'Final': From computer screen to big screen

• Is she real? An interactive graphic. Flash plug-in required.

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

Square computer artists rendered Aki Ross in a two-piece purple bikini for the cover of Maxim magazine's 2001 Hot 100 list of up-and-coming female celebrities. Her rank on the list? 87. Square Inc.

Distributor Columbia Pictures held the world premiere of the movie — rated PG-13 (for sci-fi action violence) —in Los Angeles on July 2, with principal crew and voice talent attending.

Square will eschew a large Hollywood-style premiere for the film here, instead opting for a private advance screening on Monday evening for the company's Honolulu employees at Consolidated's Waikiki Twin theatres. Invitations have also been sent to some Hawai'i reporters and a few nonprofit groups.

The film — which cost a reported $137 million, including construction and equipping of Square's Honolulu studios — premieres in Japan in September.

From the beginning of production in early 1997, director and Square chairman and CEO Hironobu Sakaguchi envisioned his extremely personal work as the first film that would use photo-realistic computer renderings of humans as its cast, simulating the full gamut of human facial and body movements like no other computer generated film before. Sakaguchi's principal edict for his digital artists? Create realistic human faces that would accurately depict human emotion and make movie audiences forget that they were gazing at computer-created people.

Whether his army of artists has effectively done that and created a story that will keep summer audiences wowed once the allure of the film's gee-whiz digital realism has ebbed is still unclear.

What is certain is that with "Final Fantasy," Square Pictures has created a filmed work with no visual peers among previous Hawai'i-hosted productions. And maybe, just maybe, carved its own small slice of cinematic history.

Here's a rundown of what you should know before hitting the multiplex:

It's based on a video game

• "Final Fantasy" began as a series of nine interactive software titles released by Square over the last 14 years. Less shoot-em-up games than a quasi-spiritual adventure, each title has an underlying theme of love, friendship, dreams, life and death.
• The first game was introduced in 1987 for Nintendo's NES console. It sold 520,000 units in Japan and 780,000 in the United States. Each game since has featured a different story line, characters, environment and time period. "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" follows this edict with a wholly original story and characters.
• The games have sold in excess of 31 million units worldwide.

Aki Ross also made Entertainment Weekly's annual "It List" for 2001 as the magazine's "It Virtual Female." Square Inc.

In 2065, Earth has long ago been invaded by millions of alien creatures who arrived via a crashing meteor. Roaming the planet and destroying cities, the alien force is bent on wiping out human life. Domed barrier cities built to protect human survivors are in a state of disrepair and susceptible to their attacks.

The intelligent — and OK, somewhat babe-ish — scientist Dr. Aki Ross and a ragtag group of science types and elite fighters embark on a mission to save mankind from the invading hordes and the scheming clutches of General Hein, who wants to destroy the planet in order to save it. Whatever that means.

CGI, Hawaiian style

• Production began in 1997, after Columbia Pictures reached a deal with Japan-based Square's new film arm to release the film worldwide, except in Japan.
• Square selected Honolulu for its new animation studio because of its centralized location between Japan and Hollywood, and the city's potential attraction for recruiting top computer graphic imagery (CGI) animators. The company has reportedly spent more than $45 million on construction and equipment for its Harbor Court studios.
• CGI animators were recruited from more than 20 countries. The digital artists were veterans of films such as "Armageddon," "The Matrix," "Godzilla" and "Titanic."
• At peak production, more than 250 employees were toiling on the film in Honolulu.
• The voice actors never traveled to Hawai'i for production. Audio and video recordings of their readings were made in Los Angeles for animators in Honolulu to use.
• The facial features of each character were determined by Square animators, and not based on the voice actors.
• To help animators simulate body movement, Square set up shop at the state-operated Hawai'i Film Studio to film "motion captures" of body doubles with digital cameras.
• Though all character facial features were animated by hand on computer, Aida has estimated that about 75 percent of the film's sequences use motion-capture technology to simulate body movement, with Square animators finalizing these by hand.
• Hawai'i production was completed in early May. Post-production work — adding sound effects, mixing dialogue and adding the orchestral score — was done at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, Calif., in May and June.
• Of "Final Fantasy's" four-year Hawai'i production, Aida estimates that 2à years were spent on research and development of Square's proprietary software, and 1à years on actual production.
• Test screenings of the film were held on the Mainland earlier this year to see what needed tweaking. "I've seen (previews) where half of the audience walks out, but our audience was riveted," said producer Chris Lee, in May. "They laughed when they were supposed to and cried when they were supposed to. And no one left."
• There won't be any "Final Fantasy" Happy Meals, but film fans can expect trading cards, posters, character figurines, books and even a Seiko watch.

A CD soundtrack of the film's score, composed by Elliot Goldenthal ("Heat," "Interview With The Vampire") was released Tuesday on Sony Classics records.

On the Web
To see how "Final Fantasy" was made, see our interactive graphic. Flash plug-in required.