Behind the Scenes: Skyline Produced In Less Than A Year

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Last Updated: Monday, 07 May 2018 13:28

Written by Lupe Haas

Made for less than the well-received District 9 movie, Colin and Gary Strause set out to make their own low-special effects movie outside the studio system by self-finacing the movie and using their company Hydraulx which has provided visual effects for Avatar, Iron Man 2, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and 300.  CineMovie talked to Hydraulx's Supervising Animator Joel Sevilla and Title and Motion Designer Federico Aragon for a behind the scenes look at the making of the low-budget science fiction film.

In-House

The filmmakers behind SKYLINE were able to pull off a low-budget science fiction film using their visual effects house Hydraulx and other resources at their disposal. "We were able to do it relatively cheap because the guys own the effects house" explains Joel Sevilla, SKYLINE's Supervising Animator who has worked on The Hulk, Wanted, Fantastic Four, and on the brothers directorial debut with Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. When Joel's bosses decided to write, produce, and direct an alien invasion movie, the entire staff pulled together as a "family", working 90 hour work weeks, Joel told CineMovie.  Many of the Hydraulx staff took on multiple tasks such as Federico Aragon, Hydraulx's Title and Graphic Designer, who worked on set during the eight-week shoot on Video Playback.

The Strause Brothers even kept the location shoots within their resources by using one of the brothers Marina del Rey apartmentlocated down the street from Hydraulx. During the eight-week shoot at the apartment proved difficult for the crew who had to take off their shoes and be "extra careful" around the bosses home, according to Federico. "It's not a set, its an actual place.  We had to be quiet because of neighbors."

Small Unit Production

On location in the Marina Del Rey apartment, the production kept the shoot to a minimum with a small unit and no extra "fluffy" accommodations for the actors or crew. "It was a very indie mind set," said Joel. For most special effect movies, green screens backgrounds are common but the filmmakers avoided using green screen except for an end sequence shot in a small studio afterwards. Given the action from the trailer, it's hard to imagine how this was accomplished.

Joel previsualed and storyboarded scenes to predetermine where the aliens will be "in relation to the humans" using a 3D coputer layout of the apartment. He often visited the set to check the production photography would "work well" with what they were animating" back at Hydraulx.  To establish the eyeline for the actors,  a cut out cardboard on sticks would be used or for one scene, a green screen suit was employed for another but for the most part, the filmmakers and their crew instructed the actors where to look.  "Hey, the alien is going to be over there.  Look that way.  They really had to use their acting," joked Joel. 

Super high-end RED digital imaging cameras were used during the production which also kept cost down and speeded up the process of getting the footage to the Hydraulx animators.  If they had gone with film, the telecine process would have slowed down the post production stage.

Post Production

While they were shooting, Joel and the staff of 10-12 animators worked on the footage coming in. Once production wrapped, the animators, 30 compositers, lighting, 8 renderers, and 30 modelers were hard at work creating and inserting the visual effects. Joel animated the alien creatures, the end sequence, and the aeriel battle (see trailer).  Naturally the post production took the longest because of the visual effects.  Joel describes the process of inserting the alien action into the photography as "painstaking" using rotoscoping each frame to isolate the foreground and actors which he compared to cutting out with scissors but with a computer.  "You put them on their own little thing and then put an alien between them and the background."    

The post production for SKYLINE was relatively short compared to an average studio film.  Joel attributes the speed of the post production work to the director's knowledge of the business and their hands on work ethic.  "Colin was sitting down next to me on a computer.  He does look development and the lighting for the aliens.  He did a lot of the R&D for final look of film. They were both very active throughout the entire post process."

Having the directors at Hydraulx also helped the approval process move along quickly.  When visual effects house work on studio movies, there is a rank for approving work which starts with the Visual Effects Supervisor who presents the work to the studio director.  Feedback takes days, slowing the process, says Joel. With SKYLINE, the staff went directly to the director for approvals which Joel attributes as one reasons for the quick turnaround.  

Promotional Materials

In most studio films, the creation of trailers and behind the scenes are outsourced to various outside companies but in the case of SKYLINE, Hydraulx also kept that task in-house.  Once Federico Aragon finished his on set job, he returned to Hydraulx and immediately began working on SKYLINE's titles and graphics.  As the Title and Motion Designer for Hydraulx, Federico worked on the lights & flares for the creatures, the film's title and trailer.  Federico whose background is in production welcomed the chance to work in the production phase in addition to his usual job in post production.

When SKYLINE began production, the film did not have studio distribution but soon SKYLINE was picked up for distribution by Universal Pictures. Starting with Comic Con last summer, the studio has put all their efforts into promoting SKYLINE with a massive promotional campaign on television and outdoor advertising. The marketing of SKYLINE probably costs more than the film.  

With a budget under $10 million, SKYLINE will surely be a hit at the box office. The Strause Brothers and the Hydraulx staff have started working on two more films for a possible franchise, according to Joel.  "Moving forward from this point, this is going to be the way it's going to be for us.  We're going to try to continue this model and make super cool movies and do it relatively inexpensive."

Both Joel and Federico are very proud of the film and expect their long hours to pay off when SKYLINE opens November 12.  If the film has a huge opening weekend, SKYLINE might set precedence for future special effects movie.

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