Los Angeles, 1999 -- The L.A. chapter of Siggraph meeting presented guest speaker and sponsor BUF Compagnie of Paris at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theater Academy of Television, Arts & Sciences. BUF Compagnie's presentation included their incredible demo reel and the latest visual effects sequences for David Fincher's Fight Club.

Their contribution to the film's seamless, magical visual effects is "The Ultimate Camera," a technique BUF animators developed to take viewers to places where a physical camera could not ordinarily go -- as in following the thought process. Buf Compagnie created this virtual "camera" of infinitely scalable size, speed and mobility to pass through walls and follow a character's stream of thoughts. BUF worked from 2D photographic reference images during the production to develop photo-realistic CGI sequences that stunningly break beyond existing physical limitations.

The artistry of BUF's CGI visual effects and animations has been delighting international audiences for over 15 years throughout more than 300 film and commercial productions. Ranging from their Paris base of operations to a new Hollywood business office, BUF is best known for combining an artistic sensibility with groundbreaking technology to create innovative visual effects.

Electrolux: A commercial about a vacuum cleaner that is powerful enough to extract bugs from carpet.

Many of BUF's technological achievements have proved to be trendsetting for the visual effects industry. Some of these creations include the striking photo-real rendering of the flea sequences from City of the Lost Children and the often copied 'frozen moment in time' effect that BUF originally debuted in The Rolling Stones' music video "Like a Rolling Stone." One of the many spots done using this technology was the GAP "Swing" commercial.

"Let forever Be" The Chemical Brothers music video

BUF shared the challenges involved in their latest achievements in CGI risk-taking that included their work for Batman and Robin and the recently released motion picture, Fight Club. A Buf representitive, who is heading up BUF's Los Angeles operations, introduced the evening's program. Their presentation included recent works done by BUF in Europe as well as in the United States. One of Their favorites is Electrolux. A commercial about a vacuum cleaner that is powerful enough to extract bugs from carpet. The commercial was so lifelike and realistic that it was banned in Paris because it scared housewives and their children.

Some others that are a must-see are:

"Let forever Be" The Chemical Brothers music video of a girl who is transformed into multiple persons with a slight variation in movement, size,location, and sometimes demensions.

"Levis" -- "Jeans shrink to fit";

Click to see QuickTime movie. 5.44mb

"Flat City"--Commercial for a 3d package; A 2D mixed with 3D animation of people, animals, cars and buildings.

"Smirnorff" -- U.K.


"Coca Cola"; 30 still images morphed into a 30 second commercial. Very difficult to see that they were stills.

Khakis, "Swing"

The above is a small sample of Buf's dynamic skills. Visit Buf's web site for more history, images and steaming video at http://www.Buf.fr/.

BUF Compagnie and David Fincher's Fight Club...continued on Page 2.

All images supplied courtesy of Buf Compagnie©1999