LOOK Effects Produces Visual Effects for Limitless

LOOK Effects’ New York visual effects production facility has completed the visual effects for Neil Burger’s latest film, “Limitless.” The thriller, which stars Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, was shot in Philadelphia and opened nationwide Friday, March 18, 2011.

The BAFTA and VES-nominated LOOK was brought on board last summer. “Principal photography had already wrapped and VFX were underway, but there were still some outstanding design elements that needed to be addressed,” explains Visual Effects Supervisor Dan Schrecker. “I had met Director Neil Burger and Producer Scott Kroopf a number of years earlier, during a previous incarnation of the film, so I had some familiarity with the project.” The film offered several creative opportunities to the facility, specifically exploring the ways in which the effects of the drug NZT were represented on screen. This ranged from working with pre-existing plates to re-conceptualizing key moments in the film.  Over the course of about six months, LOOK worked closely with Burger and was able to produce a number of intriguing effects.

Much of the work involved creating imagery that dramatically showed the effects of the drug NZT on lead character Eddie’s mental acuity. The solutions LOOK developed included panoramic shots that showed a full 360-degrees of Eddie’s point of view; letters raining down around the character as he writes a book in four days and; near the end of the film, a ‘Fractal Zoom” effect that illustrates Eddie’s increasing loss of his sense of time and space.

“When the opportunity presented itself to get involved, LOOK was eager to jump aboard and help Burger achieve his vision,” says LOOK President Mark Driscoll. “Dan’s familiarity with the project, LOOK’s extensive experience of working collaboratively with directors and our east coast location made us a very good fit for the project’s needs.”

This combined experience and expertise has earned LOOK a high level of trust and an impressive list of clients and credits.  LOOK’s effects for Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” received VES and BAFTA awards nominations for visual effects. Their other most recent film credits include: “The King’s Speech,” “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” “Step Up 3D,” “Just Wright,” and “Bounty Hunter.” Television credits include: “Bones,” “Harry’s Law,” “No Ordinary Family,” the Emmy-nominated effects for “Life After People,” and all of the effects for the final season of “Lost.”