Fantasy to Feature: Behind the VFX of "The Yinyang Master"
Tau Films Client-Side VFX Supervisor, Justin Jones, dissects the sheer enormity of VFX work for Weiran Li’s, “The Yinyang Master” (2021). While providing an inside look into the global workflows, Justin recalls the challenges of delivering VFX shots in a post-production schedule that was frequently upended by global COVID-19 lockdowns.
Tell us about the crew logistics of The Yinyang Master.
Throughout the course of this project the size of the crew fluctuated. It was a long run with multiple deadlines that would cause the vendors to either expand or contract depending on the scenario. I had eight vendors spread across three time zones when I was brought on to the film with CKF Pictures. What was interesting about working through the pandemic of 2020, was that I was never able to get on a plane to visit the vendor locations, so the exact number of crew per vendor was unknown to me. The best gauge I had was the flow of submissions each week as the show progressed. Each week we would discuss the needs of the overall scope of work, as well as the immediate concerns. The vendors would pull in additional support as needed, and the results would then show up in the following weeks.
Was there a sequence that served as a benchmark for the VFX in The Yinyang Master ?
Tau Films had a bulk of the most complicated character animation shots, as well as some difficult FX work. Along with that, they built many of the CG assets that were shared across multiple vendors on the film. All of the work that Tau completed ended up looking great. One of the first sequences that came together nicely was the section where Qing Ming and his friends ambush Boya while he's transporting the treasure through the forest. This sequence, called “Mountain Forest Highway” (MFH), had multiple CG characters (some with fur, others needing muscle simulation), all of them interacting with live action characters and elements within the scene. The final look came together relatively early in the process, and became a good benchmark for where the film needed to be.
The Yinyang Master (2021)
What was the most difficult component of the “Mountain Forest Highway” (MFH) sequence?
I would say that the most difficult aspect of many of the shots was capturing the emotion and the essence of the characters that the director had in mind for each one. The story remained in flux throughout the entire post production schedule as well, so being able to iterate quickly was imperative. Translating what worked well in an animation pass, once it went through simulation and final rendering, became tricky for a few characters. Tau's ability to dig deep into what worked and what was problematic as the show went on, built a solid workflow that allowed them to be nimble as the work transformed beneath them. In the end, they were successful in bringing to life memorable characters for the film.
The Yinyang Master (2021)
Can you share some of the lessons learned from the post-production?
This film was a massive undertaking from the start, as having a pandemic shut down different parts of the globe while we collaborated across continents, slammed a wrench in the system that could not have been anticipated. The fact that the film is getting released now is a testament to the passion and drive of all the people involved, artists and production alike. It looks amazing, and while it took longer than expected, I feel that the achievement is large. Communication is an area that is of utmost importance, and needs to be continually assessed and scrutinized, so that it can evolve and adapt along with the changing environment. We had moments where we struggled with communicating properly between all of the people involved, but over time we crafted workflows to overcome this issue.
As the work continues to be spread around the world and more people work remotely, global collaboration will be an area that I bet will have a lot of focus and growth in the technology used so that we can create together more efficiently. There's so much talent all over the world, being able to tap into that and work together was so much fun, I'm excited about the future of VFX.
-Interview by Ming Qiu
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The Yinyang Master (2021) on IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12151820/
The Yinyang Master (2021) on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/81403965/
Behind The Scenes-Tau Films https://vimeo.com/showcase/8229569
About Tau Films, LLC (2021)
Tau Films is an international creative content and visual effects group formed by a diverse team of exceptional artists, technologists, and visionaries. We are known for creative solutions in an ever-changing landscape of story, media and content, and we service high-end feature film, theme park, commercial, television, special venue, and museum clients in the global marketplace.