Star WarsstarHayden Christensenmay be best known for his Force abilities, but VFX artists have nothing but praise for the special effects featured in another of his sci-fi outings. Beginning his acting career at just 12 years of age, Christensen would eventually make his feature film debut in the 1994 John Carpenter horror film,In The Mouth of Madness.However, in May 2000, Christensen rapidly rose to international fame when it was announced that he would play theyoung adult version of Anakin SkywalkerinStar Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
Playing not only the impetuous young Jedi Knight who would later become theStar Warsgalaxy’s most feared Sith Lord, Christensen would also insist on personally wearingDarth Vader’s iconic armorduring the final moments of 2005’sRevenge of the Sith.Following the conclusion of theStar Warsprequel trilogy, Christensen would lend his talents to several smaller projects before ultimately making his return to theStar Warsfranchise in 2022’sObi-Wan Kenobiand 2023’sAhsoka.
Christensen’s Jumper Makes The Most Of Clever VFX Tricks
Teleportation Effects Can Be Heightened With Simple Additions
While Christensen’s time in theStar Warsuniverse has left him intimately familiar with large-scale visual effects, his 2008 sci-fi outingJumperhighlights the immensepotential that comes with doing comparatively simple effects well. The movie itself was critically panned, with only a 15% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score of 44%.
The VFX artists atCorridor Crewturn their attention to the teleportation effects. Focusing on the fight scene between Christensen’s David Rice and Jamie Bell’s renegade Jumper, Griffin O’Connor at the Colosseum, Wren Weichman reveals the scene includes multiple versions of the characters in a single moving shot which is achieved by using multiple stuntmen and replacing their faces during post-production. While parts of the scene were filmed on location at the Colosseum, most ofthe fight sequence was shot on a sound stagewhere the historical structure’s interior had been faithfully recreated.
That shot right there, that’s Jamie Bell on the right, and then [again] up there all in the same shot. They’re not really doing digi-doubles either. So they actually have multiple stunt guys, who look just like them, and they have dots on their faces and they’re doing face replacements.
As for the actual teleportation effect itself, the trio explains that to make the transition appear kinetic it is necessary to avoid doing a simple hard cut. Instead, a single frame of film needs to be addedto provide the illusion of something else happening. As Niko Pueringer points out, this is best achieved with a standard frame rate of 24 frames per second.
There’s something magical about 24 frames per second. Like we could have movies at any frame rate we want to, [but] 24 frames per second is a magical amount of frames per second where we see the motion, but we see every individual frame. Once you get to 30 frames per second it gets really hard for the average human to pick up an individual frame. At 24 frames per second, you see that muzzle flash that’s there for one frame, and as an artist you have a lot of power with one frame to do something. Like inJumper, and you get that one frame of like just the wisp being there or the hair flipping up.
Our Take On Christensen’s Jumper
Impressive Effects Were Let Down By A Muddled Script
Despite its impressive use of visual effects, Christensen’s first science fiction outingfollowing theStar Warsprequelswas far from a critical success. Lambasted by critics, most reviewers suggested that despite the movie’s interesting premise and impressive effects,it was ultimately let down by a lifeless script that lacked coherenceand adequate pacing.
Yet, despite the movie’s narrative issues, the underlying premise has already managed to attain some degree of atonement in the following years. Whileplans for aJumpersequel never eventuated, in 2018 a spinoff television seriesImpulseintroduced a new 16-year Jumper named Henrietta “Henry” Coles who discovers her abilities are triggered by emotional distress. Based on the third novel in Steven Gould’s originalJumpernovel series, the critical response to the show was a vast improvement over the originalJumper, and for many, it even helped to make up for its various shortcomings.
Jumper
Cast
Jumper is a science fiction action film directed by Doug Liman, featuring Hayden Christensen as David Rice, a young man with the ability to teleport anywhere instantly. As David uses his powers to escape a troubled home life and explore the world, he becomes entangled in a centuries-old war between those like him, known as Jumpers, and a covert group sworn to destroy them.
