A moment from Eragon, which stormed the US box-office last Friday and will release in India next year

Samir Hoon is no ordinary Indian. A visual effects superviser with Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) — one of the leading special effects companies in the world — he is probably our most important export when it comes to Hollywood graphics and animation.

Starting out as just another digital artist for films like Twister, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and 101 Dalmatians, Samir went on to work in all the three Star Wars prequels as computer graphics superviser. Now he has just supervised the entire visual effects for Eragon, Warner Bros’s big-budget adaptation of the Christopher Paolini novel.

And when you had Stephen Fangmeier, a visual effects superviser himself having worked on films like Lemony Snicket’s — A Series of Unfortunate Events and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, making his directorial debut, it was not going to be easy. “Of course he was less forgiving, but then again he made the communication very effective,” says Samir, who is on a whirlwind trip to Mumbai. “With Stephen as the director, he would know how exactly to shoot so the post-production work became simpler. Whether it was the camera framing or the eyeline matching or just motion control capturing, he was involved with the entire process.”

Samir Hoon

Eragon tells the tale of a farm boy named Eragon, living in the village of Carvahall in the fictional and magical world of Alagaesia. At the age of 17, he finds an egg, from which hatches a dragon named Saphira. Her arrival sets off a series of events turning his life, and many other lives, upside down.

Accompanied by a wise storyteller named Brom, Eragon and Saphira take up the legacy of the legendary dragon riders, learning the skills of magic, swordfighting and dragon-riding in preparation for his revenge against those responsible for the death of his family.

For Samir and his team at ILM, creating Saphira was the main challenge in Eragon. “She is not a creature in the film but a character, in fact the central character,” says Samir. “If you look at some of the fantasy creatures we have had on the big screen in recent times, they are real characters who connect with the audience. Whether it’s Gollum (Lord of the Rings) or King Kong or Davey Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean), you can feel that connection.”

To make that connection, Samir and Co. did extensive research. “We looked at dragons in other movies because they were the main reference. We also researched a lot about kimono dragons. For the young version, we looked into wildebeests and even lions. We also had to stay true to the description of Saphira in the book, as much as possible. She had to be regal, majestic. For the scales on her body which had to appear like gems, we had to do a lot of complex shading work. Also, her flight and wind-flapping were to look like a jet fighter. But at the end of it all, the eyes were the real soul.”

Another problem Samir had was the actress to be the voice of Saphira wasn’t decided at the time of shooting. “Wish actress Rachel Weisz (who has eventually done the voice) was there for us to model Saphira; it always helps if you know beforehand who the voice is,” he reveals.

Samir confirms that today visual effects is not about dazzling the audience but making sure they don’t understand it’s there. “It has to add to the storytelling process rather than take over,” he explains. “Sometimes, of course, for a film like Eragon it’s meant to make things look bigger and fantastical. But for movies like say The Bourne Identity you can hardly make out where the visual effects have been used.”

While Samir is happy with how Indian films are using visual effects, he feels the best is a long way away. “Our generation did not grow up watching cartoons,” says the 40-year-old. “But the kids today are growing up in a world of animation and visual effects. So they will go on to create and develop original content for Asian market in the years to come.”