VIEWPOINT DATALABS

STIRBER VISUAL NETWORK

Kurt Russell and director John Carpenter are reunited after 15 years for the sequel to ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (and Kurt Russell doesn't look a day older). Buena Vista Visual Effects handled the huge amount of effects work. This was the last film for BVVE; since Disney bought Dream Quest, it decided to dissolve BVVE, with ESCAPE as their last film. Well, they certainly went out with a bang! Sure, some of the composites were a bit cheesy, but so was the film.

My favorite sequence from the film, and probably the film's biggest effects challenge, is Snake and aging surf dude Peter Fonda surfing down an Wilshire Blvd., trying to catch up with Steve Buscemi's convertible. Many innovative techniques were used; most significantly was BVVE's use of the "Flow Rider", a stationary breaking wave located in a Texas water park. Greenscreen photography of surf-stunt-doubles was composited into 2D and 3D backgrounds and foregrounds to create the stunning scene.

Check out Cinefex 67 and American Cinematographer September '96.