A lot of milage from this footage

Just recapping on my effects handiwork...

Source Footage

As mention previously it was impossible to get the shot I wanted so I had to resort to visual effects.




This edited footage resulted in two very shots.

Shot 1

Shot 2

Panache Leaves Uncle Bulo v2.1

This shot didn't really make sense in it's original form as there needed to a reason for the camera to be hovering around the window.

So to fix this problem I've added a preying mantis. The effect looks a bit shoddy on computer monitors but it looks fine on TV screens.

Ghost Tour

On Friday night I finally did one of Alan Jennison's Ghost Tours. Visit for www.toursofrichmond.com for more details.

So the big question is did I see any ghosts? Take a look at this...

(click thumbnails to view full sized images)

Ok, so that's a double exposure of Michael and his camera. I can tell it's Michael by the clothing, unless some ghosts has a shape shifting ability allowing them to assume the clothing of those nearby... And their video camera as well...


Now take a look at this...




This is most likely a lens flare caused by the light... Seems strange to have a random ball of light in the middle of nowhere though.

Now what be this? I've put a red arrow pointing to the area you need to look. You'll have to enlarge the picture otherwise you won't see anything



Interestingly enough it shows up again in a second picture. But less noticeable.



Perhaps it's another form of lens flare... Perhaps not! Either way I wouldn't mind going back and more pictures - and you should too!

Do the ghost tour and you'll understand why that tunnel is considered a particularly good location for finding ghosts.

A man that really did grow into a tree

This bit of news seems relevant to what I'm doing

Dede is a 35 year old Indonesian man who suffers from an extremely rare condition caused by human papillomavirus. The virus has caused him to develop massive warts on his hands, feet, and face. The warts started growing when he was fifteen years old, after he accidentally cut his knee while working on a construction site. The warts on his hands and feet grow about five millimeters each month, and have grown so long they resemble the roots of a tree. Hence he has been referred to as the "Tree Man".

It is the season to be distracted

This time of year is shocking for getting things done due to the number of distractions. I've decided now would be a wonderful time to begin sharing the context presentation I gave earlier in the semester.

Since I was intended to make a B movie I thought I should thoroughly investigate what a B Movie was. Many people seem to consider them as bad low budget movies but this is not actually the case.


So what I shall do is break the presentation down in section and post it in anti-chronological order. This way it will appear in linear order to those who don't follow the blog daily.

Visual Effect WIP - Gigh Resurrection - Wide Shot 1.03

Now Gigh has been made to appear as though he grows out of the tree. At the moment it looks like too much like an ordinary morph but after the branches and leaves are added this should be reduced.



Next I shall fix the "morph" problem.

Visual Effect WIP - Gigh Resurrection - Wide Shot 1.02

Tree Fitting Gigh

Step 1

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First I just lay pieces of tree over Gigh roughly where I want them to grow. They're just pictures I've taken from near my place and they probably aren't the best choice so I'll replace them later when I find the "perfect" tree for the role. We better hold some tree auditions...


Step 2

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Now using a warp mesh I shall conceal Mick behind the tree.


I'll drop the opacity of the tree down to 50% so you can see what's happening.

Now we have Mick within the boundary of the tree but the tree doesn't look very good so that requires improving.


Step 3

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I adjust the tree so the branches look like they're blended better although they're still not right yet but they will have leaves on them by the final version.




Next I did a render to see what it looks like so far... Kind of like Mick is standing up from behind a tree.


Now I need to make it appear as though the tree is growing into him...