Taking 'The Matrix' to the next FX level
Source: CNN
The "bullet time" effect in 1999's "The Matrix" was a shot heard 'round the world, one of those rare bits of "cinemagic" that transcends film lexicon and permeates popular culture.
The visual effects team behind that movie received an Academy Award for its efforts and so clearly had its work cut out when attempting to up the creative ante again for the May 15 release "The Matrix Reloaded" and November's "The Matrix Revolutions."
But to hear senior visual effects supervisor John Gaeta talk about the work during the thick of postproduction, it sounds like fun.
"It's exciting, but it can also kill you," he laughs from a cell phone during his daily commute down the California coast from the former Alameda Naval Base -- where Larry and Andy Wachowski's production company, Eon, keeps offices in the control tower -- to Venice.
The base also is home to ESC, the visual effects company formed by the Wachowskis and Warner Bros. Pictures to handle effects for the "Matrix" sequels, which incorporate more than 2,000 shots on a combined VFX budget said to be in the vicinity of $100 million. Warner Bros. Pictures is a division of AOL Time Warner, as is CNN.com.
