The camera always lies
The Fades Effects Case Study
On-set to Post - Production... During the shoot our creative team were always on-hand to assist the director and crew. For some of the bigger effects sequences we were able to “slap comp” shots on-set. This enabled us, and production, to see very rough versions of the composited shots. Its important to allow time for the preparation and testing of effects and equally, the time to capture them on-set. All too often VFX shots get pushed to the end of the day with little time to shoot. This invites risk. All of the major sequences had a high degree of preparation, especially the wings and light chests, which required good communication with special effects, art department, camera department, to name a few. In post-production, we will supervise VFX decisions during the offline, keeping an eye on the amount and complexity of the shots. Once the offline is locked the conform, online, VFX and grade can commence. We will acquire any elements we need for our shots during this stage. This included the burning effect for John’s death. Please see below. CLICK ME
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Above (from left to right):
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Above (from left to right):
A shot of the Chrysalis as built by the art department. This was before it had been lit for camera. The second image is the artistes sitting on the set wall waiting for their take. We shot a plate of an empty carpark and a plate of the two guys sitting on the wall. The two compostited together create’s the shot below. The final image is of a portable green screen. Because of the demanding schedule, we captured VFX shots when and where we could. This screen was set-up to capture full length shots of Fades standing around. These were used to populate shots as seen from the top of the carpark.
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The first two shots depict the Light Vest, before and after the final effect. The light vests did two important things: add light to the artist and set - integrating the final effect AND sped up the post process of applying the effect. Next - Paul's hand glow was achieved with a small custom light rig behind the hand, which was used to drive the visual effect. John’s death sequence used a combination of live action elements that we acquired and CGI elements. These components were warped, match-moved and compostited onto Johns face. Paul in his bed is a before and after shot. Notice the green rig on the right side; used to help the CGI wings interact with the set. The next shot displays the detail of the CGI wing, each feather was modelled and textured. Polus’ makeup went as far as covering his body and head. The addition of a CGI tongue completed the character’ fictional existence. The final shot was a simple, but effective composition. The carpark and the artistes were photographed separately at different locations.
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