Flash Film Works is a
computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...
company that provides
visual effect
Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of
a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production.
The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...
s for films, television shows and commercials. It is owned by director William Mesa and is located in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
History
In 1993, Visual Effects Supervisor William Mesa left
Introvision International to direct the low budget science fiction film
Galaxis
''Galaxis'' is a 1995 science fiction action film directed by William Mesa and written by Nick Davis. It stars Brigitte Nielsen, Richard Moll and Craig Fairbrass. It was also released under the name ''Terminal Force''.
The film received a negat ...
. To create the effects work for the film, Mesa formed his own effects company, which he dubbed Flash Film Works.
As an independent visual effects company, they were hired by
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...
to work on ''
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
''Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' (also known simply as ''New Nightmare'') is a 1994 American meta slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven, creator of 1984's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street''. A standalone film and the seventh installment in ...
''. This work led to them getting work on other films.
John Dykstra
John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. (; born June 3, 1947) is an American special effects artist, pioneer in the development of the use of computers in filmmaking and recipient of three Academy Awards, among many other awards and prizes. He was one o ...
hired Flash Film Works for work on the Warner Brothers motion picture ''
Batman and Robin'', creating a digital matte painting of an ice-laden Gotham City, as well as performing some rig and wire removal work on the film.
For ''
Tale of the Mummy
''Tale of the Mummy'' (also known as ''Russell Mulcahy's Tale of the Mummy'' and ''Talos – the Mummy'') is a 1998 adventure horror thriller film directed by Russell Mulcahy. The film stars Jason Scott Lee, Jack Davenport, Louise Lombard and Chr ...
'', Flash Film works created 3-D mummy wrappings which unraveled and reformed into the mummy. Flash Film works also worked on the
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...
comedy ''
The Waterboy
''The Waterboy'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It was written by Adam Sandler as well as Tim Herlihy and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. Sandler also stars as the title character while Kathy Bates ...
'' during this time as well as the
Renny Harlin
Renny Harlin (born 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter who has made his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood and Cinema of China, China. His best-known films include ''A Nightmare on Elm ...
killer shark flick, ''
Deep Blue Sea''.
For the science fiction film, ''
Red Planet'', Flash Film works created various monitor display screens and interactive holographic monitors along with over 150 other shots for the film, including many wire removal shots to create the illusion of the actors floating in space.
In the year 2001, Flash Film works worked on the Eddie Murphy science fiction film ''
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
''The Adventures of Pluto Nash'' is a 2002 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Eddie Murphy (in a dual role), Randy Quaid, Rosario Dawson, Joe Pantoliano, Jay Mohr, Luis Guzmán, James Rebhorn, Peter B ...
'', creating computer generated Moonscapes for the actors to walk through.
For the
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
action film ''
Collateral Damage
Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts.
Since the development of precision guided ...
'', Flash Film works was responsible for over 200 visual effects shots including creating CG Helicopters and debris, multiple rig and wire removal shots and several other types of shots as well.
For the
Andy Davis directed film, ''
Holes
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
'', based on the book by
Louis Sachar
Louis Sachar ( ; born March 20, 1954) is an American young-adult mystery-comedy author. He is best known for the ''Wayside School'' series and the novel ''Holes''.
''Holes'' won the 1998 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature , William Mesa was the visual effects supervisor as well as the Second Unit Director. For the film Flash Film works created and animated 3D lizards, designed and composited the "God's Thumb" mountain range and added desert and holes to many shots as well as considerable additional work.
Flash Film works big project for 2003 was the
Edward Zwick
Edward M. Zwick (born October 8, 1952) is an American filmmaker and producer of film and television. He has worked primarily in the comedy drama and historical drama, epic historical film genres, including ''About Last Night (1986 film), About L ...
directed film, ''
The Last Samurai
''The Last Samurai'' is a 2003 epic period action drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz from a story devised by Logan. The film stars Ken Watanabe in the t ...
'', starring
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...
. Flash Film works performed around 200 effects shots on this film, including CG arrows, matte painting, compositing armies and face replacements.
Flash Film works created a CG Storm for several sequences in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' and creating backgrounds for ''
Blood Diamond
''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds min ...
''. They later worked on ''
Clash of the Titans'' and ''
The Pacific''.
Flash Film Works also acquired the rights to several video games originally produced by
Digital Pictures
Digital Pictures was an American video game developer founded in 1991 by Lode Coen, Mark Klein, Ken Melville, Anne Flaut-Reed, Kevin Welsh and Tom Zito.
The company originated from an attempt to produce a game for the failed VHS-based NEMO (vid ...
and spearheaded having them remastered for newer game systems such as
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
.
Selected visual effects filmography
* ''
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
''Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' (also known simply as ''New Nightmare'') is a 1994 American meta slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven, creator of 1984's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street''. A standalone film and the seventh installment in ...
'' (1994)
* ''
Cutthroat Island
''Cutthroat Island'' is a 1995 adventure swashbuckler film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert King and Marc Norman from a story by Michael Frost Beckner, James Gorman, Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon. It stars Geena Davis, Matthew ...
'' (1995)
* ''
Batman & Robin'' (1997)
* ''
Tale of the Mummy
''Tale of the Mummy'' (also known as ''Russell Mulcahy's Tale of the Mummy'' and ''Talos – the Mummy'') is a 1998 adventure horror thriller film directed by Russell Mulcahy. The film stars Jason Scott Lee, Jack Davenport, Louise Lombard and Chr ...
