The Batman VFX: how Gotham and the rainy chase were built

The Batman VFX: How Gotham and the Rainy Chase Were Built

We looked into The Batman VFX because they’re hard to spot. It’s a dark, wet, grimy film that looks real. Here is how Gotham and the Batmobile chase were put together.

The film has over 1,500 VFX shots, shared between Wētā FX, ILM, Scanline VFX and Crafty Apes. Dan Lemmon was the production VFX supervisor.

1. The skyline

Cinematographer Greig Fraser used ILM’s StageCraft, the LED wall system first used on The Mandalorian. It helped keep the golden-hour light consistent. The wall showed Gotham’s skyline behind the actors, so the light fell on them in the camera.

According to Escape Studios, the skyline was assembled by the art department from photographs of London, New York and Chicago. It ran in Unreal Engine.

2. The chase

Wētā FX delivered 320 shots on the film. The Batmobile and Penguin chase was one of the big sequences. Anders Langlands was Wētā’s VFX supervisor.

The practical part was shot on a runway at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey. The crew dressed about half a mile of runway as a highway, with about 50 vehicles. The action was reportedly filmed at 15 to 20 km/h.

3. What was real and what wasn’t

  1. The main highway action was shot for real. Colin Farrell was filmed on a gimbal.
  2. About half of the Penguin’s car flip was practical. The rest was CG.
  3. The explosion used a small van on set. It was later replaced with a fuel tanker.
  4. Batman’s cape, the view through the fireball and most of the pile-up were CG.

4. The rain

The chase was shot dry, for safety. The rain was added later. That meant raindrops, spray from the wheels, splashes, ground mist and wet-road reflections.

VFX Voice reports that hundreds of millions of raindrops were simulated per shot, using Houdini and custom Nuke tools. The compositors also studied what makes a shot feel wet. They recreated caustic flares and other lens artefacts. A simulation alone wasn’t enough.

5. The rest of Wētā’s work

Wētā also built set extensions for the Batcave and City Hall. The Batcave had a real set for the workshop and gym. The rest was digital.

The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

What small teams can take from this

  1. Shoot dry if wet is risky. Add the weather later.
  2. Use real light where you can. An LED wall puts it on the actors.
  3. Study the thing you’re faking. “Wet” is a set of visual clues, not one effect.
  4. Plan which half of a stunt is practical before the shoot.

If you’re planning a stunt or a weather shot, see our work or get in touch. Happy to talk it through.

Which Batman shot would you like us to break down next? Let us know.

Sources and references

  1. Wikipedia: The Batman (film); StageCraft.
  2. Wētā FX: filmography page for The Batman. ILM: The Batman (ilm.com).
  3. VFX Voice: “How the Wētā FX team amped up the wet car chase for The Batman”.
  4. befores & afters: “Anatomy of a Batmobile chase: a Wētā FX round table”.
  5. TheWrap: “The Batman car chase explained”.
  6. Escape Studios: “Gotham skyline, now in LED”.