Category: 2023. The Killer

Wylie Co.: The Killer VFX Breakdowns

January 9, 2024
Wylie Co.

The Killer digi-double visual effects sequence & breakdown. This is our first of many breakdown reels we’re going to post on X for our VFX work on The Killer.

For this particular sequence in The Killer, Eric Barba, Peter Mavromates and David Fincher approached us with an extremely difficult task, to create close-up, photoreal digi-double shots of Michael Fassbender riding a scooter.

The quality of the work had to seamlessly cut back to back between live-action shots of The Killer on set. Extra complexity was added because the original plan to shoot these shots on a virtual stage didn’t live up to what Fincher had envisioned.

Because of this, there were no HDRI’s or usable array footage and sparse reference photos. The lighting and lookdev had to be dialed in by eye. We began with the Killer asset, adding fine facial detail and cloth simulations.

We then used photogrammetry to assist with cascading streetlight timing and travel speed. The final result was high res meticulously crafted nearly full CG shots cut into the live-action sequence with the ultimate goal of nobody noticing.

Advancements in software, hardware, and artist skill enabled us to create The Killer digi-double with a team of 7 artists using Lenovo workstations, AMD processors, NVidia GPUs, Nuke, Maya, Houdini & Redshift software. And months of time!

All of our work in David Fincher’s The Killer involved digi-doubles. Here are 3 breakdowns of digi-double gore that we provided for the film. Full CG shots, cut between live-action shots. They include particle fx, fluid dynamics, various hair, cloth, and bone simulations, and good old-fashioned animation by hand.

Visual Effects By: Wylie Co. Culver City, California

Visual Effects Supervisor: Jake Maymudes
Visual Effects Executive Producer: Kris Drenzek
Digital Effects Supervisor: Josh Hatton
Visual Effects Animation Supervisor: TJ Burke
Lighting & FX Artist: Liam Jurkowich
Animation Lead: Sashdy Arvelo
Animators: Li Li, Taylor Cooke
Compositor: Nick Kaye
Lookdev Artists: Bora Jurisic, Richard Bridge
3D Tracking Artists: Tommy Ibanez, Nallely Gomez
Pipeline TD: Roberto Cadena Vega
Coordinator: Sofia Beroud

“David Initially Said, ‘What if We Do the Whole Movie Handheld?’”: DP Erik Messerschmidt on The Killer

Matt Mulcahey
January 11, 2024
Filmmaker

The Killer begins with an assassin (Michael Fassbender) in a half-completed WeWork office awaiting the arrival of his latest target. As he waits, he details his vocational mantras for the audience in voiceover: stick to the plan. Don’t improvise. Never yield an advantage. Forbid empathy. Fassbender proceeds to miss his shot and spends the rest of the film breaking each and every one of those tenets in the chaotic aftermath.

Many of the pieces written about the film have pointed out perceived similarities between the film’s methodical, detail-oriented titular character and the perfectionist reputation of its director, David Fincher. However, what makes Fincher’s approach to filmmaking so fascinating is the way it combines the fluid with the obsessively regimented. For The Killer, the illusion of handheld camerawork, anamorphic lens characteristics and glass filters were all created in post, where they could be minutely modulated. Conversely, Fincher often prefers to design coverage on the day after blocking rehearsals and is open to the spontaneous comedic possibilities of the cheese grater.

On Fincher’s Mindhunter, Mank and now The Killer, cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt has been the director’s partner in that duality. The Oscar-winning DP graced this column for a fifth time to discuss his latest work.

Read the full interview

“The Killer” Costume Designer Cate Adams Makes Michael Fassbender Blend In

Jack Giroux
January 10, 2024
Below the Line

Costume designer Cate Adams convinces audiences a guy like Michael Fassbender can walk through the world unnoticed. That’s not an easy task. The costume designer makes the titular character in David Fincher‘s The Killer an assassin who blends into his surroundings, almost like death himself in the big cities.

It’s a Fincher film in which the craftsmanship shines without drawing attention away from the story at hand.

