Baillie Takes Hollywood On A “Flight”

WEBN Staff Photo

Kevin Baillie knows how to make smashing effects…literally.

Baillie is the Visual Effects Supervisor for the Oscar nominated “Flight” and worked to make Director Robert Zemeckis’ vision a reality.

“My job as a visual effects supervisor on ‘Flight’ was really to start with the production when the movie was a script. And to start to plan with (them) the Special Effects Supervisor Michael Lanteree and Director Robert Z. in particular how we’re going to create these visual effects,” Baille told WEBN in Los Angeles.

He went on to say “And then about four or five months after the movie was shot, to sort of execute those visual effects and really bring the whole movie into the form that you see on the screen.”

Baillie and the “Flight” team’s work did not go unnoticed this award season. The special effects team snagged a nomination from the Visual Effects Society (VES) for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture.

The team single handedly executed the plane crash that shaped the course of the film.

“To create a visual effects sequence like the plane crash is a huge challenge, for sure. I think in the plane crash sequence alone are probably 300 shots in ‘Flight,’ 300 individual cuts. That’s a lot of stuff to keep track of even if it’s easy,” Baillie explained.

But the crash wasn’t the only effect the “Flight” crew had to worry about.

“We had to create digital clouds to also put out the windows and layer those all together in a process called compositing to create the final result. So there’s a lot of different layers that go into it and a lot of different processes that go into making a successful visual at the end of the day, “ said Baillie.

The “Flight” plane scene may have lost the VES major award to “The Impossible” but Baillie could not have been more honored to be a part of such a visionary team.

“So even though “Flight” wasn’t a very visual effects heavy movie, it was one where it made really good use of visual effects, which is one of the reasons I’m so proud of it.

Baillie is continuing to work with his collaborative visual effects group,  Atomic Fiction, with fellow “Flight” team members Ryan Tudhope and Jim Gibbs.