DOUBLE NEGATIVE KICKS SOME, FOR MATTHEW VAUGHN'S NEW MOVIE

Based on the graphic novels by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr, the Kick Ass script is written by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, who last teamed up as writing partners on Stardust. Double Negative had worked on the visual effects for Stardust, so was familiar with the director's working style and delighted to be asked back on Kick-Ass. Dneg's Mattias Lindahl and Andy Taylor were the film's overall Visual Effects Supervisor and Visual Effects Producer respectively, with 2D Supervisor, Peter Jopling and CG Supervisor, Stuart Farley.

Double Negative started out on the opening sequence, which appears to show Kick Ass standing atop a skyscraper looking out over New York. The team created pre-viz based on the storyboard and a couple of pages from the script, says Lindahl, "When you look at the final shots in the film, they are almost exactly like the original concept, so it's great to see that realisation carried through."

Double Negative also set up the look development for the views from the gangster, Frank D'Amico's apartment, which was eventually outsourced to LipSync to match to when the shot count rose for the sequences. The brief for Frank's apartment was for a 1930's sky-rise apartment that was surrounded by later, taller buildings. The team were required to digitally place the apartment on top of a building that had been shot with 2nd Unit and Helicopter Unit photography in Toronto, however, when the designs for the apartment came back from the art department it was much bigger, so the whole building had to be replaced in CG for these shots.

A major scene to take place at Frank's apartment is the gunfight towards the end of the movie. This was a highly complex sequence which starts in the middle of the night when Mindy arrives in the lobby and ends just before dawn and consequently, the lighting was changed for every set up to track the passage of time. Double Negative also created the 3D jet pack flying sequence.

As the project progressed, the shot volume rose causing some of the work to be outsourced and overseen by the Dneg team, this included the comic book sequence that was produced at the Swedish studio, Fido, the burning Warehouse sequence by Senate VFX and Frank's interior apartment by Lipsync. Additional monitor content was composited by Ghost VFX in Copenhagen.

Kick Ass opens on March 26h, 2010 in the UK and on April 16th , 2010 in the US.

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