How To: Week 2- Composite your own Visual effects shot!

Compositing visual effects shots professionally can be a complex and expensive endeavor. However, its a relatively simple task to create your own composites in Photoshop. And you can use things that you might have around the house.

First off, pick a subject.. Do you want to do something with a science fiction or fantasy angle. A giant monster on the loose?, a futuristic city.? Try to pick something relatively easy and not terribly complex to begin with. For demonstration purposes I have picked spaceships attacking Boston.

For this task you will need

-A digital camera with memory card

- A computer with Photoshop

- A sunny day to shoot outdoors

-A subject to shoot (miniature or person-you decide)

- Chroma blue background or white paper as background

As I time saver I have photographed a Klingon Bird of Prey Model against a white background. You can also use a bright Chroma blue background, which will make the separation against its original background easier.

   1.  Photograph miniature against background with digital camera. Any digital camera will work.

   2.  Make note of camera position and lens information. Also make note of position of lights so you    can match to the background.

   3.   Pick an outdoor setting to shoot the background plate. Try to match the lighting of your subject in   terms of where the sun will be hitting the subject.

      4. Transfer the digital files to the computer and open Photoshop.Load images into program.

    5.   Add layer in Photoshop for background. Load background photo

    6.  Add second layer for subject.

    7.  Make a separation layer from the subject layer. You do this by right clicking and clicking on make layer.

   8. Use the eraser brush to create a transparent layer around the ship. Now we can separate it from the background.

   9. Cut and paste the subject Layer over the background layer after you have separated it from its native layer

  10. Use Conform tool to position it in frame and adjust the size. Using Cut and Paste and conform you can add as many ships as you like.

  11.     Lock all layers. You should have a completed shot! Congratulations. Do it 23 more times and you have one frame of film. (Just kidding)

  The basic principals of compositing are all present in this exercise.

Wikipedia submission

SKOTAK BROTHERS

Submission to Wikipedia, The free encyclopedia

Robert and Dennis Skotak are visual effects supervisors, designers and photographers known professionally as the Skotak Brothers. Their films include Aliens (1986), Tremors (1989), The Abyss (1989) Darkman (1990), Terminator 2 : Judgment Day  (1991), House On Haunted Hill(1999) and Starship Trooper: Marauder (2007)

Professionally they worked together for most of their careers but occasionally have worked independently. In 1989 they founded the visual effects company 4ward Productions. Collectively they have won three Academy awards in the visual effects category  for Aliens, The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In addition to his work as a visual effects supervisor, Robert is also a writer, film historian and production designer. Dennis is an experienced still photographer and digital artist.

EARLY CAREER

Both brothers were influenced early on by the works of George Pal specifically the film War Of The Worlds and the films of IB Melchior (Angry Red Planet). They eventually moved from their home state of Michigan to Los Angles, CA to seek work professionally in film production. In their adolescence they created several award winning short films, usually tackling subjects in the science fiction or fantasy realm.

One of the first projects they were hired for was to create several visual effects shots for the low budget thriller THE AFTERMATH (1977), a post apocalyptic science fiction film directed and starring Steve Barkett.

CORMAN STUDIOS/ NEW WORLD PICTURES

In the late 70’s the Skotaks went to work for Roger Corman’s New World Studios. Corman, impressed and motivated by the success of Star Wars (1977), began his own visual effects studio to provide effects for his own productions and to service other modestly budgeted film productions.

It was at the Corman studios that the Skotaks met fellow artist James Cameron. Together they worked on the visual effects and sets for Battle Beyond The Stars (1979), Corman’s response to George Lucas’ hit film. The Skotaks worked in multiple capacities on the film including set building, design, Photography, Matte Paintings. After the success of that film, The Skotaks continued working for Corman creating effects for Galaxy of Terror (1981),which Robert co-production designed with James Cameron, John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981) and Forbidden World (1982)

