Deep Impact gets a glowing response from VFX artists 26 years after its release. Directed by Mimi Leder, with a script co-written by Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin, the 1998 disaster film follows humanity’s efforts to prepare for and destroy a 7-mile (11 km) wide comet on a collision course with Earth that could cause a mass extinction. The movie stars Morgan Freeman, Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau, Mary McCormack, Richard Schiff, Kurtwood Smith, and many more.
During the latest episode of Corridor Crew‘s “VFX Artists React” series, hosts Sam Gorski, Wren Weichman, and Jordan Allen had a glowing response to the tsunami scene in Deep Impact. Watch the portion of the video below:
Weichman was particularly impressed by the VFX in Deep Impact, noting that despite the film being made in the early days of water simulations, they achieved remarkable results using geometry animation and particle effects. He highlights the innovation in creating realistic water effects, simulating destruction, and how they used early voxel-like techniques to handle the water interacting with buildings, which was groundbreaking at the time. Read his full comments below:
For some reason this scene like stuck with me as a kid. I still remember this. Don’t forget this came out in the very earliest days of water simulations. This was done mostly through a lot of geometry animation for the main body of water and then a lot of particles for all the white water stuff. Even with all of that, I’m still blown away that they were able to create the shaders for this, like the buildings actually collapsing and moving around. They didn’t even have the terminology for voxels back then, they were just dividing it up into voxels to do all the water going around all the buildings and it was like a real big deal. He discovered that Navier–Stokes water sim paper came out at around the same time as they were doing the effects on this movie.
Yeah so like this shot it was an actual water stim trying to take advantage of you that math and then someone else did the sim for all the people on top. All those people on top of the building are single pixel particles. They’re all just particles and apparently, the guy had stories for each one of those little pieces.
What The VFX Artists’ Glowing Response To Deep Impact Means For The Movie
It VFX Still Holds Up 26 Years Later
The VFX artists’ glowing response to Deep Impact means that the movie, especially its tsunami scene, still holds up remarkably well 26 years later. As Wren Weichman explains, the movie was made during the infancy of water simulation technology. It achieved a realistic portrayal of massive waves using particle effects for white water and dividing the space into voxel-like sections before the terminology even originated. The collapsing buildings and interaction between water and structures still impress VFX artists today, demonstrating the filmmakers’ ability to push the boundaries of the available technology at the time.
The tsunami scene’s realism was also enhanced by the Navier-Stokes equations, which were considered cutting-edge in animation at the time and assisted in accurately simulating the dynamics of fluids. This extreme attention to detail, including individual pixel particles for people on buildings, adds depth and complexity to the VFX. Considering that it continues to captive audiences, Deep Impact could be considered an early mastery of water simulation technology, showing that well-executed effects can withstand the test of time despite rapid advancements in technology.
Our Take On Deep Impact’s VFX
They’re Undeniably Impressive For Their Time
Though Deep Impact‘s VFX is undeniably impressive for its time, the disaster movie was mostly held back by its melodramatic elements, which caused it to be panned by both critics and audiences and prevented it from becoming the classic disaster film it could have been. Deep Impact was also released the same summer as the similarly themed Armageddon, and while it didn’t perform as well at the box office, astronomers considered Deep Impact to be more scientifically accurate, thanks in part to its realistic portrayal of a tidal wave.
Source: Corridor Crew
