Visual Effects and Rotoscoping

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Shooters Post & Transfer (http://www.shootersinc.com) was the post-production hero of “Be The Hero,” a new HD spot for Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, directed by Peter Odiorne of production company Sleeping Tree Films, Ardmore, PA and New York. The spot is currently airing nationally.

“This spot was a lot more complicated then one might think at first look,” says Mark Farkas, Shooters’ Director of Post Production/Senior Editor. “It’s essentially two different sequences, shot at separate times with different frame-rates and film-speeds. It required some precise planning to pull off, as well as some intricate compositing and rotoscoping work.”

“Be The Hero,” created in-house by Dicks Sporting Goods, centers on a confident looking catcher, seen in full color, moments before a big game. We see him stride purposefully in slow motion from the clubhouse to behind the plate while around him is a swirl of fast-motion action as his teammates, seen in black and white, get ready for the game. A voiceover, delivered like a pep talk from an unseen coach, captures the drama in reverberated tones: “who is going to be the hero tonight? Somebody has to make a play to make a difference. Be the one. Make that difference,” as specific products from Rawlings, Nike and Adidas worn by the black and white players appear in color. The spot ends just as the catcher gets into position behind the plate, and full-color suddenly fills the screen for the first time as the ump yells “Play Ball.” From the perspective of behind the plate we see the entire baseball field, with the Dick’s Sporting Goods logo, as well as others like Nike and Adidas, adorning the centerfield wall.

The last image we see is the created end tag, appearing as a mysterious green vortex of baseball imagery — in the center are the words “Be the one” followed by the Dick’s logo.

“Dick’s to their credit wanted to do a spot that was creative and conceptual,” Odiorne says. “Dick’s wanted to capture that pre-game moment all great athletes have where they are intensely focused. They wanted to talk to athletes in a powerful way.”

Although Odiorne comes from a postproduction background, he knew this spot was fraught with potential problems and asked Farkas and editor Chris Magliozzo to be on set during the shoot to answer questions and troubleshoot any potential problems.

“I’ve been a director long enough to know that things sometimes go wrong on even the tightest-run productions, I wanted a little insurance and having Chris and Mark on set was key to that,” Odiorne adds. “They spotted several things during the production that saved us a ton time and money.”

To create the effect of the two simultaneous moments happening at different speeds, Odiorne shot the hero catcher against a greensceen at faster than normal frame rates – ranging from 40 to 90 fps (frames per second) — thus giving the appearance of him moving slowly compared to the shots of the other players around him that were shot at a traditional 24 fps. In post, the footage of the catcher was rotoscoped out and composited into the shots of the other players, to complete the effect. In addition to the main composites, the spot also highlights four distinct pieces of equipment, which appear in color while players themselves remain in black and white. The effect was created by rotoscoping the equipment, coloring it and compositing it back into the original scene.

“This one of those projects were some math was involved,” Magliozzo says. “Because of the various film speeds we needed to specifically map out the screen times so that when we got to post everything would sync the way Peter envisioned it.”

For senior producer Wade Echer, getting involved before the camera rolled was key “It is always was good to be part of the process early, everything fell into place as planned during post. Could we have pulled this off without our involvement in the planning? Of course, but it definitely wouldn’t have been as smooth a process as it turned out.”

This spot is another illustrative example of the Shooters ‘boutique facility’ philosophy centered on operating like a boutique in terms of talent and the creative process, but also having the technical advantages, efficiencies and horsepower of a facility.

About Shooters Post & Transfer:

Shooters Post & Transfer (www.shootersinc.com) blends talent, technology and customer service to provide a superior level of quality and creativity. Shooters’ client base consists of ad agencies, production companies, filmmakers, television and cable networks, political consultants, PR firms, and corporations. Capabilities include Spirit 2K film transfer w/ Bones data, da Vinci 2k Plus w/Colorist Toolbox; Resolve Digital Cinema Suite, six Inferno/Smoke2k suites, nine Avid non-linear edit, four final cut suites, CGI and graphic design, Flame, three surround sound audio suites, audio recording studio, film, HD and video crews and studio. The company also has a visual effects and film finishing division DIVE and produces Food Network’s “Dinner: Impossible.”

Creative Credits:

Client: Dick’s Sporting Goods

Project: “Be The Hero” (:30)

Agency: Dick’s Sporting Goods — In House

Production: Sleeping Tree Films, Ardmore, PA; New York

Director: Peter Odiorne

Post: Shooters Post & Transfer, Philadelphia, PA

VFX Supervisor/Smoke/Inferno Artist: Mark Farkas

VFX Supervisor/Editor: Chris Magliozzo

Sr. Producer: Wade Echer

Sound Design: Mike Taylor

Graphic Artist: Mike Mullen

Inferno Artist: Michael Furey

Colorist: Janet Falcon

Web Resources:

Click here to watch “Be The Hero”:

http://tinyurl.com/ot48o7

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/corp/index.jsp?page=commercials

Click here for more info about Shooters Post & Transfer:

http://www.shootersinc.com/

One month to the day of its announced commitment to new product development and renewed innovation for accessible desktop VFX tools, Imagineer Systems (www.imagineersystems.com) today is announcing two new developments for the After Effects Community.  With this announcement, Imagineer Systems is adding significant workflow enhancements to its popular mocha for After Effects, and is introducing an entirely new VFX plug in solution, mocha shape for After Effects.

mocha for After Effects v2 is a major upgrade to the industry-popular tracking tool for Adobe After Effects and adds significant new capabilities, such as export of rotoscoping shape data and greatly improved tracking data export. Specifically, mocha for After Effects v2:

Exports any resolution, per point variable edge width roto shape data in the mocha shape format;
Allows users to export tracking data as After Effects CornerPin with motion blur;
Is compatible with Adobe After Effects CS3 and CS4.

mocha shape for After Effects is a plug in solution designed to import rotoscoping shape data directly into After Effects from any Imagineer Systems VFX tool.  mocha shape is designed to import rotoscoping shape data exported from any Imagineer product into Adobe After Effects.  With a simple copy and paste, After Effects artists can import multi-layer shape data with variable, per point edge feathering with out rendering. This capability helps save render time and streamline the work flow between Imagineer’s products and After Effects.  mocha shape is available as both single and multi-seat licenses, making it affordable for both individuals and facilities.

mocha shape for After Effects features:

The ability to paste any resolution roto shape data from Imagineer’s products to After Effects without rendering;
Variable, per point edge width feathering;
The ability to translate mocha layer names to After Effects compositions;
High quality rendering;
Various blend modes;
Ability to render shape as cutout, color composite or color cutout;
Compatibility with Adobe After Effects CS3 and CS4.

mocha shape for After Effects is compatible with mocha for After Effects v2.  For current customers seeking information on upgrading to v2, please visit www.imagineersystems.com.

Both mocha for After Effects v2 and mocha shape for After Effects have completed a successful beta testing and are available immediately from www.imagineersystems.com.

Beta Testers Like What They See
Following its productive beta program, customers and testers had this to say about the new additions to the Imagineer Systems VFX family of solutions:

…By the way, the new mocha shape exporter is dope!  The simple fact that you don’t have to render your mattes before exporting to After Effects makes mocha shape indispensable…..throw your renders away!…
Jim Geduldick, Co-Host, AENY and Finacutuser.com

…To say mocha After Effects v2 is a upgrade is an understatement it completely changes the way a roto artist can work in After Effects.  mocha for After Effects v2 has saved me countless hours of rotoscoping!…
Josh Johnson, Freelance VFX Artist

…mocha for After Effects gets a lot of use around here. Its tracking just works, so it makes very fast work of handling the typical image fix ups we do around here, which often includes removing objects from shots.  In a recent job for a regional auto repair company, there were some logos on a toolbox behind the actor we needed to remove. In under an hour per shot we tracked the movement in the shot to place a cover up, and then roto’d the moving actor as he passed in front of it. It was quick and painless. Without mocha for After Effects, it would not of been doable on the client’s post budget. mocha for After Effects gave us a critical advantage over our competitors.
Steve Oakley, Digital Illusionist - DP - Motion Graphics - Editing

Source: Ninja Crayon

For the YES Network, New York-based creative services agency Blue Room NYC has created an image spot for the launch of the New York Yankees season and a topical promo toolkit as well. The 2009 inaugural Yankees image spot, which includes a :30, :20, :25/5 and :23/7, began airing nationally on DirecTV and regionally within the tri-state area the first week of March. The topical promo graphics package for the 2009 Yankees Season will begin airing in April.

