The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is set to be a highlight of the upcoming summer movie season, bringing back Brendan Fraser as explorer Rick O’Connell for the first time in seven years. The film is currently in post-production, with teams of artists, animators, and editors fine-tuning it for an August 1 release date. Part of this crew includes Full Sail Computer Animation graduate Jack Geckler, who is helping create the film’s hundreds of effects shots at Digital Domain – one of the industry’s leading effects studios.
“I really can’t say much about the story,” he shares during a quick break. “But getting put on it was so cool for me because I really enjoyed the first two Mummy films. I like that style of action, and was really excited to be involved with the new one. After learning more about the plot – it really brings more to the table and I think the fans will be really happy.”
Jack’s title at Digital Domain is Massive Technical Director and Animator, which has him working with the Massive software. This is a complex crowd simulation package used to implement hordes of animated characters into a scene. The program uses elements of fuzzy logic to give each model their own unique artificial intelligence, and has become a powerful tool in creating realistic visuals for the film and television industry.
“Massive was created specifically for the Lord of the Rings series to handle the big fight sequences, where there are hundreds of thousands of characters,” he explains. “Since then, most anything involving huge crowd scenes is almost all done in Massive. You can do a lot with it, and it’s really been fun to work with on this project.”
The latest Mummy installment will be the first in the series since 2001’s The Mummy Returns. In that half-decade, the industry has seen tremendous advances in digital graphics, an evolution Jack has experienced firsthand while working of previous projects like Beowulf, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, and The Golden Compass. The growth in technology, along with fan expectations, has pushed the current Mummy team to take the film’s effects work to an entirely new level.
“The software being used and the amount of detail it can create is just insane,” he shares. “Every studio is trying to push their next film as far as they can, and I’m still blown away when I look at the stuff we’re doing, and how real that looks. To give you an example of where we’re at in just a few years, a lot of the shots on Golden Compass had along the lines of maybe 25 animals in the background of a scene. [That number] has now been bumped up to what Massive can really do, where you’re putting in 10,000-plus.”
With the franchise relaunching with the support of today’s digital technology, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor will undoubtedly deliver new thrills when it hits screens this summer. As a movie fan at heart, Jack is excited to kick back with some popcorn, and see his work up on the screen with an audience.
“I’m still like a kid when it comes to that,” he shares. “I bring my wife to the theater, and to see the look on her face is what makes each project complete for me. That, and to get the call from my dad, and hear his reaction. That makes it all worthwhile!”