'' (1998)
* ''
Very Bad Things
''Very Bad Things'' is a 1998 American black comedy film written and directed by Peter Berg in his feature film directorial debut and starring Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau, Daniel Stern, Jeremy Piven, Christian Slater, Leland Orser, Kobe Tai and J ...
'' (1998)
* ''
The Waterboy
''The Waterboy'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It was written by Adam Sandler as well as Tim Herlihy and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. Sandler also stars as the title character while Kathy Bates ...
'' (1998)
* ''
Deep Blue Sea'' (1999)
* ''
Red Planet'' (2000)
* ''
Collateral Damage
Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts.
Since the development of precision guided ...
'' (2002)
* ''
Death to Smoochy
''Death to Smoochy'' is a 2002 satirical black comedy crime film directed by Danny DeVito and written by Adam Resnick. Starring Robin Williams, Edward Norton, DeVito, Catherine Keener and Jon Stewart, the film centers on "Rainbow" Randolph Smi ...
'' (2002)
* ''
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
''The Adventures of Pluto Nash'' is a 2002 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Eddie Murphy (in a dual role), Randy Quaid, Rosario Dawson, Joe Pantoliano, Jay Mohr, Luis Guzmán, James Rebhorn, Peter B ...
'' (2002)
* ''
Birds of Prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators ...
'' (pilot) (2002)
* ''
Holes
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
'' (2003)
* ''
The Last Samurai
''The Last Samurai'' is a 2003 epic period action drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz from a story devised by Logan. The film stars Ken Watanabe in the t ...
'' (2003)
* ''
The Perfect Score
''The Perfect Score'' is a 2004 American Teen film, teen comedy-heist film directed by Brian Robbins and starring Chris Evans (actor), Chris Evans, Erika Christensen, Bryan Greenberg, Scarlett Johansson, Darius Miles, and Leonardo Nam.
The film ...
'' (2004)
* ''
White Chicks
''White Chicks'' is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans from a screenplay co-written by Wayans, Xavier Cook, Andy McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden, with additional contributions by and starring Marlon Wayans and Shawn ...
'' (2004)
* ''
Ghost Whisperer
''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010.
The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...
'' (pilot) (2005)
* ''
Dark Water Dark Water may refer to:
Books
* '' Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil'', 1920 book by American philosopher W.E.B. Du Bois
* ''Dark Water'' (book) (仄暗い水の底から; ''Honogurai mizu no soko kara''; literally ''In the Depths of Dark ...
'' (2005)
* ''
Elizabethtown'' (2005)
* ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' (2006)
* ''
Blood Diamond
''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds min ...
'' (2006)
* ''
Defiance'' (2008)
* ''
The Day the Earth Stood Still
''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (a.k.a. ''Farewell to the Master'' and ''Journey to the World'') is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Renn ...
'' (2008)
* ''
All About Steve
''All About Steve'' is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Phil Traill and starring Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church, and Bradley Cooper as the eponymous Steve. The film is the winner of two Golden Raspberry Awards and has a 6% approval ...
'' (2009)
* ''
The Pacific'' (2010)
* ''
Clash of the Titans'' (2010)
* ''
Dragon Age: Redemption'' (2011)
* ''
Dolphin Tale
''Dolphin Tale'' is a 2011 American 3D family drama film directed by Charles Martin Smith, from a screenplay by Karen Janszen and Noam Dromi and a book of the same name. It stars Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson, ...
'' (2011)
* ''
Dolphin Tale 2
''Dolphin Tale 2'' is a 2014 American family film written and directed by Charles Martin Smith as the sequel to his 2011 film ''Dolphin Tale'' which in-turn was based on the true story about a rescued bottlenose dolphin named Winter who made her f ...
'' (2014)
* ''
Against the Sun'' (2014)
* ''
The Librarians'' (2014–15)
* ''
Spy
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
'' (2015)
* ''
Barely Lethal
''Barely Lethal'' is a 2015 American action comedy film directed by Kyle Newman, written by John D'Arco, starring Hailee Steinfeld, Sophie Turner, Jessica Alba, Dove Cameron, and Samuel L. Jackson. Steinfeld stars as Agent 83, a teenage intelligen ...
'' (2015)
* ''
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back'' (2016)
* ''
Geostorm
''Geostorm'' is a 2017 American science fiction disaster film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Dean Devlin (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Ed Harris, and Andy García. It fol ...
'' (2017)
Awards
Flash Film Works won a number of Advertising Industry awards for its work on the series of
Onstar television commercials which featured
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
driving the Onstar-equipped
Batmobile
The Batmobile is the fictional car driven by the superhero Batman. Housed in the Batcave, which it accesses through a hidden entrance, the Batmobile is both a heavily armored tactical assault vehicle and a personalized custom-built pursuit a ...
.
Flash Film Works won the
Visual Effects Society
The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and pr ...
Award for "Best Supporting Visual Effects" for its work on the motion picture
The Last Samurai
''The Last Samurai'' is a 2003 epic period action drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz from a story devised by Logan. The film stars Ken Watanabe in the t ...
in 2004. In
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
they won two VES Awards for
The Pacific for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Mini-Series, Movie or Special" and for "Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Series or Commercial."
Flash Film Works in 2010 won a
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
for its Visual Effects work on the HBO mini-series,
The Pacific.
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.flashfilmworks.com
Digital Media Net- Your Gateway To Digital Media CreationArticle about the vfx work on "The Guardian"Another article on "The Guardian"
Visual effects companies
Privately held companies based in California
Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners