The special effects of the 1997 American military science fiction action film Starship Troopers were initially developed by visual-effects company Tippett Studio and Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI). However, the scale of the project and management issues at SPI led to many of the required effects being delegated to several other companies, including Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Boss Film Studios, Visual Concepts Engineering (VCE), Amalgamated Dynamics, and Mass. Illusion. Of the film's $100–$110million budget, about half was afforded to the film's 500 special effects shots. Overview Summary Of the $100–$110million budget, about half was afforded to the film's 500 special effects shots. At the time, no film had involved over 200 CGI shots. Phil Tippett's Tippett Studio was mainly responsible for producing effects relating to the Arachnids, or "bugs", while Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI) was tasked with spaceship effects. Starship Troopers producer, Jon Davison, had other preferred studios he wanted to use instead of SPI, but it was made clear to him that the film would not receive financing to proceed without using the in-house studio of production studio TriStar Pictures parent company, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group. Headed by Ken Ralston, SPI would lead to problems for the production of Starship Troopers, with their contributions falling months behind schedule and those effects that were completed not being of sufficient standard to the filmmakers. A "highly placed" employee of the Starship Troopers production said that SPI was poorly managed, disorganized, and rarely on set or involved in the production. while another said that SPI's priorities were split with developing the effects for the science fiction film, Contact (1997). Due to the high quantity of effects that needed to be completed, by the end of 1996, the film's managing company, Big Bug, reassigned many of the special effects shots from SPI to other California-based effects companies, including Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Boss Film Studios, Visual Concepts Engineering (VCE), and Mass. Illusion. Toward the end of production, visual effects supervisor Laura Buff recommended visual effects artist, Scott E. Anderson, to Verhoeven, who insisted Anderson take over as effects supervisor at SPI, improving the studios output.
Many key crew members were hired in 1996, including Stacey McIntosh (construction coordinator), Karen Higgins (construction foreman), Gregg Goldstone (first assistant director), Kenneth Silverstein (second assistant director), John Blake (makeup artist), Kathy Blondell (hair stylist), William Petrotta (prop master), Robert Galotti (weapons coordinator), Robert Latham Brown (production manager), Daren Hicks (production coordinator), and Janet Campolito and Lisa Hackler (assistant production coordinators). Tippett also hired the nearly 100 additional staff required to realize the Arachnids, including Jules Roman (Tippett Studio visual effects producer), Craig Hayes (visual effects artist), Trey Stokes (animation department head), Adam Valdez and Blake Clark (animators), Paula Luchessi (lead CGI painter), Julie Newdoll (supervisor of CGI lighting), Brennan Doyle (lead compositor), Desiree Mourad (lighting), and Joanna Ladolcetta (lead rotoscoper).
Allan Cameron served as the production designer for Starship Troopers, holding responsibility for the film's overall aesthetic and designing much of the technology and alien worlds, Klendathu, Tango Urilla, and Planet P. The art department included two art directors (Steven Wolff and Bruce Hill), three set designers, one conceptual artist (Jim Martin), two storyboard artists, and an administrative supervisor. Cameron said that he provided the designs, and the art directors made his vision a reality; Cameron credited Martin with having a significant influence on the overall aesthetic. Verhoeven and Cameron were influenced by contemporary Singapore, interpreting it as a disciplined society with no antisocial behaviour, graffiti, or litter. Architectural designs were similarly influenced by this conceot of a "pure" and formal world, designed to suggest the Earth was one large military base. Not intended to look futuristic or realistic, but evoke old Westerns, World War II movies and adventure films.
Starship Troopers had been scheduled for release on July 2, 1997, before being pushed back to July 25, then September, and finally November 7. This was ostensibly because the special effects were so far behind schedule that additional time was needed to complete production, although other Sony films, Men in Black and Air Force One were moved into the July dates as they were also seen as more commercially viable than Starship Troopers. Despite the setbacks, SPI's over 250 employees produced 2000 separate model elements 90 effects shots.
Technical Preliminary motion control photography tests were conducted at Tippett Studio during pre-production. The process allowed for consistent and repetitive automated camera movements that would be essential for the addition of CGI elements in post-production, and it was important the cameras accurately recorded metadata such as the time of day, angle of light, and camera position. Tippett Studio also used an aerial radar-based scanner to produce a detailed map of Hell's Half Acre, one of the main filming locations. This provided a precise topographical map of the terrain which they could reference against the camera position. Tracking markers on the ground corresponded to paths where CGI creatures would later be placed.
