AZUL Production blog
Octavio’s smartphone
A modded future smart phone with a CRYPTO-AMIGO pay module attachment.
This prop was designed in collaboration with Leri Greer who produced the initial concept and Benjamin Donnelley who produced the 3D concept model of Leri’s sketch in Blender, followed by a fully manufacture-ready Rhino CAD model for resin printing and fabrication in collaboration with Jonah Pope. A prop that exists both digitally and physically.
Building the world of AZUL using Unreal Engine 5
Using Unreal Engine 5 we set out to push these new tools in new and creative ways. We leveraged both traditional filmmaking techniques and virtual production vfx techniques to bring the world of AZUL to life. Using Unreal Engine to drive and control custom LED light strips, we were able to get real interactive lighting — one of pillars of virtual production - to tie CG holographic ads and billboards into our environments. Having that real interactive lighting anchor the computer generated elements was key in delivering shots that looked real and integrated into their surroundings.
Virtual Production stages can sometimes be expensive or difficult to book. For some outdoor shots of our future Cancun police, we shot our subject outside using the sun as our main light source. We shot the footage on an iPhone 13 Pro RAW and then brought that into Unreal Engine, using Niagara to generate giant plumes of smoke in the background and other particle effects. Once inside of Unreal Engine 5, the lighting, building placement and smoke where all customizable in real-time.
Unreal Engine was used for set extension and to slightly augment our depictions of Mexico in the near future. Our goal was to find a balance where the futurism and sci-fi spectacle didn’t distract from the main story. Using this approach encouraged us to film on-location and then use VFX to enhance what’s already there.
Pre-Production
While it’s been quiet on this blog for the past few weeks, that doesn’t mean that we haven’t been busy!
From the very start, Leri and I divided up the work into several Recces or special-forces squads to tackle specific aspects of the film. Below is some of the progress from some of AZUL’s Recces this past month.
HOLOGRAPHIC CART RECCE
LUZA RECCE
PROPS RECCE
WARDROBE RECCE
Octavio’s cart
EXT. JUNGLE HIGHWAY - DAWN
Aerial: a single black line bisects a sprawling green wilderness.
A light races along the line... like an electron on a circuit board...
We descend on the single light until we see that it's a young man (OCTAVIO, 17) peddling a street vendor's tricycle down a two-lane black asphalt highway.
Owen was able to get the LED strips to sync with our holograms in Unreal Engine. Our aim is to control dozens of these wirelessly from one machine. The same system will be able to control Arri Skypanels as well for larger holograms. These real world lighting effects will ground the CG holograms in a beauitufl and elegant way. The flexibility of Unreal is quite literally unreal.
“Creating the holograms for Octavio’s cart has been a really fun exercise in creating hypnotic, simplistic animation with strong graphic reads to drive the on-set illumination. Drawing inspiration from the scrolling LED signs you might find on a taco truck or outside of a pawn shop, it’s been a unique challenge to emulate technology which appears simultaneously high-tech and low-tech.”
Future Drug Lab
The world is entering a new era of drug research that’s being fueled by A.I.. Large scale computer chemistry will allow drug labs to create next generation drugs. Designer drugs that can truly hack the human mind and body.
OCTAVIO
Juan Daniel García Treviño has been cast to play the lead role of Octavio in “Azul”. In 2020 Netflix launched his first feature film “Ya No Estoy Aquí” (“I’m no Longer Here) which was also screened in several film festivals including the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. Daniel played the antagonist El Puma in the film “La Civil” which premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Un Certain Regard Competition. Daniel is an incredible emerging talent who brings a level of humanity and authenticity to the characters he protrays. Daniel and I met in his hometome of Monterrey and were able to snap some photos of him in character.
BUCZO Police
(Buczo Especial): A specialized unit responsible for combined duties involving traffic enforcement, crowd control and special weapons and tactics (SWAT) services within the city. One unique feature of the unit is that relies on the use of motorcycles in their daily patrols, allowing the unit to perform routine traffic enforcement or quickly travel to situations wherein the unit’s SWAT skills are requested. Specialized trucks and support vehicles are also used to transport equipment and officers when needed.
Toy drone balloons
Inspired by the mass produced plastic toys found at markets throughout Mexico City, we’re zeroing in on our final look for these digital props. We’re using the updated shaders in Unreal Engine to achieve subsurface scattering and translucency in the materials.
The golden earpiece
The magical golden earpieces are an important aspect of the film. They’re small, wireless and also function as striking visual elements. With the help of Benjamin Donnelly, these amazing devices are coming to life…
Location Scouting Part 1
The locations for “Azul” have been an obsession of ours from the very start. Locations are tough, because there are so many boxes to check: lighting, logistics, texture, color and personality. Our first week of scouting led to some incredible discoveries, some of which are definitely not in any travel guide or listed on any map.
When we approached the process of location scouting, we made a deliberate decision to put people before places. What we mean by this, is that we made efforts to connect with the locals first and open ourselves to an organic process of discovery. As soon as we arrived at any given location, before we took a single photo, we spoke with the locals to get a feel for the area and learn about its history, hidden features and characteristics. For instance, when we arrived at one Mayan village named Kanxoc, we were introduced to the village’s ‘Partera’ or midwife; a highly respected position in the community. This then led to us being invited into the village’s own private and community-owned cenote… A place that few foreigners have ever stepped foot in, let alone photographed.
Ultimately, we’re finding what we’re looking for in the Yucatán Peninsula and have been fortunate to have the expert guidance of Location Scout and Manger Arturo Lopez (a photographer). The Yucatán Peninsula is an obvious choice because it offers both rich urban and rural locations. The contrasts are stark and dramatic, lending themselves to the themes of the film. Arturo spent weeks pre-scouting locations before we even arrived. “I always try and reproduce what the director wants and the feeling that the script is searching for,” says Arturo. Next comes the painful process of choosing which locations we will ultimately go with. Once we do that, then the process of blocking and storyboarding will begin.
Costume design
Leri Greer has been creating insanely cool concepts for Octavio’s wardrobe. The issue that we’ve created for ourselves is that have too many awesome options to pick from!
UE4 high res renders
Artur and Damien have spent a week dialing the materials for the drones. This is just a first pass on one of the drones, but already we can see how the Unreal Engine is able to handle subtle variations between plastics.
Look development tests in UE4
We’ve brought one of the drones into UE4 and right away, we can start to feel the true potential of real time. Animation is next.
Leri put together a contact sheet of decals for the artists to use during their look development and texture paint work for the drones.
