Creating Megamind

Metro City was built by creating 12 tall structures and then using photographic models from other cities. These were then modelled and matte paintings were generated to create the rest of the city. Although it bears a striking resemblance to New York,the pastures of Metro City jail and the greenery around the buildings suggests otherwise. “It is actually modelled on Toronto,the city of great lakes,” McGrath says. Another important area of the film,the town hall,is modelled after the San Francisco City Hall “while Megamind’s round office is modelled on the Oval Office”.

Other parts where technology has been used for the first time is in creating cars that move while Tighten (Jonah Hill) takes Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey) on a night tour of the Metro City after gaining superhuman powers. Giving them headlights,keeping them moving without colliding and ensuring that the action stays on the characters was quite a task,the makers say. There were 1,20,000 cars in the entire three-minute long sequence. About 60-odd lead animators actually photographed themselves to bring in the detailing that the script required.

An interesting part of the commentary was about virtual props. McGrath reveals that the cycle shown in Tighten’s house was actually “borrowed” from an earlier film Bee Movie because the animators were running out of time while detailing his house. Since there are no sets in CG movies,objects used in previous movies are used as props sometimes.

And if Shrek 4 was all about hair,Roxanne’s flowing locks was the last thing anyone needs to see how far the technology has developed. For Megamind,however,the biggest problem was water and creating shadows on transparent objects. A flowing fountain next to Metro Man’s tribute statue,creating alligators thrashing around in water to scare Roxanne and the rain sequence where Roxanne and Megamind separate after a tiff were some of the most challenging sequences that took weeks to render. In fact,McGrath reveals,just putting champagne in the glasses of the lead stars in a restaurant sequence and having the liquid twirl around was a big task.

Megamind actually took off in 2007,six years after the script of the film had been written,after Ben Stiller came across the story and was intrigued by a supervillain suffering from a mid-life crisis. At the time,Madagascar had just released and the technology for making cities and detailing features like hair and water had not been developed. “Six years later,it’s great to see the film with all the detailing and technology,” McGrath says.

The director,who hints at a sequel,wants the audience to enjoy the film as long as it lasts. “I have seen the film 1527 times so far and always find something new in the film each time I see it,” he says by way of signing off.