Visual Effect WIP - Gigh Resurrection - Wide Shot 1.00

Several weeks ago I attempted to create the visual effect depicting a tree growing from the ground and then into Gigh. As I was missing the footage I required to complete the shot I was having great difficulty in achieving the animation I desired.

I now have that missing footage thus providing me with the visual references I require to achieve the effect.

Here is the footage I shall be working with:



You'll notice Mick stands in the same position for 5 seconds then walks out the frame.

For greater flexibility I need to separate Mick from his background so I take the first frame and cut him it out using image editing software. I've made the background magenta so he contrasts nicely and you can see what I've done.



The part of the video after Mick steps out becomes a background plate:




Now I insert Mick into the background plate:



And I can now move parts of him around without interfering with the background. Mind you it doesn't look natural, partly because

1. The material of his shirt isn't blowing in the wind.
2. The shadows aren't adjusting as he moves.
   
3. This is the first time I've used this tool and I'm not very good with it!

I could improve upon this things but they're not really important to the shot I'm attempting to achieve.

Next I must "tree-fit" Mick...

Location Scouting for Tavern - Blue Bell Inn

Since I've been busy of late I haven't been producing any new material and consequentially my recent blog entries have been very textual. So to break the monotony I've decided to delve into the vast backlog of content I didn't have time to blog earlier.

Today are some location scouting images of the Blue Bell Inn which was taken into consideration for the Tavern. The reason it wasn't selected because the rooms are a bit too small for filming purposes.

I admit the photography in these pictures probably isn't the best I've taken either.

Preview DVD

If anyone involved in the production is interested in seeing the Preview DVD send me a message and I'll mail one to you.

The Preview DVD is the first 5 minutes of the film which I submitted for university assessment. Being a preview it's still not the final edit, because the effect shot take hours (or in some cases days) to complete I've decided to press ahead rather than spend more time refining the first half.

University Results

I decided not check my university results because I knew I'd passed and getting a high mark wasn't important to me. I was quite happy to go through the rest of my existence not knowing the actual mark but unfortunately a certain lecturer informed me that I got "top mark". That foiled that idea...

I still haven't checked the exact score yet...

New Non-Film Projects

It appears my Web Design clients I have almost paid off the websites I designed for them in 2006. This means I better do some more paid work because having the extra finances is very pleasant but there is a downside.

The downside is there will be further delay in the recommencement of post-production. Perhaps annoying because it pushes back the completion date of the film but unfortunately websites make money, working on this film does not.

Pity how life gets in the way of these things...

The Rehersals

Someone reading this blog for the first time might see the footage from the final rehearsals and think "What the hell is this?".

Despite the outlandishness of the final rehearsal session the actors nailed their roles during production and their performance were pretty much spot on. I think the acting is probably one of the stronger points of the film.

So give a round of applause to the actors!

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Fianle

Finale - Take #1



Finale - Take #2