Blue Room utilized Adobe Photoshop CS4, After Effects CS4, Maya, Cinema 4d and SynthEyes for rotoscoping and tracking in the execution of this project.

Source: AWN

Editorial and post-production house, Chomet, in conjunction with Hype Williams and visual effects company Optic Flavor, teamed up to create the new Kanye West music video “Heartless.” Produced and directed by Hype Williams for Def Jam Records, “Heartless” made its debut with the release of the new album, 808S AND HEARTBREAK at year’s end. Footage from the new video was shown during the Kanye West performance on the AMA Awards in advance of the album release date.

Chomet and Hype Williams have collaborated on past music projects for artists like Common, Jamie Foxx, and N.E.R.D. Chomet and Optic Flavor were responsible for all post-production and visual effects for the “Heartless” video with Stephan Zlotescu acting as Art Director/VFX Supervisor and Vlad Caprini as Project Coordinator.

Source: AWN News

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is really something. To view this film is to see just how far the craft of filmmaking has come in the twenty-first century, thanks to its digital effects and advanced use of rotoscoping technology. For years I’ve felt that CGI, if done poorly and without inspiration, can really handicap a film; as I’ve previously noted, there’s nothing like the real thing. So many directors throw in digital creatures and explosions, and for what purpose? I suppose they find it easier and more cost efficient to do things this way (or so they hope), although, at the end of the day, what’s up on the screen isn’t three dimensional but rather hollow and lifeless. Sure, there have been instances where technology and art have combined to make cinematic events palpable (Peter Jackson’s) King Kong and Gary Sinise’s legs, or lack thereof, in Forrest Gump, come to mind), but by and large, computerized effects are consistently abused and robbed of their value. Luckily, director David Fincher attempts to change this with Benjamin Button, and he rarely makes a misstep.

Filming a story about a man who ages backwards may have been deemed impossible thirty years ago — or at the very least, improbable — without the substitution of different actors of various ages. A sixty year old actor could do one scene, while a forty year old steps in to do another. The reason we believe in Brad Pitt’s ransformation as Benjamin is because Fincher has allowed the actor to retain a thespian’s all important window to the soul: his eyes. Pitt’s eyes have either been placed onto the CGI version of himself, or his eyes have been digitally duplicated onto the effect. While I do not know how they did it, I am positive that it is those eyes that allow us to become fully invested in this character. The frequent narration by Pitt also help (a nice touch by screenwriter Eric Roth).

As Benjamin gets younger in appearance, Fincher does come across a dilemma that I’m not sure he, nor the film, can fully overcome. A younger actor replaces Pitt to finish out the story, and with him comes a new voice, face, and pair of eyes. Suddenly, our suspension of disbelief has been somewhat broken, and the final moments of his life do not have as much of an impact as the emotionally involving material requires. We are now just seeing an elderly Cate Blanchett in large framed spectacles (resembling Katharine Hepburn in a way), caressing a child actor who probably had to get back to his tutor once Fincher yelled cut. I suppose rotoscoping can make you appear older (and it does so brilliantly here), but when it comes to youth…well, that’s another story.

I’ve gotten ahead of myself, however, and haven’t mentioned how Fincher and his effects team create such an encompassing and beautiful environment in New Orleans and abroad. Developing a mis en scene that would have left Arthur C. Clarke impressed, Fincher’s team colors in every backdrop with impeccable attention to detail, in effect creating a mosaic of vivid color and texture. The many sequences at sea are so fully realized that you may find yourself second guessing what’s real and what isn’t; eventually you’ll give up and just allow yourself to be enthralled. When Fincher shows us 1950s Times Square, we accept the green screens that were probably used to help create the effect. The amount of care and and preparation needed to reproduce cities, oceans, and more only adds to thrill you get watching it all unfold. When Fincher shows us a startling sunset, we’ve stopped thinking about digital effects and would rather revel in the magic that films like this are all about.

