The Amateur from 20th Century Studios stars Rami Malek as genius CIA agent Charles Heller, who embarks on a dangerous global journey to track down the terrorist group responsible for an attack that killed his wife (Rachel Brosnahan). Directed by James Hawes, the film also stars Caitriona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Laurence Fishburne and Julianne Nicholson, among others.
Special effects supervisor Gareth Wingrove (pictured) helped to conceptualize a number of practical effects for the film, including a collapsing swimming pool that released more than 17,000 gallons of water. He was also responsible for building a fan out of soft foam that would then explode in Malik’s face during the shoot. Here, he shares insight into his role and the goal of keeping everyone safe during the production of dangerous and risky effects sequences.
What did this film require from a special effects standpoint and how did you determine what would be shot practically in-camera vs. post VFX?
“The main SFX sequence in The Amateur was the breaking glass swimming pool scene. In the early pre-production meetings with our director James Hawes, VFX supervisor Jan Maroske, executive producer JJ Hook, and DOP Martin Ruhe, we discussed the SFX/VFX collaboration and what we could achieve practically and safely, and what could look visually stunning. This effect was particularly challenging as it hasn’t been achieved successfully before.”
Can you breakdown one or two effects scenes that were shot practically?
“For the pool breaking we decided to build a ‘hero’ section of the glass swimming pool that would feature for the practical break. We needed to see the interaction of the water and performer together, falling in unison, as the pool gives way around him, both out of the side of the pool, and as the glass breaks underneath. We achieved this by building two water tanks in our North London warehouse. One tank was our water-resistant, custom-built concrete holding/catch tank. This was exclusively designed to hold over 200,000 liters of water and to withstand the large impact of the water falling from the glass pool at height. This tank was also repurposed for the street-level water impacts, shot at a later date. The swimming pool structure was built on steel stilts within the concrete tank, with the pool tank constructed out of both steel and glass. This pool tank was designed to hold and drop 66,000 liters of water. We also built a smaller 15,000-liter test tank in our exterior parking lot, for our breaking glass tests.”
How did you collaborate with the DP and VFX supervisor?
“I really enjoyed the collaboration between Martin and Jan, as we discussed and planned in detail all the different elements needed to make the sequence work for each other. It was critical where we placed glass panels for the lighting to match the shoot location, and we worked together closely throughout the process of designing and executing this effect. The top tank was designed with the hero camera position in mind.”
A practical shot like this must have been very challenging?
“The sheer size of the section that was needed to collapse convincingly, and the volume of water that instantly dropped with a stunt performer swimming - and to achieve this safely and spectacularly was definitely a challenge I had not faced before. I am not aware of anyone else attempting this either. We used many practical SFX elements, combined together to give us one effect. Compressed air mortars, water pumps, wire work, pyrotechnics, breaking glass, mold making to create glass shard pieces, jet skis and many other techniques I have learned over the years came together to give us our final result.”
Is there a cost consideration to shooting practically vs. digital VFX?
“I believe wherever possible, SFX and VFX should collaborate, because if something can be achieved practically in-camera, it should be attempted by both departments together. It’s important that the SFX and VFX supervisors are synced in together and on the same page, because if combined correctly, we can achieve great results together. There are some effects that just can’t be achieved physically, but there’s also much that can, and using our pool effect as an example, with the right production backing, planning and with the will to create practically from all of the department heads involved, the quality of the effect can shine through, and affordably too!”