I want India to be respected for its work - Charles
International visual effects wiz Charles Darby has been in the industry for 14 years and has worked on more than 47 films. One of the pioneers of digital matte paintings, Charles is currently the CEO and Creative Director of EyeQube Studios in Mumbai, which is an Eros International company working on a number of projects including the much awaited Aladdin and Veer.
Darby's work includes Academy and BAFTA award-winning work on films such as Titanic, The Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Fifth Element, Minority Report and Drona. In an interview, Darby speaks about the visual effects in Sujoy Ghosh's Aladdin, his views on the Indian film industry, future projects and more...
Tell
us
about
your
visual
effects
(vfx)
work
for
Aladdin?
We
have
over
1,500
vfx
shots
and
that
includes,
quite
easily,
the
most
complex
vfx
ever
produced
in
India.
What
kind
of
shots
does
the
film
have?
It's
a
gamut
of
work
actually.
It's
everything
from
3D
city
shots,
2D
shots,
character
animation
and
high-end
compositing.
It's
everything
you
can
imagine
a
large
FX
driven
film
to
have.
Is
there
any
other
studio
working
on
Aladdin?
I
have
designed
all
the
shots
in
the
film
and
EyeQube
has
created
all
the
CG
elements
used
throughout
the
movie.
We
have
commissioned
one
other
company
to
help
composite
our
elements
for
one
sequence.
We
supervise
the
work
and
make
sure
our
quality
standards
are
met.
Is
a
sequel
in
the
pipeline?
I
think
Eros
has
already
green
lit
a
sequel.
I
am
sure
the
performance
of
the
first
Aladdin
is
going
to
be
the
most
important
thing.
But,
Eros
is
so
happy
with
Aladdin
so
far,
that
they
are
already
having
the
second
one
written.
How
do
you
see
vfx
integrating
in
Bollywood
films?
We
don't
deal
with
many
clients
but
only
large
shows.
If
a
show
comes
to
us,
they
kind
of
adhere
to
the
manner
in
which
we
work.
So,
if
we
are
involved
in
pre-production,
then
it's
the
kind
of
show
we
would
be
involved
with.
Not
every
show,
here
in
Bollywood
is
run
like
that
but
those
who
want
really
western
quality
high-end
vfx,
and
the
ones
that
don't
mind
planning,
are
the
ones
that
we
are
going
for.
With Aladdin we have been very fortunate because the director, Sujoy Ghosh has given us a lot of leeway to do our job, and that makes a huge difference.
Did
you
also
work
on
the
pre-production
and
pre-visualization?
Yes.
Even
before
EyeQube
had
an
office,
I
had
been
on
Aladdin
for
almost
two
years.
How
much
of
vfx
work
has
been
completed?
I
can't
give
you
a
percentage.
Essentially,
I
don't
say
something
is
final
until
it
looks
really
good.
EyeQube
was
also
involved
in
outsourcing
work
with
other
projects.
We
produced
300
shots
for
Drona.
We
have
already
started
with
pre
production
for
vfx
shots
for
Anil
Sharma's
Veer.
Aladdin
is
slated
to
be
the
biggest
vfx
film
since
Drona
and
Love
Story
2050
in
2008.
How
are
you
making
sure
that
the
quality
of
visual
effects
meets
international
standards?
Every
day
is
a
fight.
It's
very
difficult
to
get
western
style
quality
here
because
very
few
companies
care
enough
or
have
enough
time
and
desire
to
make
that
kind
of
work.
Ultimately,
no
one
really
cares
how
many
shots
are
there
in
the
film.
All
they
care
about
is
how
it's
done
at
the
end.
The other thing they care about is the story. If it doesn't have a good story, it doesn't matter. It's quite like saying that this film has great sound but awful story. Part of what we do is to make a good story look bigger and better.
Is
the
story
more
important
that
the
visual
effects?
The
story
is
always
more
important.
But
if
you
take
a
good
story
and
give
it
great
vfx,
it
will
be
a
very
memorable
piece
of
filmmaking.
But
you
can't
put
great
vfx
on
a
mediocre
story
and
make
it
work.
A
mediocre
story
is
always
a
mediocre
story.
Tell
us
about
any
challenging
shot
in
Aladdin.
We
have
a
completely
3D
computer
generated
(CG)
city
and
landscape
with
over
3,000
houses,
all
modeled
and
textured.
(It's
been)
very
difficult.
When
you
have
full
CG,
there
is
nothing
real,
there
is
nothing
to
support
it
on
the
screen.
We
have
a
lot
of
shots
of
the
city
and
some
of
the
most
complex
shots
any
fx
house
anywhere
in
the
world
would
attempt.
And
no
one
in
India
would
ever
attempt
that
kind
of
look.
So
far,
that's
the
most
complicated
shot.
What
is
there
for
the
audience
in
Aladdin?
It's
a
good
story,
it's
entertaining.
So
even
if
you
take
out
the
vfx,
it's
still
a
fun
film.
If
you
put
the
vfx
in,
it's
a
really
big
film.
And
that's
the
key.
In
some
films
if
you
take
out
all
the
fancy
digital
intermediate
(DI),
all
the
music
and
vfx,
you
are
left
with
very
little.
And
I
think
a
lot
of
producers
are
realizing
that
the
story
is
actually
important.
There
is
no
point
in
having
visual
effects
for
just
visual
effects'
sake;
they
need
to
be
there
to
support
the
story.
With Aladdin, we had to support the story and make the film possible because there are certain sequences in the film which would be nearly impossible to do. So vfx allows you to tell a certain story, they're the kind of shots which were very difficult to have shot.
How
many
people
are
working
on
the
vfx
as
of
now?
I
have
200
staff
of
which
180
people
working
on
just
Aladdin,
which
is
different
because
EyeQube
is
not
doing
adverts
here
or
TV
there.
We
are
doing
pre
production
on
Veer
and
rest
of
the
company
is
on
Aladdin,
24
hours
a
day.
So,
it's
a
much
more
focused
and
planned
process.
99% of people in my company are Indian artists, but what is different is the culture we have created in the company. We make sure that the artists really understand the look and the feel of the shot, and nothing gets finalized without me liking it personally.
Has
the
recession
affected
EyeQube?
No
one
in
the
world
is
recession
proof.
My
number
one
job
is
quality
and
as
long
as
I
keep
my
quality
extremely
high,
then
my
competition
-
domestic
or
international
-
has
a
problem.
If
you
do
mediocre
work,
you
are
always
bidding
against
someone
else.
There's
always
someone
who
will
bid
lower
that
you
and
a
producer
who
will
pay
less.
But,
if
your
quality
is
high,
people
will
pay
for
that.
And
they
will
pay
internationally,
if
they
want
to
send
work
to
India.
India is not known or respected for outsourcing good quality vfx work but if they see Aladdin and if they appreciate it, I can get good budgets from these guys and they can save money. So in a recession, that's a pretty good deal. Therefore I only aim at quality.
What
is
your
understanding
of
the
Indian
industry?
As
long
as
Indian
producers
and
directors
focus
on
the
story,
it
will
be
good.
With
Aladdin,
I
really
want
India
to
be
respected
for
its
work.
I
don't
want
people
in
the
West
to
think
that
India
cannot
produce
good
vfx.
And
I
want
my
artistes
to
like
what
they
did.
On
future
projects
We
will
work
on
anything
which
I
like
the
sound
of.
If
the
work
is
interesting,
the
budget
is
OK
and
we
have
time
to
do
it,
we
will
do
it.
We
have
remained
fairly
quiet
in
the
past
few
months
and
want
our
work
to
speak
for
itself.