In 1895, brakes on the Granville-Paris Express failed and the locomotive careened out of control across 100 feet of the Gare Montparnasse concourse in Paris. It crashed through a 2-foot wall and plummeted over a balcony window onto the Place de Rennes more than 30 feet below.
Inspired by a real photograph of the train engine teetering on its nose following the crash, director Martin Scorsese — on a rare venture into a PG film — and visual effects supervisor Rob Legato sought to re-create the scene for a dream sequence in the 3-D adventure “Hugo.”
The train crash would ultimately be completed using a combination of digital visual effects by Pixomondo and incredibly detailed miniatures from New Deal Studios, a frequent Scorsese collaborator with credits on films such as “The Aviator” and “Shutter Island.”
Effects artists built the train digitally first, which allowed pieces to be engineered and milled to exact dimensions. A quarter-scale, 16-foot locomotive and carriages were then constructed from multiple materials, selected to withstand multiple takes of the train’s destructive path. Additional realistic touches were added including a functioning smoke stack.
To simulate the power of the train exiting the station to its ultimate resting place, real glass panes with hand-soldered lead were built for the station’s balcony windows.
The completed model train was then placed on rails with the baggage car connected to a skate driven by a pneumatic piston, a device usually used to throw full scale automobiles for stunt crashes.
The model was then propelled through the window and onto break-away flooring on the “street” below. It was filmed in slow motion to heighten the sense of the weight and impact of the effect.
Pieces of the train and balcony damaged in the first take were quickly replaced with replacement parts from a stand-by kit.
Even in today’s age of realistic computer simulations, the art of building miniatures for effects lives on. “There’s still a certain amount of imperfection and spontaneity that will happen,” said New Deal visual effects supervisor Matthew Gratzner. “That’s what makes those shots much more real.”
– Video by Scott Broock and Fxguide
Inspired by a real photograph of the train engine teetering on its nose following the crash, director Martin Scorsese — on a rare venture into a PG film — and visual effects supervisor Rob Legato sought to re-create the scene for a dream sequence in the 3-D adventure “Hugo.”
The train crash would ultimately be completed using a combination of digital visual effects by Pixomondo and incredibly detailed miniatures from New Deal Studios, a frequent Scorsese collaborator with credits on films such as “The Aviator” and “Shutter Island.”
Effects artists built the train digitally first, which allowed pieces to be engineered and milled to exact dimensions. A quarter-scale, 16-foot locomotive and carriages were then constructed from multiple materials, selected to withstand multiple takes of the train’s destructive path. Additional realistic touches were added including a functioning smoke stack.
To simulate the power of the train exiting the station to its ultimate resting place, real glass panes with hand-soldered lead were built for the station’s balcony windows.
The completed model train was then placed on rails with the baggage car connected to a skate driven by a pneumatic piston, a device usually used to throw full scale automobiles for stunt crashes.
The model was then propelled through the window and onto break-away flooring on the “street” below. It was filmed in slow motion to heighten the sense of the weight and impact of the effect.
Pieces of the train and balcony damaged in the first take were quickly replaced with replacement parts from a stand-by kit.
Even in today’s age of realistic computer simulations, the art of building miniatures for effects lives on. “There’s still a certain amount of imperfection and spontaneity that will happen,” said New Deal visual effects supervisor Matthew Gratzner. “That’s what makes those shots much more real.”
– Video by Scott Broock and Fxguide
