Axis Studios was brought on by Sony Pictures to create photo-real environments, trains, cars and a wide range of weather effects on over 250 shots of their feature, A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks.
As the main VFX vendor, Axis joined the team in pre-production to plan the train station sequence, shot on a street location in Pittsburg, by providing technical pre-vis based on the script and storyboards. This provided a sense of scale and timings to assist principal photography. Ultimately, the team created a raised photo-real station and trains where only a small section of the platform set was constructed. In addition, a full CG estate was created to be placed at the end of Otto’s street and seen throughout the film. A wide range of snow and weathering was also created by Axis' FX team to add to a sense of bleakness and to ensure continuity across a shoot where the weather was changeable to say the least! Various other supporting effects were also created such as Digital Matte Paintings and CG cars.