Fincher doesn’t stop there, however. When one recurring character describes his frequent encounters with lightning, Fincher uses a faded out, deteriorating film stock (or digitally gives off this impression) to depict the brief flashback. The old footage seems authentic enough to be confused with old Lumiere outtakes. The director also allows a nice moment where, upon the introduction of a clock that rotates backwards, dead soldiers are shown rising up from the ground. The footage is simply being reversed. It’s an effective choice which furthers the message of a grieving father wanting to bring back his fallen son. Also, in several key scenes, a ticking clock can be heard under character’s dialogue, and Fincher never allows the viewer to forget that the concept of diminishing time is so crucial to the story.

Much has already been written about the similarities the film has to Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump (also penned by Roth). While they are certainly there, the similar traits aren’t very distracting. In Forrest Gump, we had a love interest named Jenny, and in Benjamin Button, it’s Daisy. Forrest doesn’t want his child to grow up “like him” (mentally retarded), while Benjamin doesn’t want his disorder to be passed on to his kin. Some have even compared the shrimp boat scenes in Gump to the tugboat scenes in Benjamin Button. The difference is that each protagonist’s journey to these moments (or plot points) are extremely diverse. Roth may write about characters on the same road, but they are most definitely not driving the same car. Still, the comparisons are worth noting.

Since I’m writing this review about a month after the film has been released to American audiences (there are so many films out now, some unfortunately get lost in the shuffle), I have been able to hear many people’s complaints with the piece, besides the usual Forrest Gump comparisons. This allows me to craft my review as somewhat of a rebuttal, or counterpoint to other moviegoers’ sour reactions. Some have said that in the hospital scenes that shape the film (which I’ll admit, there are too many of), Cate Blanchett is unable to be heard or understood. She is not only old and sickly but must maintain that thick, New Orleans accent that she possesses throughout. While at times a little difficult to comprehend, it is not unbearable nor inaudible. I listened closely to her and, for the most part, understood.

Others have said that the film is simply too long. While this is debatable, personally, I never felt bored or noticed my attention waning. Knowing that the film follows the man’s entire life cycle, I was ready to keep watching and observing, seeing how he would subtly age from one scene to the next. Are the scenes with English actress Tilda Swinton really necessary? I enjoyed them, and it only added to the idea of people passing this unique man by. Their scenes together are sincere, sweetly performed, and modestly staged.

While not perfect, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an important film that uses all the techniques and skills of filmmaking to birth an advanced display of storytelling. The film uses expensive, groundbreaking technology that for once actually appears groundbreaking. The performances are all strong (especially Brad Pitt and Jason Flemyng as his father), the makeup first rate, and the direction is fresh and inventive. Yes, one late plot point involving Hurricane Katrina seems somewhat forced, but it isn’t enough to detract from the overall film. Ultimately, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button shows just how far and technical motion pictures have really come, and the film is as special as an ever observant hummingbird.

Source: http://www.411mania.com/movies/film_reviews/95079

Iranian filmmaker and scriptwriter Sina Ataeian has written and directed the country’s first film using the rotoscoping technique.

“The 12-minute film has been filmed inside studio and will be dubbed by the actors,” said Ataeian.

“Some scenes include two- and three-dimensional computer images and forty designers have applied rotoscoping and devised the color scheme,” he added.

Sponsored by Iran’s Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC), the film will debut at Tehran’s 2009 International Animation Festival.

Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace the film’s live action movements, creating a silhouette that can be used to extract movements from one scene and use it on a different background.

Richard Linklater’s A Scanner darkly and Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings are among the films which rotoscopy was used in their creation.

I would like to give two thumbs-up for WormyTV who is apparently responsible for this video. He has rotoscoped this video using Photoshop then used Adobe Premier to put everything together. The entire “post-production” period took him / her a year and a half.

Juno is another film that used rotoscoping the same way Lanklater did to his films. Juno’s opening sequence is quite noted for its creativity. You can view some of the behind-the-scenes in making Juno’s opening sequence at flickr. The 30-set of pictures from Juno will show you how they shot the cartoon-stylized scene wherein Ellen Page seems to be walking in her neighborhood. You can also see the cut-outs of Ellen during the opening sequence.

Below is the YouTube video of Juno.