CGNetworks Production Coverage
ESC Effects For The Matrix Revolutions
Leonard Teo, 13 April 2004

In Andy and Larry Wachowski’s finale for the Matrix trilogy, Neo and Agent Smith clash in a climactic battle in the rain-drenched mega-city. The ensuing brawl has them fighting on the street, in the air, in a building and high above the city in ballistic combat.

ESC Entertainment, based in Alameda (San Francisco, CA), was responsible for the key visual effects sequences of the super-brawl between the adversaries. CGNetworks spoke to Andy Lomas (Head of CG) and George Borshukov (Technology Supervisor) on these sequences for The Matrix Revolutions.

The Superpunch
For the directors Andy and Larry Wachowski, one of the dream shots in Revolutions was the Superpunch, where Neo delivers a mighty blow to Agent Smith, deforming and leaving an imprint of Neo’s fist in his face. George Borshukov led a team of ten people at ESC to put together the shot, which was exceptional as it was to be fully CGI.

The design of the shot began with preliminary sketches of what the directors were after, followed by a maquette of the ideal pose needed. Hugo Weaving acted through the process of being punched, from which animators augmented the final deformation of the face.

“Because the shot was supposed to depict deformation that goes beyond what’s natural, we had to augment a performance of Hugo Weaving that we had processed using Universal Capture (see side bar on page 2),“ says Borshukov. “We felt that we couldn’t achieve the realism if we tried to do the deformation and facial expression from scratch using animation such as Maya blend shapes, etc.“

In the climactic end-fight between Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), Neo lands a 'Superpunch' on Smith - a landmark shot that was completely produced in CG.