No other Latvian movie, aside from DEFENDERS OF RIGA, has boasted so many special effects and computer graphics, a first for the country's brief but growing cinematic tradition. DEFENDERS OF RIGA is Latvia's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. It might surprise people to learn that many of these special effects were created in Latvia by relative novices Maris Abolins and Andris Pakalns.
Three years ago, vfx master Robin Gaerlan Aristorenas was brought on board His filmography credits include such well-known titles as GLADIATOR (2000), CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN (2001), BRIDGET JONES' DIARY (2001) and more than 20 other films. Aristorenas, together with the film's producer, Andrejs E?is, started looking for computer graphics specialists and found advertising agency Film Angels Studio, which differs from other advertiser companies for its cinematographic inclination.
Maris and Andris, who both worked at the agency, were already accustomed to using 3D graphics for advertising, and it was decided to try both as modelers. They then made 3D models for each of the objects needed -- including airplanes, cars, bridges and houses.
Previously, an arduous research process was completed by production members, combing through archives and libraries, consulting with historians and specialists in order to create a historically accurate 1919 setting for the film.
The film is an historic drama and epic love story set in the post Great War era, chronicling the simultaneous fight for independence and the great love of one soldier. It focuses on an attack on the capital city, Riga, which disrupts the wedding day of two longtime lovers, Elza and Martin. After already having been torn apart by the Great War, Martin must reluctantly leave his beloved for a second time to fight for his country's independence and freedom, when patriotism and love collide.
Old Riga and Pardaugava were already under construction by artists, and Andris and Maris created detailed 3D models. All of these models have been preserved and can be used in the future -- production staff joked that the film DEFENDERS OF RIGA 2 would be two times cheaper and would be made twice as fast because the CG base has already been completed.
When shooting of DEFENDERS OF RIGA began, management of digital effects was taken over by leading Russian company, Cinemateka, which has worked on recent Russian films TURKISH GAMBIT, THE FALL OF AN EMPIRE and more. They also served as valuable mentors for Andris and Maris. Having special effects teams in both Russia and Prague was another first for Latvian cinema.
DEFENDERS OF RIGA made good use of CG, employing to created boats, bridges, military planes, chimney smoke, violent soldier deaths, crowds of people, and the flowing waters of the Daugava River, among other things.
Some components of the same scene (especially action sequences) were filmed separately, and later combined. For instance, pyrotechnicians first added extra cement to create dust clouds for the blowing up of a bridge; then digitally inserted it into a previously-filmed scene of the bridge over the river, with people, thus creating the effect of an explosion that harmed hundreds of people. These effects were also utilized to make the church dome and town square look more realistic and proportionate.
The city of Old Riga was created from scratch in a meadow some 60 kilometers outside of the present-day Riga. It was destroyed by crew members to simulate wartime destruction and has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Latvia. Next up for visitors: a virtual walk through Old Riga, created by Andris and Maris, which is currently under development. A 3D dome square with all the surrounding houses can already be walked through and viewed from different points of view in their computer.
Another technique the two CG specialists learned was crowd animation, commonly seen in American movies, in which a crowd of only 100 people is filmed against a greenscreen, and then digitally enhanced to make it look like a crowd of thousands. Also, in a scene where the movie's protagonist appears to be balancing on a church steeple, the actor is in fact walking on a board only a few feet off the ground. It was seamlessly integrated by computer into a replica of the church roof.
DEFENDERS OF RIGA was directed by Aigars Grauba.