WORKING WITH JAMES CAMERON

In 1985 the Skotaks were contacted by producer Gale Anne Hurd to supervise the visual effects for James Cameron’s follow up to his surprise hit The Terminator (1984). Cameron admired their skill and abilities in many areas of filmmaking including miniature construction, matte painting and photography. They ended up spending nearly a year on England on the film. Despite the limitations of the budget and the firing of the LA Effects Group from the film, the film earned Robert his first visual effects Oscar (shared with Stan Winston and special effects supervisor John Richardson)(2)

In 1988, the Skotaks were called up again by producer Gale Anne Hurd to work on Cameron’s next film, the ambitious The Abyss . Instead of taking on the supervision of the entire film they chose to work on certain sections of the film including the Benthic Explorer crane collapse and the DSRV drop from the tanker.  Dennis Skotak was awarded an academy award for his work on the film. (2)

In 1991 the Skotaks again collaborated with Cameron on his sequel to his 1984 independent hit The Terminator with Terminator 2 Judgment day. Although the majority of the press for the film focused on ILM's morphing T-1000 liquid metal effects, 4Ward cleverly incorporated digital effects with miniature work into the “nuclear nightmare” sequence.  For the shockwave blast effect, the Skotak used Mac computers to create a particle effect that would be digitally composited with the miniature building explosions. T2 would earn Robert his second academy award for visual effects supervision in 1992(shared with Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren Jr)

The Skotaks would work again with Cameron on T-2 ride film as well as several key sequences in Titanic. (1997)

4WARD PRODUCTIONS

In 1989 The Skotaks along with partner Elaine Edford formed the visual effects studio 4Ward Productions. Their first project was the Gale Ann Hurd-produced science fiction Horror film Tremors.  Over the next two decades, 4Ward would create visual effects for such high profile films as Darkman (1990), Batman returns (1992), Hearts and Souls (1993), No Escape (1994), Captain Ron (1994), Tank Girl (1994), The Arrival (1996)and Hard Rain (1998)

The Skotaks had dabbled with integrating digital technology with Terminator 2 nuclear dream sequence but with House On Haunted hill (1999) they would use the new digital compositing tools on a much grander scale. They developed a technique of shooting miniatures and puppet effects on film and transferring the footage to high resolution digital tape and then compositing and manipulating the elements in a high speed composite system called The Flame. The resulting effects were impressive and millions were saved by avoiding expensive 3D CGI costs.

In 2007 they tackled their biggest project in years, Starship Troopers 3; Marauder. In this follow up to Paul Verhoven’s original 1997 film, the Skotaks would help design sets and hardware, help design creature effects and supervise all miniature and CG photography. Robert would also design the marauder suits and the boss creature, The Bethmacotyl. (6)

Today the Skotaks continue to run 4Ward from their studios in Chatsworth, California. Their most recent film was Joe Dante’s The Hole.

WRITING

Before Michigan for Los Angeles, the Skotak brothers wrote, edited and published the genre tribute fanzine, Fantascene and are currently working on a documentary on Soviet fantasy cinema. (1)

Robert Skotak is a noted film historian and has written several articles and biographies most notably Ib Melchior: Man of Imagination (3)

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Robert Skotak

Academy award/ Best visual effects- Terminator 2 (1992)

Academy award/ Best visual effects- Aliens (1987)

Saturn Award/ Best visual effects- Aliens  (1987)

BAFTA Award/ Best visual effects –Terminator 2 (1992)

BAFTA Award/ Best visual effects- Aliens (1987) (5)

Dennis Skotak

Academy award/ Best visual effects- the Abyss (1990)

Academy award Nomination/ Best visual effects- Batman Returns (1993)

Saturn Award/ Best visual effects- Aliens  (1987)

BAFTA Nomination/ Best visual effects- Batman Returns (1993)

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY (as VFX supervisors/ designers) (5)

