Shrek - Working towards imperfection!

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Shrek - Working towards imperfection!

I’m sure there must be some law of nature that says that for all the effort you put in to achieve your goal, there’s someone on the other side of the world putting in as much effort to do the opposite. SkinGenesis is founded on the principles of stimulating and enhancing skin treatment as what goes on deep in the skin gives you a perfect surface and now it seems that clever people in California are inventing ways to put imperfections in!

No, this is not some kind of cult anti-celeb movement but an example of the extreme lengths that the new breed of computer generated film makers will go to achieve realism. The first Shrek film was a masterpiece in its day but things move on and technology advances mean greater believability is now possible.

In an interview with USA Today, one of the PDI/DreamWorks animation crew, David Doepp, explained how it’s done:

"Technically, I'm the head of the surfacing department," he says with a smile. "But it's really makeup."

While Doepp and his crew are responsible for "painting Shrek's entire world," from costumes to buildings, their big breakthrough on Shrek the Third involved making each character's skin radiate with believability. "It's the opposite of real life," Doepp says. "We apply details to make our subjects' faces look imperfect."

On a superficial level, the team gave Prince Charming a rough edge via a scar over his left eye, while a lady-in-waiting reveals a rugged side through a defiant shoulder tattoo. But this is simple stuff compared with the dermal and sub-dermal tinkering Doepp and Co. performed.

"Real skin is translucent, so when a light source hits it, some of the light is actually absorbed while a small amount is reflected back," he says. "That subtlety is what we wanted to capture."

Tapping on a keyboard, Doepp calls up Prince Charming's face. A few keystrokes later, patches of gray pools appear along with small bumps and other imperfections. Suddenly, his highness appears to be sprouting a five o'clock shadow.

Much attention was also paid to noses, whose tips are translucent since they're all cartilage, while the ridge reflects more light because of the bone underneath.

"What really gives anyone's skin character is what's below the dermis, and that wasn't an area we could really play with before," Doepp says.

Even Shrek, a fictional beast if there ever was one, now boasts a green pelt with texture, complete with facial divots and even tufts of body hair.

Eyes also went under the mouse. One beneficiary was Fiona's mother, the Queen of Far, Far Away, who "in the last movie looked too young," Doepp says. This time around, she is the proud bearer of delicate crow's feet and other wrinkles more appropriate to her stature.

But Doepp insists the biggest leap forward wasn't found in one particular digital makeover, but simply the fact that "we had the computer power and talent to give many characters this skin treatment, where before if you weren't a hero, it wouldn't happen."