In June 2009, Marvel Studios asked Perception to assist in delivering a simple graphics package to be used as an 80 foot projected backdrop for the Summer 2010 blockbuster "Iron Man 2". Immediately impressed with the team's ability to immerse themselves in this world, Marvel Studios continued to seek Perception's assistance in bringing numerous fantasy elements to life. Fast forward six months later to March 2010, and Perception's role on Iron Man 2 had increased tenfold as the team delivered the last of over 125 shots, including the concepting, design and animation of various futuristic interface elements, numerous mock broadcast packages, and a tremendous amount of detailed compositing work.
THE STARK EXPO KEYNOTE
Perception's involvement in Iron Man 2 began during principal photography of the film, as the team at Marvel Studios was looking for a video to accompany a speech given by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), announcing the return of the Stark Expo. Rather than a corporate power-point presentation, Tony Stark delivers his keynote in a rock concert atmosphere with a video presentation playing on a 74 foot wide screen.
Tony's presentation eventually leads into a piece of vintage footage featuring Tony Stark's father, Howard, giving a presentation recorded in the early seventies. To add an extra layer of authenticity, his speech would need to be capped off with an era-appropriate logo animation.
The final elements for the Expo Presentation were projected onto a massive 74 foot wide LED screen as part of a massive set built near the Sepulveda Dam.
PITCHING CONCEPTS Upon Successfully delivering all of the elements, Perception moved their attention to something they were fascinated with. While presenting concepts for the presentation, the client noted that one design in particular (see lower left panel of Expo Frames) reminded them of Tony Stark's phone, a prop seen throughout the film. The moment the people at Marvel mentioned a "it's like an iPhone, but transparent glass" the team at Perception all knew that whether requested or not, they had to mock up a test of the "Stark-Phone" in action. Since Perception initiated this test without a client brief or context for where it would appear in the film, they used it as a way of exploring several different concepts within a handheld interface, and even shot the scene in their studio.
Perception was given an opportunity to pitch an elaborate series of sequences taking place within Tony Stark's hologram filled garage workshop. On a brisk 4-day turnaround, they completed this test showing how this holographic environment could exist around Tony, as well as some additional style frames.
COFFEE TABLE INTERFACE Tony Stark's "smart glass" coffee table was a particularly fascinating element to work with, not only as a cool technical gadget, but as an element that provides context for a new character and an outlet for Tony's personality. In this sequence, Tony Stark is utilizing the table to conduct a sort of "background check" during an interview with Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johanson).
The Perception team started by focusing on the general layout of the interface, which allowed them to conceptualize ways for Tony to perform something as simple as a Google search. It was important to Jon Favreau and the team at Marvel Studios that the coffee table interface be legible and logical, while still appearing to be several generations beyond the typical user experience.
Perception presented two versions of each of six concepts. One with the graphics flat in the frame as if a "screenshot" so that Favreau and his team at Marvel could inspect every detail, and a version with the interfaces temporarily compositied into the scene to provide an accurate view of how the interfaces would work in the context of the final shot.
STARK PDA Excited to explore forward-thinking approaches to the most quickly changing mode of computing, Perception began work designing the interface for the Stark PDA. They felt it was important to balance the complexity and sophistication of an interface that felt futuristic with elements that felt familiar and phone-like. The team worked with Director Jon Favreau and VFX Supervisor Janek Sirrs in striking that balance and were grateful for their insight and impressive attention to detail. Perception also needed to create an interface that would function properly within the context of the already shot footage of Robert Downey Jr improvising gestural inputs with a blank phone (they found themselves designing several circular navigation devices to match his "dialing" gestures).
As with the table, Perception presented flat designs of the interfaces, as well as shots with the interface temporarily composited:
Once Perception had their final design approved, they animated the PDA performing a number of different tasks during Tony Stark's Senate hearing. They showed the PDA as Tony scrolls through various video files, as well as how he uses the PDA to hack into the Senate hall's video feed to take over the monitors.
"SMART GLASS" MIRROR & TELEVISION DISPLAY As every network is running "breaking news" bulletins regarding Stark's latest actions, Tony and company keep tabs on them via the multiple television screens which appear embedded within his home windows. In creating television displays for Tony's "Smart Glass" Windows, Perception was tasked to frame broadcast footage with enough additional layers of information so that weather, stock prices, and various news feeds were all available at a glance
The mirror, which appears in Tony Stark's bedroom is another element that appears on-demand, based on Tony's location within the room. Not only does transparent glass snap into a mirror, but numerous widgets appear around the mirror's perimeter displaying relevant information.
ADDITIONAL SCREEN DESIGN ELEMENTS Perception created a number of designs for a wide range of additional video assets, from military presentation graphics to news station lower thirds, to classified footage overlays, each one lending an added layer of authenticity in bringing these fantasy elements into a more recognizable world.
Head over to their site(In the source link below) to see the HD videos of their graphics in the film. In the meantime, you check out the entire film in theaters today world-wide...finally.