John Carter

Civil war veteran JOHN CARTER is mysteriously transported to Mars, where he becomes a prisoner of the Tharks. A war has been raging for thousands of years between the Helium and Zodanga, which threatens the future of the planet. JOHN CARTER joins the Helium people in their battle against Zodanga.

Cinesite completed a total of 831 visual effects shots and stereo-converted over 87 minutes of this epic sci-fi film, a massive undertaking which took two years to complete.

The majority of the film’s environments were created by Cinesite, including the opposing cities of Zodanga and Helium, and the Thern Sanctuary, as well as a big air battle and full-screen CG digi-doubles of John Carter and Princess Dejah. The environments were populated with CG crowds and hundreds of CG props.

One key shot involved a 60 second long, sweeping camera move which starts in space and pulls in to the surface of Mars, where we see a monstrous, dark mechanical city Zodanga marching across the planet. This shot was created entirely in CG.

The city of Helium, and the Palace of Light, was involved in 200 shots alone. This included the addition of CG battling armies, various spectacular craft and airships, as well as the complex architecture of the glass domed central palace.

• Release date: 09.03.2012
• Studio: Pixar Animation Studios / Walt Disney Pictures
• Director: Andrew Stanton