Facing Black Adam and his superior abilities, the Justice Society is forced to combine their powers. “Our motion team orchestrated many digital Doctor Fates that try to restrain Black Adam while Hawkman launches an attack,” says Stopsack. “To amplify the sheer force of Black Adam’s lightning powers, our FX team were tasked with crushing and slicing a pickup truck used as a projectile.”

Courtesy Image

Once they had that, the main car was simulated using deforming geometry, and each part of the car had defined material properties that resulted in a natural appearance when compressing and bending. Stopsack says, “Fragile elements like windows were fractured and solved with a ridged body simulation, and we used a viscous fluid simulation for melting metal, before adding debris and sparks.”

Despite the shot being entirely digital, the lighting team used physical-based lighting from plate photography of the surrounding shots. “We verified light conditions from the soundstage and backlot location, resulting in a combined lighting rig that not only honored the practical photography, but also provided the desired look of a dry, urban environment,” Stopsack says.

In order to mimic the unique characteristics of the lenses used on Black Adam, the compositing team faithfully re-created optical phenomena, such as chromatic aberration, bokeh, smear and vignettes using data gathered from the principal photography cameras.