Artificial worlds - deceptively real

Some of you may have swum with dolphins before. But with humpback whales? And off Hawaii to boot? The CGI specialists from Mackevision in Hamburg, together with Kiel-based Documentary filmmaker Daniel Opitz, have created a perfect illusion that even convinces scientists: the "Ocean Mind Experience". For thirteen minutes, you can follow the giant marine mammals into the depths of the ocean and see almost every bump on their skin thanks to sophisticated technology including 3D glasses and a fulldome. "You sit in a cinema seat and a 15-metre humpback whale floats above you, 100% lifelike - that's pretty impressive," says Jens Kämper, who manages the Mackevision site in Hamburg.

Mackevision has also been active in the film industry for several years. Whether consciously or unconsciously, most people are probably familiar with the VFX department: With "Game of Thrones", the team worked on one of the most successful series of recent years and helped bring George R. R. Martin's fantasy world to life. The VFX effects were created in Stuttgart, but the team in Hamburg has recently turned its attention to the film sector. "Many of our employees have a strong feature film or game background in addition to commercials. This versatility is also reflected in our work," says Jens Kämper.

One of the latest projects is Til Schweiger's Honey in the Head remake "Head full of Honey", which opens in German cinemas on 21 March. At first glance, the production with Matt Dillon and Nick Nolte may not be a film in which the visual effects immediately catch the eye, but that is often the art of it. For example, the moving train that Amadeus (Nick Nolte) and granddaughter Matilda (Sophia Lane Nolte) take to Venice, including animation and smoke simulation, was created by Mackevision and inserted into the landscape. The green screen was also used in several shots. In another scene, the city of Venice was deceptively realistically inserted into the background. The viewer will not notice any of this in the cinema, reality and effects merge perfectly to create a new reality.

Most recently, a team of around 20 CGI specialists from Hamburg brought Daniel Opitz's fulldome experience "Humpbacks of Hawaii" to life. The work lasted around a year, during which the project was not worked on continuously, but repeatedly. "We literally recreated reality. The animals were recreated 1:1 in 3D from original footage of the whales," explains Steffen Bärenfänger. This enabled the Directors to later position the camera freely in the newly created 3D world. The whales were recreated three-dimensionally from the reference material and an artificial 3D shell was developed for each animal. This was a huge effort, as the animals had to be as realistic as possible for the viewer - for this purpose, we worked together with marine archaeologists.

The aim was to sensitise cinema-goers to the huge underwater world and its inhabitants. A project close to his heart, as Jens Kämper emphasises. Initially, three to five fulldomes are to be built around the world in which the experience will be shown - "Humpbacks of Hawaii" celebrated its premiere in Hawaii at the beginning of 2019. In addition, further fulldomes with new content are already planned in Mallorca, Spain and Perth, Australia.

So whether it's a blockbuster, series production or virtual experience - we're always excited to see what fantastic worlds the team from Hamburg will present to us in the future.