopic films are more challenging to work on. Many of the VFX tricks that you can get away with on a 2D film don’t work in 3D.

Q. Did you work with Jerry Bruckheimer in your role as VFX Art Director on this or in any of the other Pirates films? If so what is he like to work with? How important is art direction to him?

A. Yes, we met with Rob Marshall and Jerry Bruckheimer early on and both were instrumental in defining the look of the mermaids.

Q. Is it harder or easier to create whole imaginary beings and environments than real ones? Why?

A. It’s always more challenging to create whole imaginary characters or creatures and environments but at the same time it’s a lot of fun. Even with the craziest creatures we still have to find ways to ground them in reality so they look believable on screen.

Q. Was it ever considered or storyboarded that the mermaids might be more ‘fish’ or ‘monstrous looking’ or were they always supposed to be beautiful at least on the surface?

A. We did a lot of concept art early on where the Mermaids were much more monstrous and creature looking and then trying to strike that balance between sea creature and the beautiful seductive siren. We played with adding more elements to them that would make them look more like predatory fish. Early concepts had serrated, razor-like piranha teeth….some had shark teeth and distended jaws like a shark. We explored giving them serrated dorsal ridges and very silvery skin like a swordfish. And those lifeless black eyes like a great white.

Q. Can you give an example of a VFX trick that works in 2D but not in 3D?

A. Sure. For instance with an animated character like the mermaids, a pose may look great from one camera view but off in the other. All the details that we resolve for one eye perspective we then need to resolve for the other eye as well.

Q. Do you think 3-D is here to stay this time? Will it become the norm or used mostly in animated and special effects-heavy films?

A. 3D is simply another tool in a filmmaker’s arsenal. It may not be right for telling every story but it can be fun when it enhances a scene.

Q. What projects are you currently working on?

A. Currently I’m working on Disney/Marvel’s “The Avengers”.

Q. Any final thoughts on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?

A. I’ve really enjoyed working on all of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. It’s always a really great opportunity to play in that world and especially rewarding to see it on screen. Thank you all for your time!

Setting sail on an ocean full of hi-def adventures, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will debut on October 18th, in a Limited Edition 5-Disc Combo Pack (1-Disc Blu-ray 3D + 2-Disc Blu-ray + 1-Disc DVD + 1-Disc Digital Copy), a 2-Disc Combo Pack (1-Disc Blu-ray + 1-Disc DVD), and for the ultimate fan a 15-Disc Four Movie Collection.   Additionally the movie will be available in 3D and High-Definition Movie Download.