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It's one thing to draw a cute elephant. This is another way to create a cute elephant that looks as real as the actors around it.
It was the challenge for the effect wizards behind the new version of Dumbo, which reinvents Disney's clbadic 2D cartoon using the state-of-the-art digital technology of 2019. I went to the London offices of MPC effects company To meet Richard Stammers, the visual effects supervisor of the film, and discover how the team has achieved director Tim Burton's vision of the live-action remake.
The Stammers worked on Dumbo from start to finish for two and a half years. "It's longer than most of the other projects I've worked on," he says. "It's just the nature of what it is – there is so much animation in the movie." The film includes visual effects in almost every shot, whether digitally adding a sky in the background or flying an elephant. There are 800 computer generated elephant plans.
Tim Burton's style of work also influenced the speed of production. "Tim works at a different pace than other directors," says Stammers.
MPC, which won an Oscar for his work during the previous live reboot of Disney The jungle Book, created the cute elephant Dumbo. It is customary for large, effect-oriented blockbusters to divide work between different providers. Therefore, others include Framestore, a numerically extended physical set; Rising Sun, who managed the reinvented sequence of pink elephants; and Rodeo, who digitally removed Colin Farrell's arm (he plays an amputee).
This promotional feature, in which the stars spring to make the film, shows the extent of the sets and the production.
For the new version of Dumbo to inspire the same type of emotional connection as the original character, it was essential to design the project well. "The original film was a very good point of reference," says Stammers. "Even though Dumbo's design does not really match the original drawing, we sought to find in the script areas similar to the drawing and to find the key poses."
The movements of the young elephant were also carefully studied, as he walked with the weight of his steps and the way he interacted with the environment. The effects team went to the London Zoo to observe the real elephants, get close and photograph everything from the skin to the inside of the mouth.
This plausibility was essential to sell the most caricatural elements of Dumbo's design, like the adorable eyes. "Put it next to a real baby elephant, and these are worlds apart," says Stammers. "But he has so many details and nuances in the skin, the wrinkles and the way he moves with postures and poses that looked a lot like real baby elephants that you bring that realism back."
The new Dumbo had to ride the fantastic nature of his character and the real world and the photorealistic scene that surrounds him. Fortunately, Burton's aesthetic helped the two to meet each other in the middle. Thanks to the "slightly expressionist" look of costumes, sets, skies and environments, Dumbo's fantastic design fits perfectly.
At the top, we see what the camera has filmed: a real backdrop, with a blue screen in the background and a green lycra stuntman playing Dumbo's movements. Below we see the finished frame: The expressionist sky was added numerically, as was the computer-generated elephant, as well as other details such as straw.
MPC
So that the actors can interact with Dumbo on the set, actor and performer of creatures Edd Osmond donned a green lycra suit – like a leotard made in the same color fabric as a green screen. Directed by Burton through a headset in the costume, he interpreted Dumbo's movements so that the actors could look at the right place when the digital elephant was painted afterwards.
To match Dumbo's proportions, Osmond wore different versions of the suit depending on what the scene called. In scenes where Dumbo was touched or toyed, Osmond wore a larger suit. The rest of the time, he wore a thin headdress that earned him the nickname "Antman".
At the top, you can see the physical version of Dumbo adapted to the ecological standards with which the actors interacted. Below you will find the final picture of the film in which the digital Dumbo was painted.
MPC
One of the most difficult scenes was the climactic scene where Dumbo beat ears to take flight, with Eva Green's character on his back. This required precise planning to match the actor's movements to the numerical elements. Green was filmed on an animated basis – a mobile platform much like a rodeo bull, but more controlled – and the planned moves were geared to the camera's movements as she flew around the animated base. "It was very difficult and tedious to set up," says Stammers, "and there was always that possibility that Tim could say, in fact, I want to do something different."
While filming the meticulously prepared sequence, the film was given to a composer who simulated an approximate version on the set. Fortunately, Burton liked what he saw. "It was certainly one of the most stressful moments of filming," Stammers recalls with a smile.
At the top, the digital version of Dumbo is preparing to take a leap into the unknown.
MPC
Curiously, none of the true elephants studied by MPC could fly, and their research ended when Dumbo left the ground. The team had to give Dumbo a weight that would sell the illusion. "There was galloping and effort with the legs as the head moved up and down, the ears flapped their wings," says Stammers, "so there was always that great sense of effort deployed for the take off. "
Cinema is not just a visual medium, and filmmakers have had all the tricks of the trade to sell the illusion of an elephant driving. "When you hear the final audio, you get that big sound when Dumbo flies over the city," says Stammer. "We consider it dumb and it seems like we're jumping fast enough, but when you hear it with sound, it makes sense."
Dumbo is currently in American and British theaters.
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