Life of Pi

    This week our discussion centers around the beautiful movie, "Life of Pi". Based off the novel, "Life of Pi" tells the story of a young boy who survives a ship wreck and is stranded at sea for a very long time with a Bengal tiger, Richard Parker. This film is well known for its gorgeous visuals and stunning effects. Let's take a deeper look into how they brought this treasure to life.

    Most of this movie takes place on the ocean. To replicate this, they utilized a massive, self-generating wave tank, the largest of its kind! They even made sure to film at sunset everyday and built a door allowing this to happen. The team also built two steel lifeboats with a 1940's design and five fiberglass versions to use as backup. 

    A visually astounding piece of production is the "Piscene Molitor". This was the hotel swimming pool that the main character was named for. A replica of the swimming pool was built, including dressing rooms and decks. They added the beautiful skyline digitally. Side note- the team used a 3D approach in this scene to create depth and perspective. It was a really cool few shots!

    The film also utilized puppets for the animals, which there are a lot of, as well as CGI. They manipulated the movements and mannerisms to copy real animals. Probably the most CGI generated scene stems from the island, with the meerkats. The island to me was the prettiest part of this whole movie. The whole island was intertwined with roots and trees with fantastic views of the ocean.

    In conclusion, "Life of Pi" is a visual masterpiece. So many scenes stuck with me, from the beginning shots of the zoo to the ship sinking underwater. In this movie you get two versions of events that transpired after the shipwreck: One with people, and one with animals. There were more than two ways the production team brought this tale to life and I'm so happy that they did! Give this movie a try if your'e looking for beauty and a good cry. 

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