Login
X
Forgot your password?
Register
X

  • CGSociety :: Studio Profile

    10 April 2012, by Paul Hellard


    Sébastien Moreau founded Rodeo FX in 2006 and has since grown its creative and executive staff to 68 artists and personnel. The company’s physical size has expanded as well, from 2,000 to 14,000 sq. ft. He has taken his company to global recognition by working on only big budget films and commercial advertising. Moreau is Rodeo FX President and VFX Supervisor on the latest project of Relativity Media, Mirror Mirror.
     

    personal personal personal


    RodeoFX was brought in as part of the VFX Production to create more than 160 shots including the film’s opening shot which visually rolls the seasons in from summer to winter, a long shot of the castle and the cliff on which it stood, and the establishing zoom that reveals Snow White opening her bedroom doors. Also listed for Rodeo FX were CG crowds, the evil Queen’s chamber and all of the Snow White castle establishing shots. Tarsem Singh directed Mirror Mirror, and this is the second time working with Rodeo FX, the first project being last year’s Immortals, also by Relativity Media.

    With an impressive filmography of 40+ international blockbusters Rodeo FX has become a full VFX house. Known for their matte painting, environment and compositing, CG and concept art, Rodeo FX also houses VFX artists and camera match-move personnel. It has become a full VFX house covering every aspect of visual effects, delivering the highest quality 3D environments, matte painting and compositing in a highly competitive market.

    personal

    “We created all of the Castle establishing shots. There was a tremendous amount of camera movement in those shots. They were challenging and in the end – very rewarding. We’re very proud to have come in on time with such a short post production schedule. It was a priority for us to come in on budget without compromising the work, giving meticulous attention to creating fantasy worlds that appear real in a most magical way for the evil Queen, the Prince and Snow White.”

    Tom Wood, VFX Supervisor for the film, counted greatly on Rodeo FX’s ability to provide environments in a short amount of time. “The extremely short post period meant the VFX content of the film had to hit the creative direction of the production pretty much the first go. I was extremely comfortable giving Rodeo FX layouts and concepts and expecting the work to return at such a high standard that little guidance was needed from production. The director [Singh] and production designer [Tom Foden] could not have been happier with the results!”

    “The Rodeo FX team of artists created the fairy tale world for Snow White and the evil Queen. We used very complex environments, inspired by the art of Max Parrish,” said Rene Morel, internal art Director on Mirror Mirror for Rodeo FX. “Some of them included huge cumulus clouds, snowfall and complex 3D landscapes. We created millions of trees, the castle, CG crowds – each with challenges that we met in a very short amount of time. The look and feel of the work came from fantastic imaginations and the skill to make them real. I’d be happy to live in any one of those environments!”

     

    NEXT >

  •  

    Moreau

    Sébastien Moreau started as an online editor in television productions over 20 years ago; moved to Image-Buzz in Montreal working on commercials and music videos. Moreau moved on to Discreet Logic with Autodesk's Flame application for several years, refining his craftsmanship in flame artistry before moving on to Hybride Technologies.

    In 2000, Moreau went to Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to work as a senior compositor. They were using Flame and Inferno in the compositing department. Following a very successful run at ILM, Moreau went to New Zealand’s Weta to work on Two Towers - Lord of the Rings project in New Zealand. It was his love for his home, Montreal, that inspired Moreau’s decision to have a company of his own.

    Rodeo FX is located in the Old Montreal. In addition to a respected body of feature film work, Rodeo FX is a VFX facility for commercial advertising. The company’s film history includes an array of over 40 major motion pictures. Sébastien Moreau founded Rodeo FX in 2006.

    The first projects awarded to RodeoFX in the early days of the startup in Montreal was reliant on contacts in the VFX industry in the west of the continent. Tippett Studio needed a hand with a contract on Golden Compass. This was a great start and spurred the small office on to further projects like the latest Indiana Jones, nearly 300 shots in Source Code and The Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D. “We’ve been known from the start as compositors, so this is what we are specializing in,” explains Sebastien.

    personal personal personal personal personal
     

    Immortals

    With references from Caravaggio, colors from Rembrandt and the stylized rendition of characters which reminds one of 300, the Rodeo FX CEO agrees with the reaction to one of the studio’s latest prizes, with exceptions. “It’s always suggested that we push the look, so it is more convincing. Every shot has a matte painting behind it, each has the full elements, a big goal. When we went to LA to select the artists to come onboard, it was very much like a casting opportunity. At full tilt, there were 37 artists working on the show,” says Moreau.

    personalpersonalpersonalpersonalpersonalpersonalpersonal


    There were other projects on the go at the same time at Rodeo FX. Commercial work, print work and a selection of TV work. The studio has a full studio license of NUKE for compositing, and Softimage and Maya for animation, and the Adobe Suite for everything else. “We had the entire workflow represented in the software department, for roto- to match moving, matte painting, textures for environments, modeling. Also, when there is collaboration with other studios, the Rodeo FX Montreal office is always connected using CineSync.”

     

    This text will be replaced



     



    A non-exhaustive list of Rodeo FX projects over the last year or so include Mirror Mirror, Immortals, Twilight:Eclipse, Red Tails, Source Code, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Underworld: Awakening, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Gulliver’s Travels, and many more.


    Related Links


    Rodeo FX
     
    < PREV MORE ARTICLES

     

blog comments powered by Disqus

The Society

The CGSociety is the most respected and accessible global organization for creative digital artists. The CGS supports artists at every level by offering a range of services to connect, inform, educate and promote digital artists worldwide

Contact | Privacy | Advertising | About CGS

© 2002-2013 | The CGSociety - All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced unless for personal use without prior written permission from The CGSociety.