ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL Before And After VFX Shots Showcase The Movie's Mind-Blowing Visuals

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL Before And After VFX Shots Showcase The Movie's Mind-Blowing Visuals

A major highlight of Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron's adaptation of celebrated anime Alita: Battle Angel was the incredible VFX, which are highlighted in this series of before and after images...

By JoshWilding - Feb 25, 2019 12:02 PM EST
Filed Under: Anime & Manga
Source: Art Of VFX
Alita: Battle Angel hasn't made much of an impact at the North American box office, and while it could recoup those losses internationally, the chances of a sequel seem unlikely. 

Even so, no matter what other faults the James Cameron produced release may have had, there's no denying that the visuals were incredible.

The film's FX are highlighted in these awesome before and after images, and it's amazing to see the sheer amount of work that must have gone into bringing the titular character (played by Rosa Salazar) to life on the big screen.

Asked about the creation of Alita's trademark eyes, VFX supervisor Eric Saindon said, "Alita’s eyes were built using a simulation of fibres to represent the dilator muscle responsible for the dilation of the pupil. By simulating the action of this, we were able to get very high-resolution geometry for the iris. The end result was 8.5 million polygons per eye compared to Gollum who had 50,000 polygons total for his entire character."

Those are some incredible numbers, and an indication of just how much time and effort was spent on a movie that's failed to find much of an audience.

To check out these new images from the movie, simply click on the "View List" button below.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 12:58 PM
Such a great movie with fantastic visuals. Hope this movie gets recognized for the outstanding VFX.

Matador
Matador - 2/25/2019, 1:12 PM
@HeavyMetal4Life - At the Oscars? They'll probably bypass it for a none exciting movie or a Ryan Gosling movie.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:16 PM
@Matador - sad but probably true
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:01 PM
Here's a pretty neat featurette about the perspective Cameron and company used when figuring out how to portray the movie's amazing visuals (and how the visuals in Alita differed from the ones in Avatar), and how they did the performance capture for Alita herself. Really informative.

L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 2/25/2019, 1:21 PM
@HeavyMetal4Life - GIFs from the featurette:





HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:22 PM
@L0RDbuckethead -


L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 2/25/2019, 1:24 PM
@HeavyMetal4Life - I haven't seen the film yet, but with so many of you guys on here enjoying it, I'll probably go see it this weekend or next week sometime.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:26 PM
@L0RDbuckethead -


I think you'll really like it. Biggest surprise of the year for me movie wise so far. Let me know what you think of it. My theater was packed last night when I went to go see it, which I was honestly shocked to see.
bcom
bcom - 2/25/2019, 1:26 PM
@L0RDbuckethead - The effects work in this movie are truly next level.

I remember when the first teaser trailer was released and everyone was commenting on how weird her eyes were.

Having seen the movie twice now, I don't think I've ever seen something so unrealistic look so realistic, if that makes sense. There's not a single scene in this movie where Alita looks unnatural and that in itself is a huge accomplishment.

Weta simply can't be topped when it comes to mo-cap effects work.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:36 PM
@bcom - I'll second everything you said. Alita looked realistic the entire time, they really brought a humanistic cyborg to life and as you said, a major accomplishment.

Its interesting your comment about the eyes. In the first trailer, released in December of 2017, there was a lot of fuss about her eyes. They listened to the criticism you can tell and worked extra hard to make sure the eyes were as realistic as possible (and its kind of funny that the final shot of the movie is of her eyes).
bcom
bcom - 2/25/2019, 1:49 PM
@HeavyMetal4Life - Yeah, I think that if the eyes failed then the movie itself could've failed. I don't think I've seen a more realistic cgi humanoid face in a movie than Alita's. Even though she has huge eyes they really catch every single small nuance and detail that just make her look and feel like she's a naturally real person.

You mentioned the final close up shot on her eyes but there's a scene before that when she's rolling out onto the podium and again it's a close up on her face. There's a quick part where a spotlight catches her face and you see her slightly wince her eyes at the light and even though it's a very minor detail, I noticed it and just how natural it looked.

This is now my benchmark movie for creating realistic humanoid characters. I can't praise the work they did on Alita enough.
L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 2/25/2019, 1:50 PM
@bcom @HeavyMetal4Life - Thanks for the info, guys. I'll get on it! haha
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:55 PM
@bcom - yeah its kind of funny to think how integral the eyes were, but its as Cameron says in the video above: you have to get the audience to believe that the face, and thereby the character, could/are real. If you nail that, then the movie has the the foundation to be successful.

And yeah, the slight nuances, the small attentions to detail (I also liked how you could see the muscles in her irises change size in response to environmental stimuli.

Yeah, this is my benchmark too. Can't praise this movie and the VFX work enough.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:10 PM
If I may make a slight criticism (with no ill intent): I wish there wasn't such a negative tone in the beginning of this article about the film. "the chances of a sequel seem highly unlikely." "no matter what other faults the James Cameron produced release may have had." Is it not too much to just talk about the amazing visuals and VFX work? Because the negative tone feels forced and its honestly really unnecessary.

This movie is doing better than expected, its a huge hit in China, on pace to make possibly 200 mil in the Middle Kingdom (since its currently outpacing Ready Player One). The movie is already closing in on 300 mil worldwide. AND Cameron has already spoken about the desire to do a sequel and how certain aspects of the film intentionally sets a sequel up. So why the negativity??
Dren
Dren - 2/25/2019, 1:12 PM
@HeavyMetal4Life - it´s Josh signature to hate everything we love.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:14 PM
@Dren - I'm not here to trash Josh and hopefully it doesn't seem like I am (because I'm not), I'm just pointing out that the negative tone was unnecessary.
bcom
bcom - 2/25/2019, 1:20 PM
@HeavyMetal4Life - It's just a standard "Josh-ism". Basically, don't take anything he writes seriously because it has no weight behind it.
HopeVanDAUMNN
HopeVanDAUMNN - 2/25/2019, 1:12 PM
"Best female led film of the entire year! What do you mean it's only February? There's not going to be a better female led film this year!"
That was golden.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:13 PM
@HopeVanDAUMNN - lol whoever said that
HopeVanDAUMNN
HopeVanDAUMNN - 2/25/2019, 1:15 PM
@HeavyMetal4Life - blickpinther. Then he got shit for it and acted victimized "for having a different opinion".
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:18 PM
@HopeVanDAUMNN - haha I was trying to remember who said that. I've noticed that a number of users that don't want to support Captain Marvel are now acting victimized "for having a different opinion" when their hate gets dissected by others.
HopeVanDAUMNN
HopeVanDAUMNN - 2/25/2019, 1:21 PM
@HeavyMetal4Life - These guys are so full of shit.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/25/2019, 1:25 PM
@HopeVanDAUMNN -
ODanil
ODanil - 2/25/2019, 1:13 PM
My mind is never blown tho...
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