Alien
Titanic 
T2 3D Battle Across Time 
Ghost
Dracula 
Terminator 2 Judgement Day 
, Failure to Launch ,Young MacGyver
,The Tuxedo
Joe and Max
The Skys the Limit 
House on Haunted Hill
,Hard Rain 
Stepford Wives 
Mousehunt ,
Mars Attacks!,
,The Arrival
Tank Girl
No Escape
Clifford
Mad House 
Heart and Souls,
Captain Ron, 
Honey I Blew Up The Kid 
Batman Returns
Cast a Deadly Spell ,
Darkman ,
Tremors,
Syngenor, 
The Abyss
Space Rage 
The Lords of the Deep
City Limits 
Creature 
To Be or Not to Be 
Jaws 3 D 
Forbidden World
,The Aftermath ,
Galaxy of Terror 
Escape from New York 
Battle Beyond the Stars
,The Sky is Falling: The Making of 'The War of the Worlds' 
The Alien Legacy 
Batman Returns 
Strange Invaders 
The Demon Lover
Baby Killer 
Superior Firepower: The Making of 'Aliens' 
The Making of Tremors 
Movie Magic - Action Miniatures - Fast and Furious 
Shadows of the Bat
The Naked Monster 
Bio-Dome 
Tremors 4: The Legend Begins 
Trapped Ashes(3)

REFERENCES

1..http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/09/film/new-maps-of-heaven

2.http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/87922%7C0/Aliens.html

3. http://www.mentorhuebnerart.com/featuredguests/filmmakers/robertanddennisshotak.shtml

4. Sci Fi Fantasy FX, 25 years of moving $ward: a retrospect of the skotak Brothers

5.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0804738/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

6. Sci Fi Fantasy Modeller, Happy Medium Press, 2008, “Battle Plan”  creating the effects of Starship troopers 3

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Fusion of old and new tech...the wave of the future?

In order for film producers to cut costs in growing visual effects budgets, they are constantly on the lookout for interesting methodologies that may present n cost saving measures.

In the new Sam Raimi fantasy film "Oz, The great and Powerful" the filmmakers enlisted the services of master puppeteer Phillip Huber, best known for his work on "Being John Malkovich".

An interview regarding that film can be found here

http://www.hubermarionettes.com/news/scifi.htm

Again, Huber brings his talent for the new character "The China Girl" for Oz.

An interview with him regarding the China Girl can be found here

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/60954.

I find it promising that Hollywood is continuing to find traditional solutions to VFX problem solving. Miniature builders and puppeteers have almost become extinct in Hollywood since the introduction of computers but occasionally they make a come back and the results are always interesting. Tim Burton's Frankenweenie and Paranorman also use the time honored tradition of puppet creation and stop motion photography (although using digital cameras for the work).

Hopefully Hollywood will continue to foster  all manner of artistry whether it be digital or practical even when budgetary concerns are involved.

Technology in entertainment. Why Hollywood can't live without it

Imagine you're producing a film and you're breaking down the script, trying to determine the cost and feasibility of shooting a film adaption of a book that largely takes place on the open sea. The main character of this story is sharing a life raft with a hungry Bengal tiger who is constantly trying to eat him. The logistical nightmares of that aspect alone is mind numbing!

Twenty years ago such a challenge might seem impossible to most producers and studios. They would have likely passed on filming a book like  Life of Pi.

Animal rights groups have cracked down heavily against animal mistreatment and have since required film companies to have an ASPCA representative on set whenever an animal is present. Also, animals are somewhat limited to what they can (or are willing) to do. Many animals (such as gorillas and certain species of chimpanzees) are difficult or illegal to train for entertainment purposes.

Digital technology solves a great deal of these problems.

The challenge of course is realism. It has to be believable to have dramatic impact. The digital artists and supervisors at California based visual effects house Rhythm and Hues have made major advancements in realistic animal animation. What is so challenging for effects artists is creating movement that seems natural.

Most artists have never seen large predatory cats up close and it would be somewhat difficult to put a motion capture suit on a tiger to get that realistic motion translated into the computer. After studying hours of footage of live tigers , it took months for the R and H artists to get the movements correct.

They managed to create a believable wild animal without the expense or potential danger or cruelty of using a live animal.

Digital technology of this type is still very expensive and many studios have difficulty maintaining the overhead to sustain the hardware and personnel to make such imagery. But comparatively  speaking, its still easier, cheaper and more humane to go the digital route.