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Kevin Kwong

IT is a familiar scene. A gigantic foot with massive toenails comes crashing down on to a row of rooftops, sending tremors and debris across the destroyed area and scores of panic-stricken humans running for cover.

 Amid the devastating rampage, someone trips and falls. But before he has time to get up, it is too late. The monstrous trunk is already descending fast and - BOOM! - the unlucky victim is squashed to death.

 Seen it all before? But wait.

 While this may well be a clip from King Kong, Jurassic Park or Godzilla, the scenario quickly takes on an unexpected twist when the beast is tamed not by army troops or scientists but a flying saucer carrying Chinese deities: Western sci-fi meets Chinese fantasy.

 Bizarre? You have just tuned into the second, and new, TVB costume drama series based on the Chinese classic fantasy tale Journey To The West.

 Starting on October 26 on the Chinese-language Jade channel, this big-budget production is part of the station's 31st anniversary celebrations for this year.

 'Big', because the 42-episode series has taken a year and more than $50 million to make. The time spent on post-production is about five to six times longer than that of an average TVB drama series.

 Much of the money and effort, according to executive producer Lau Sze-yu, has gone into animations and special effects.

 'The production cost is huge because doing animation alone is very costly.'  However, it is easy to understand why the station is happy to plough so much cash into Journey. After all, its first series, released on Jade last year, was well received and enjoyed high ratings.

 It was then translated into English and shown on Pearl this year.

 The sequel promises better and more innovative use of computerised animations and effects, says senior animator Buck Mok Yiu-wa. So we are not just talking about sticking a human head on to the body of a flea - though this is also a trick the new series will be featuring.

 'Though we have used computer-generated images and special effects before in other series such as Dark Tales, this is the first time we have tried to apply and test out various animation techniques in one single series.'  One of these techniques is to mix and manipulate computerised with real-life images, maximising the special effects to make a sequence look more realistic.

 For instance, there is a scene in which a piglet rides on top of a dog. While the animals are real, the actions are created and superimposed by the animators.

 Or the sequence in which a dragon leaps out of a lake. By combining the computerised images of surging crests with real footage of a series of small explosions in the water, the beast's emergence looks more spectacular.

 While the results are not seamless, they are still convincing and visually impressive.

 Mr Mok says: 'It takes about two weeks to perfect a two-minute shot. It can sometimes take a team of 10 or more to work on the animation.

 'In terms of techniques, we try to think up something that may meet the demands of the executive producer. We also look at how special effects are done overseas and get ideas from that.'  Mr Mok agrees that Journey is among the very few local television productions to use special effects that are good enough for the silver screen.

 'The shots may be simpler [than those in movies] but the animation work is definitely not less complicated and time-consuming.'  One of the many difficulties the animation team encountered was trying to fit its computerised images into the real footage shot on location or in the studio.

 'Sometimes a scene was shot from a wrong angle. If we were to superimpose any images on to that particular footage, it would look wrong or unreal because the dimension is wrong.

 'It's a very laborious job to merge created images with real-life shots. The dimension has to be right, otherwise the animation will look out of place.

 'Communication between the artists and the producer is therefore very important. When a scene is being shot, the producer must bear in mind what sort of effects they want us to achieve and vice versa.'  The forthcoming series will feature the new adventures of the legendary Monkey King (or Sun Wu-kong). This time, one of the monsters is a monkey that has turned bad after being raised by the evil spirits.

 It is hard to tell how faithful the television version is to the original.

 The 100-chapter Journey To The West is credited to poet Wu Cheng-en, who lived in the 16th century during the Ming Dynasty. However, there is evidence of an earlier - and shorter at 41 chapters - version by Tang Dynasty poet Yang Chih-ho.

 Both versions, however, feature the same central character: the rebellious and mischievous Monkey and his quest to become a saint.

 The book is one of the three best-known Chinese literary classics - the other two being Dream Of The Red Chamber and Water Margin.

ANOTHER feature in the new series that is likely to leave viewers gasping is the spectacular backdrop of the Emperor's palace in the first 10 episodes. Taking up half the space of a studio (about 2,000 square feet), a model of an ancient imperial court was built to give the Emperor's residence grandeur and depth.

 Using digital compositing or digital video effects (commonly used to create special effects such as flying), images of actors are later superimposed on to the model set, making the imperial court look like a real place.

 'We've paid attention to the smallest details to satisfy our most demanding viewers,' says Lai Kwok-keung.

 The supervising engineer points out that when the monster gorilla (played by an actor) goes on a rampage, a constant stream of people have to be seen escaping in the same shot to make the chaotic scene look convincing.

 A high-speed camera has also been used to ensure the act of destruction looks real.

 'For example, using a traditional camera, the crumbling of a wall would take up only a couple of frames,' says Mr Lai. 'But using a high-speed camera, the action is filmed so quickly that when we replay the shot at a normal speed, the act of destruction lasts longer and looks more realistic.

 'Our objective is simple - it is to make this series as entertaining and visually teasing as possible.'  While it is Monkey King in Journey who makes magic, it is the animators and the production teams who make-believe.



Real feel to Monkey King fantasy