Or, in the case of The Killer, the character. It’s more about point-of-view than plot, thanks to Andrew Kevin Walker‘s cold yet intimate, clockwork-like script as well as the impeccable work from crew members such as Adams. She makes the killer’s world and his wardrobe more tangible, both mundane and poppy.

Recently, the costume designer spoke with Below the Line about her beautiful, subtle work in David Fincher’s latest film.

Read the full interview

The Killer, Ferrari Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt on Reuniting with Fincher and Shooting for Michael Mann

Edward Douglas
January 9, 2024
Below the Line

The last few years have been a whirlwind for Erik Messerschmidt, ASC. He had been working his way through the camera department for nearly two decades, including as a gaffer on David Fincher’s Gone Girl, before he began acting as DoP on a number of high-profile shows, one of them being Fincher’s Mindhunter for Netflix.

When Fincher decided to make Mank, his biopic about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, as played by Gary Oldman, he brought Messersschmidt along with him to shoot the film in black and white. The movie was slightly hobbled by the pandemic that kept it from playing theatrically, but Messerschmidt won the Oscar for Cinematography, as well as the feature film category for the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

Last year, Messerschmidt reunited with Fincher for his adaptation of the graphic novel, The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender as an assassin on a streak of vengeance after a job goes wrong. He also teamed up with the great Michael Mann to shoot his racing biopic, Ferrari, starring Adam Driver.

Below the Line spoke with the cinematographer a few months back when he was in Poland for EnergaCAMERIMAGE, although we got on Zoom with him from the States.

Read the full interview

EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival 2023: Erik Messerschmidt Interview

January 9, 2024
EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival

Watch our interview with Erik Messerschmidt – famous cinematographer, who presented the film Ferrari directed by Michael Mann during this year’s edition of EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival. We also discuss his collaborations with David Fincher in Mindhunter and The Killer.

In Conversation: David Fincher and The Crew of “The Killer” in New York

Tomris Laffly
October 28, 2023

David Fincher discusses the making of The Killer with Sound Designer Ren Klyce, Editor Kirk Baxter, and Writer Andrew Kevin Walker, after the screening for the press in New York. Hosted by Tomris Laffly.

(Video clips recorded with a phone from the audience, with not very good audio and, for some reason, with each video clip edited in twice).

In Conversation: David Fincher and Michael Fassbender with Rian Johnson on “The Killer” at the Academy Museum

Rian Johnson
November 15, 2023
Netflix: Behind the Streams

Director David Fincher and actor Michael Fassbender discuss making The Killer with moderator Rian Johnson at The Academy Museum in Los Angeles.

Watch The Killer on Netflix

In Conversation: David Fincher and The Crew of “The Killer” in New York

October 27, 2023
Netflix: Behind the Streams

David Fincher discusses the making of The Killer with Writer Andrew Kevin Walker, Editor Kirk Baxter, and Sound Designer Ren Klyce, after the “Tastemaker” screening for The Academy at the Whitby Hotel in New York.

Watch The Killer on Netflix

In Conversation: David Fincher and The Crew of “The Killer” at the Academy Museum

Elvis Mitchell
October 24, 2023
Netflix: Behind the Streams

Director David Fincher, Editor Kirk Baxter, Writer Andrew Kevin Walker, Sound Designer Ren Klyce, and Director of Photography Erik Messerschmidt, discuss their film The Killer with moderator Elvis Mitchell at The Academy Museum in Los Angeles.

Watch the conversation with subtitles in French, Spanish, and Italian.

Watch The Killer on Netflix

David Fincher and Sound Designer Ren Klyce at The Egyptian Theater: “The Killer” Screening and Q&A

Froilan Fuentes

Jim Hemphill
November 9, 2023
West Coast POPCast (YouTube)

The Egyptian Theatre re-opened in Hollywood with a special screening of The Killer, followed by a Q&A with Director David Fincher and Sound Designer Ren Klyce hosted by Jim Hemphill.