Filming generally involved scenes of the actors interacting with invisible elements that would be added later, with the motion controls recording the camera movements. The scene would then be recorded without the actors to capture a clear image of the background. Afterward, a large, neutral-gray, sphere was positioned where the Arachnids would later be added as a reference point. The color of the ball helped inform animators about how light was interacting with the area to enhance the realism of their CGI creations. Cinematographer Jost Vacano said, "You could see, for instance, if it was a side light or a top light. We could also look at the shadow areas, and also check the relationship between the bright areas on the ball and the fill light on the opposite side. This was very useful for Tippett, because he had to tell the computers exactly what the light situation was... the contrast situation." Vacano primarily used Kodak's 500 ASA 5298 for night scenes and 50 ASA 5245 for daylight exteriors.
Sets and locations
Cameron and location manager Bill Bowling scouted several filming locations but rejected most as they did not consider them unique enough. Others, such as the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada had too many environmental restrictions which could impact filming. The situation was made more difficult by an extended period of U.S. government shutdowns, which made obtaining the necessary filming and associated permits protracted, so they intentionally avoided further scouting of national or state parks or government owned land. This restriction limited their options, however, particularly for impactful scenery. Bowling eventually discovered Hell's Half Acre, located just outside of the town of Casper, Wyoming, which offered "colorful buttes and pinnacles," which could portray the alien planets of Klendathu and Planet P. The location was remote, however, being about from the Astaire Building or hotels and requiring an hour drive every morning at 5am. It offered other logistical challenges as it was generally undeveloped land, so the production had to build roads for the trucks carrying their gear into the canyons for filming. Anything that could not be driven in had to be lowered by helicopter. The local government was supportive of the project, helping subsidized the costs of building the roads and camp. They later learned that the area was rife with rattlesnakes, although no crew was bitten. The area was the biggest set Vacano had lit. It was difficult to get lights down into the canyons and so lighting was provided mainly by 25 spotlights on the overlooking cliffs, with smaller lights hidden behind rocks or hills. The cliff was also difficult to access so a secure path had to be built, and it still took electricians about 2 hours to reach.
The location featured extreme weather, with very warm days followed by frigid evenings that took a toll on much of the on-site equipment, requiring various replacements to be flown in on a regular basis. The location was also beset by torrential rain, blizzards, and wind storms up to per hour. The site had to be evacuated temporarily after rain mixing with the bentonite in the ground created a slick surface. The crew took as much equipment as they could, and after the rain stopped two weeks later, miles of electrical cables, some equipment, and even cars had been lost under the mud. Even so, only a few days were lost to the weather as a local warehouse had been converted into a soundstage for backup scenes to be filmed. Alongside the weather conditions, filming in Hell's Half Acre took its toll on the crew, with respiratory illnesses, exhaustion, and heat stroke from wearing heavy costumes in the . Dozens of people per day were treated for the ailment, and production had to be shut down for a week at a cost of $1.5million a day after it affected Busey.
Construction of some on-location sets, such as the Whiskey Outpost camp overrun by Arachnids on Planet P, began in February 1996 and took six weeks. Whiskey Outpost was designed to resemble a futuristic French Foreign Legion fort and took influence from the fortress in the adventure film, Beau Geste (1939), which featured defensive ramparts, and war film Zulu (1964). The area was landscaped and black asphalt poured atop. Sprung Instant Structures provided pre-fabricated huts, which helped create the impression that the structures were regularly packed up and moved to different planets. It was difficult to find a location for the Camp Currie boot camp scenes until finding Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley. Cameron liked it because it had an abandoned World War II blimp runway onto which they laid a top coat of tarmac and paint for a parade ground. It also fit their image of a low-pollution Earth, being surrounded by flat ground and many trees. The entire structure was about and included an obstacle course and artillery ranges, as well as involving up to 300 extras. About six weeks were spent transforming the site, including adding seventeen pre-fabricated buildings. Another, more-easily accessible location, Barry Barber Ranch near Kadoka, South Dakota and the Badlands National Park, featured little vegetations and smooth, undulating landscape, which could serve as Tango Urilla, where Rico (Casper Van Dien) battles an enormous Tanker bug.
The Buenos Aires-educated center classroom and biology lab sets were built on Sony Studios Stage 23 and filmed in late July. Jenkin's basement set was filmed on Stage 29; it involved a real ferret and features many of Heinlein's books in the background. The jumpball scene was filmed at the Long Beach Pyramid arena. Van Dien, Meyer, and Muldoon performed many of their own stunts for the scene apart from flips and somersaults, but otherwise encouraged each other to "go for it, try to lay me out." The exam results scene and the prom were both filmed at Kaiser Permanente. The Federal Recruitment Center scene and the segment where Rico sees off Carmen were filmed over four days at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which Verhoeven chose because he considered its architecture to be futuristic and clean. Some minor scenes were also filmed at the Park Plaza Hotel.
The Arachnids Design