Eddy Wong of Menfond tells Tara Bennett about the VFX thrills in Stephen Chow's latest Hong Kong actioner, CJ7.
Whenever a new film from Asian director/writer/actor Stephen Chow hits theaters, audiences are always assured a bright, outrageous, visual treat. His previous blockbuster hits such as Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle put a new spin on the Hong Kong action formula by weaving broad, intentional comedy and mind-boggling visuals effects into the DNA of his high-spirited scripts. The results earned Chow international acclaim and respect as a filmmaker adept at successfully pushing the boundaries and expectations of visual effects in cinema.
With his latest film CJ7 (opening Mar. 7 through Sony Pictures Classics), Chow went back to one of his earliest cinematic inspirations, E.T., to pen a new twist on the classic "alien befriends a little boy" story. In CJ7, Chow shies away from his signature action-heavy storytelling and instead presents a more comedic, personal story of a father and son who are battling poverty and an unforgiving class structure. Chow plays Ti, a poor laborer who works tirelessly to pay the high tuition for his young son Dicky's (played by Xu Jiao) private school. Constantly mocked and bullied in school for his threadbare clothes and poor background, Dicky still remains proud of his father and their humble life. But one day he asks his father to buy him an expensive toy to finally impress his schoolmates. Unable to afford it, Ti instead comes upon an incredible "pet" on his worksite that is unlike anything ever seen before. In fact, it's a furry little critter that looks like something created out from Japanese pop art. He's dubbed CJ7 and in no time turns Ti and Dicky's life upside down.
A 3D modeled character, CJ7 shows emotions and integrates with the cast in shot after shot throughout the movie. Obviously, the ability to sell CJ7 as a "real" creature is integral to the success of Chow's story so for the first time he went to renowned Hong Kong visual effects house Menfond to create his creature and the rest of the visual effects in the film. Eddy Wong was hired as the visual effects supervisor on the film and he details to VFXWorld some of the challenges of bringing Chow's CJ7 to life.
Tara Bennett: How did Stephen Chow come to Menfond to work on CJ7?
Eddy Wong: Menfond is specialized in creating animation characters, and Stephen is confident with our work; therefore, he is here.
TB: Chow's last few films have all had some really special vfx work, so what was he looking to do with this blatantly sci-fi story? Was he trying to up the vfx stakes or was he looking for something very different than what he's done before?
EW: I assume every director wants new element in their work every time, (like) Stephen of course. The biggest difference from his previous work is that CJ7 is not just normal vfx. CJ7 itself is a character and during the whole process, the animators need to imagine themselves as CJ7. Every emotion is real from them.
TB: I had read Stephen was very inspired by E.T. in his youth, so during your initial meetings with him was he very specific in what he wanted or was there a lot of collaboration between all of you in developing the look of this film?
EW: Stephen does have an idea but he would never specify (laughs) or require the team to follow any characters. It is appreciated that he always gives us room for creativity and takes every suggestion seriously.
TB: How was it working with Stephen? He has a strong vision but he also understands how to shoot to have vfx -- so is he challenging to offer suggestions to or is he very open?
EW: I have known Stephen for quite a while, but this is the first time I've worked with him. Stephen knows how to shoot vfx well, but new technology pops up everyday and as a director there are already many things he needs to take care of. During the process, we take time to understand each other though. He put (his) trust in us and let us work for the best.
TB: How did the designs for CJ7 evolve and what software did you eventually model the character in?
EW: We did over a thousand sketches, and finished most of the work in Maya. After he confirmed the outlook of CJ7, we still have a long way to go, since it can't act. Every single move we needed to design with Stephen together and it took more than six months to create its "soul."
TB: Chow uses so many kinds of vfxin his films, so how big was this project from the start in terms of the number and scope of shots you and your team was going to have to produce?
EW: There were almost 400 shots.
TB: What was the bulk of shots you had to create for the film (i.e., modeling, wire removal, character creation)?
EW: The creation of Mr. CJ7!
TB: What were the most challenging aspects of the shoot? I read you worked long and hard on his fur -- what systems did you use to get his texture right?
EW: The fur is not an easy task!! Every hair is (created) with special handling. Some shots even took up to four months to deal with, in order to have the effect as we see it today.
TB: Did you create any proprietary software for this project and/or what systems did you use for the bulk of the shots?
EW: We hired a hair specialist, our friend Paolo Berto, for this project. He tailor-made a special program and because of him, every hair looks realistic on the screen.
TB: Aside from CJ7, was there a particular sequence that really gave you and your team the biggest problems?
EW: One of the shots, Stephen plays with CJ7 at home, is a very wide and long shot. It took up to four months to deal with.
TB: How many artists did you have working on this project and how long were you working on this film from those initial talks to when you turned in the final shots?
EW: From 10 heroes at the beginning to 150 gladiators during the final stage, we fight for two years!
TB: What are you most proud of on this film?
EW: It is my team's baby and we are proud simply that the audiences think CJ7 is cute!
Tara Bennett is an East coast-based writer whose articles have appeared in publications such as SCI FI Magazine, SFX and Lost Magazine. She is the author of the books 300: The Art of the Film and 24: The Official Companion Guide: Seasons 1-6.
