Luma Pictures was the sole visual effects provider for Focus Features’ A Serious Man from directors Joel and Ethan Coen. Luma delivered nearly 100 shots for the film, its third project with the Coen Brothers; the studio had produced more than 60 visual effects shots for the Coen's 2007 No Country for Old Men, which won the Best Picture Oscar, and also contributed to 2008's Burn After Reading. A Serious Man opens in select cities on Oct. 2.

	From A Serious Man

As with No Country for Old Men, the visual effects that Luma Pictures created for A Serious Man were primarily realistic; however, they were significantly more ambitious. The work included the creation of a 3D shtetl, a 19th century village in Yiddish Poland that integrated with practical set elements, as well as panoramic 3D matte paintings for a 1967 town. Significantly, all of the visual effects were produced by Luma in 4K, using its recently enhanced 4K pipeline.

Luma Pictures worked on the project directly with unit production manager and executive producer Robert Graf and postproduction supervisor Catherine Farrell, as well as Joel and Ethan Coen themselves. “The Coen Brothers are actively involved in every detail of their films,” observes Luma Pictures executive visual effects supervisor Payam Shohadai. “Their feedback is always direct and clear, and that helped us to provide a strong package.

“Roger Deakins [ASC, BSC], the cinematographer and a legend in his own right, also visited us frequently and offered input on the grading. This project was a best case scenario, with clarity of vision and attention to detail from beginning to end.”

The shtetl environment was composed of more than two dozen structures, each with unique characteristics and in varying states of dilapidation and decay. “The design for the 3D elements was derivative of the practical set pieces and was ultimately used to extend them,” recalls visual effects supervisor Vincent Cirelli. “In order to ‘sell’ the sequence, the digital architecture had to match perfectly.

“The Coen Brothers have very specific feels and shapes in mind, so we needed a system that could accommodate pinpoint art direction, yet wouldn’t require that we go back to the drawing board for every iteration,” Cirelli adds.

Luma also created panoramic 3D matte paintings to supplement location filming and make the town appear as though it was in 1967. The matte paintings were used to replace large stretches of the region, while artists replaced items such as cell phone towers in photographic elements that did not fit the time period. Both the matte paintings and digital replacements had to be tracked in 3D space to conform to practical camera movements. “For certain wide, sweeping shots, we created 3D façadesfor homes and layered them over the original plate,” notes Cirelli.

Although Luma Pictures typically undertakes film projects with larger-scale visual effects, the studio’s work with the Coen Brothers ranks among their most satisfying assignments due to the writer/directors’ exceptional storytelling skills and high production standards. “One reason we work well with the Coen Brothers is our ability to be flexible and accommodating to twists in their creative and scheduling needs,” Shohadai says. “We all enjoy working on their films and are grateful for the opportunity to partake in their brilliant art.”