Feature Films VFX
Napoleon
MPC
Led by Production VFX Supervisor Charley Henley, MPC VFX Supervisor Luc-ewen Martin-fenouillet, MPC completed 250 shots for Director Ridley Scott’s latest tour de force. The magnitude of Napoleon’s battles had to reach epic proportions, requiring meticulous teamwork between SFX and VFX. MPC’s biggest challenge was the recreation of The Battle of Waterloo.
Shot in the beautifully dramatic English countryside, the battle was filmed entirely on location in the UK. MPC was tasked with creating environment extensions for both the French and British camps. Plate photography was enhanced with thousands of computer-generated tents, flags, stables, braseros, benches and props required to breathe life into the campaign camps. Along with the CG environment extension, MPC’s artists also recreated Napoleonic armies, of all ranks, from the drummers to the generals.
In total, 60 unique costumes were recreated, using scans of actors, which allowed the wide shots to feel varied, rich and realistic. Marching and charging armies, including cavalries, were reproduced digitally to reach the epic scale the biopic required. The largest crowd shot included 70,000 soldiers, 5,000 horses, each with dynamic armor and ready-to-fire muskets. The organic look of the armies relied on hundreds of motion capture clips which captured the specific performances of a soldiers in the 1800s.
CREW
Production VFX Supervisor Charley Henley
MPC VFX Supervisor Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet
