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Filming conventional high-speed action fare is hard enough, but to bring the classic cartoon Speed Racer to life, the Wachowski brothers had to contend with 300mph racecars sporting fanciful features like robotic reconnaissance pigeons and wheels that can rotate 180 degrees. With 2,300 visual-effects (VFX) shots—twice as many as last year’s eye-popping 300—it heralds the future of summer-blockbuster fare: The entire movie, aside from the human actors, exists only in a computer.

“It’s a film about racing cars with no real cars and no real racetracks,” says Kim Libreri, the vice president of advanced strategy at Digital Domain, a visual-effects studio responsible for many of the race scenes. In our photo gallery, we present a step-by-step guide to constructing an entire movie world from scratch.

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To craft realistic digital backdrops, location scouts took photographs of exotic landscapes like the tops of the Austrian Alps and California's Death Valley. Then VFX engineers stitched the images together to create a virtual 360-degree world, called a bubble. The bubble is used only during the production of the film; the landscapes and backgrounds seen in the movie are completely digitally re-rendered.

1. Build the Environment

To craft realistic digital backdrops, location scouts took photographs of exotic landscapes like the tops of the Austrian Alps and California’s Death Valley. Then VFX engineers stitched the images together to create a virtual 360-degree world, called a bubble. The bubble is used only during the production of the film; the landscapes and backgrounds seen in the movie are completely digitally re-rendered.
After filming a scene in front of the green screen, the cinematographer, directors and actors can catch a preview of the shot on a display called a field monitor, which shows the actors inside the bubble. The bubble saves studios hours and money by helping directors avoid reshoots, which happen when, for example, an actor isn't perfectly synced with the digital action of the scene.

2. Insert the Actors

After filming a scene in front of the green screen, the cinematographer, directors and actors can catch a preview of the shot on a display called a field monitor, which shows the actors inside the bubble. The bubble saves studios hours and money by helping directors avoid reshoots, which happen when, for example, an actor isn’t perfectly synced with the digital action of the scene.
Filmmakers looked to roller coasters for inspiration when they designed the movie's racetracks. Before a shoot, a crew member "drove" the digital racetrack by watching it on a screen while driving a car in a racing videogame. The movements of the car in the game were then fed to a hydraulic platform. During the shoot, the actors sit on the platform, which moves like a flight simulator to match the turns on the virtual track.

3. Run the Race

Filmmakers looked to roller coasters for inspiration when they designed the movie’s racetracks. Before a shoot, a crew member “drove” the digital racetrack by watching it on a screen while driving a car in a racing videogame. The movements of the car in the game were then fed to a hydraulic platform. During the shoot, the actors sit on the platform, which moves like a flight simulator to match the turns on the virtual track.
Producers rented five Corvettes in different colors and took 360-degree photos of the cars under various light conditions. Animators then re-created (and revamped) the cars as digital wire frames. Next, they manipulated the wire frames' textures and colors, until the digital version was indistinguishable from the real deal.

4. Make It Look Shiny

Producers rented five Corvettes in different colors and took 360-degree photos of the cars under various light conditions. Animators then re-created (and revamped) the cars as digital wire frames. Next, they manipulated the wire frames’ textures and colors, until the digital version was indistinguishable from the real deal.
Animators replaced the green screen from the footage shot on set with computer-generated cars, racetracks and landscapes by digitally selecting everything green in a shot and replacing it with the animation. From start to finish, a single frame can take an animator more than a year.

5. Put It Together

Animators replaced the green screen from the footage shot on set with computer-generated cars, racetracks and landscapes by digitally selecting everything green in a shot and replacing it with the animation. From start to finish, a single frame can take an animator more than a year.
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