‘Roma’ by Alfonso Cuarón: interview with VFX Producer Bryce Nielsen

Bryce Nielsen is VFX Producer: he worked also on Cloud Atlas, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Dark Phoenix and Dumbo.

Q. You worked as the Visual Effects producer in the movie “Roma”. Can you tell us about the professional experience, please? 

A. Roma is set in 1970/71 in Mexico City. Since this time there have been 3 devastating earthquakes that changed the landscape of the city forever. Our first challenge was to replicate the areas where the film takes place. This was achieved by a mixture of Alfonso’s near photographic memory, the production designer Eugenio Caballero’s architectural prowess and any historical photos we could find, that would allow us to recreate the areas as close to this time as possible. We used a mixture of projecting real images onto 3d models for the buildings and a combination of lighting techniques, textures and grading that helped us create the invisible effects. 

Look at the Gallery: Movie Roma

Q. The movie received ten nominations at the 91st Academy Awards. What do you think about this success? 

A. The 10 Oscar nominations, alongside the 7 Bafta nominations was a feeling words can’t describe. The movie’s success comes down to Alfonso’s genius as an all round filmmaker and story teller. He has the most amazing vision, incredible eye for detail, but also it’s his humbleness and genuine care of the people that come into his life, that I think the Academy and people all over the world are relating to. Being behind the scenes, I can say that so many long lasting friendships were formed on this movie because we believed in helping Alfonso share is childhood story and you see it in every frame and hear it in every piece of sound design. 

Q. What were the most difficult visual effects to achieve and why?

A. The entire movie was shot in Mexico, however Post Production was done in London. Moving Picture Company (MPC) was used to complete the invisible effects on Roma. We had a lot to overcome on this show, due to being black and white and needing to replicate Mexico City exactly how it looked in the 1970’s. Two shots that stand out are the Baja California, Insurgentes intersection and the Hospital Medico Nacional Siglo XXI. The intersection reveal was shot on a purposely built film set as nothing was left after the earthquake. Every building, street accessory, trams, trucks and props were rebuilt with a mixture of real and 3d elements. The Hospital was also badly destroyed and because of the scale of the buildings, these were exceptionally hard to place in the shot seamlessly due to the scale and the amount of detail that was needed to look real.

Roma

Q. The movie “Roma” alternates drama and realism. Do you love this genre? 

A. Yes, these are the films I am most passionate about. I’m a big fan of unique stories told by creative directors. The reason I wanted to work with Alfonso was because of “Children of Men”. This film is still one of my all time favorites. 

Q. What is your favorite movie?

A. Others are Spike Lee’s “Do the right thing” “Inside Man” and Tom Tykwer’s “Perfume” and “Babylon Berlin”.. I was lucky enough to work with Tom Tykwer on Cloud Atlas.

Q. The film won the Venice Film Festival. Have you been to Venice? 

A. Yes, this was the start of the journey for all of us. Venice was absolutely amazing and to be at the Venice Film Festival was always a dream of mine. 

Q. Have you visited other places in Italy?

A. Italy holds a special place in my heart and I am in Italy once a year. There are so many special spots for me, but Puglia region is a place that I love. Monopoli in summer is incredible and my favorite Italian restaurant is actually in Polignano a Mare called Antica Trattoria Comes. If you are down there, request Giuseppe to play the Piano while eating their famous Polpo… you won’t be disappointed!

 Q. What is your next project?

A. This is the exciting part…  there are some incredible stories in development and time will tell which I go onto next. Netflix and Participant Media have been so amazing, that I hope I get to work with them again on the next project. As I mentioned, so many friendships have been formed on this project, that I would like to continue being with the incredible group of people.

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