2011 was a reasonable year for the UK’s post industry. Only one big player fell by the wayside – Pepper – and the Ascent brand was lost after its takeover by Deluxe, but on the whole it was business as usual. A lot of the focus has been on ensuring post houses can handle and offer expert support for new file-based workflows for the cameras that have taken over production over the last year.
However, with the economy on the verge of another collapse, production budgets continuing to recede and significant ongoing investment still required to keep facilities up to date and able to cope with the ever increasing image sizes being pumped out by the next generation of cameras, will things remain relatively rosy this year?
“2012 will be a year of consolidation for post houses – the rapid transition to tapeless workflows has begun to settle down and though these new formats have changed the dynamics of client and supplier relationships, they have ultimately led to creative benefits for both parties,” believes Rowan Bray, md, Prime Focus.
“Post houses have had to respond by quickly upskilling their teams, changing infrastructure, and developing new workflows to allow for increasingly complex acquisition choices,” she adds. “In 2012, the ongoing need for highly skilled workflow managers will be just as prevalent. By rights, budgets need to reflect all the changes that have occurred but it will continue to be a challenge to receive budgets that match the requirements of most programmes.”
Bray sees the ongoing investment necessitated by file-based workflows as not an entirely negative thing: “Facilities will continually be required to update their storage infrastructure and technical training to meet client needs. But this has, perhaps for the first time, created a new differentiator between the established post houses and the one-man bands.”
Meanwhile, Envy’s md Dave Cadle remains optimistic about the immediate future: “The post landscape is very different to two to three years ago, which is exciting for all of us. We are going to be looking for more space as the demand for more facilities is very high.”
A marker-less desktop motion capture system was used by UK-based filmmaker/animator Ian Chisholm to create his machinima (a film made using the graphics engines from video games) epic Clear Skies III.
Chisholm, who works in IT and describes himself as “just some ordinary Joe without any background or training in film” learnt the skills required to make his films as he went along.
He used iPi Soft’s entry-level mo cap system to create character animations, which he then applied to the graphics engines of some well-known computer games.
iPi Soft's system accurately captures human motion data using inexpensive, off-the-shelf cameras and doesn’t require sensor suits or green screen stages.
''I started the Clear Skies series about six years ago,'' says Chisholm. ''I'd just started doing some basic video work when I discovered I could use blue screening to composite video footage together.”
“I'd always wanted to tell a full story, and by using the Eve Online graphics engine for exterior space and ship shots, and the Half Life 2 engine for interior sets and characters, I managed to achieve that.”
It took Chisholm over two years to make the first instalment of Clear Skies: “I learnt everything in the Half Life 2 development kit, wrote my first script, build the sets, shot and created the film itself,” he says.
''I continually challenge myself technically and creatively, and Clear Skies III is the culmination of what I learned producing the previous two films,” he adds.
“Practically every line of dialogue and every movement was motion captured using iPi Soft. Not only was this fun, but it also raised the bar on the performances I could deliver using the Half Life 2 characters – I could add more personality and dimension to the characters, rather than be limited to the built-in gestures that come with the game.”
The mo cap system also made it possible for Chisholm to capture whole body motion and walk around in a small area and interact with items. He created "action sequences and dramatic moments – gunfights, fistfights, character interaction – that wouldn't have been remotely possible without it,'' believes Chisholm.
Surf brand Rip Curl used a handheld underwater camera array of 48 GoPros to capture The Matrix ‘bullet time’ style footage of surfer Mick Fanning riding a huge wave in the South Pacific.
It’s the first time the portable camera array of miniature GoPro cameras has been used on a production, with the eye-catching footage being used as part of Rip Curl’s marketing campaign for its Mirage Boardshort surfboard.
“The pioneers of camera array photography” Tim and Callum Macmillan of Time Slice Films created the 48 GoPro array. An expansion kit for the GoPro, which enables two of the 1080p HD cameras to be synced together with a synch cable, is at the heart of the camera array, which extends the capabilities so make it possible for an unlimited number of GoPros can be synched together.
“We are always looking to lead the way when it comes to camera array effects and identifying new ways to push the limits for creativity and to acquire unique shots,” says Tim Macmillan.
Additional videos are planned for Rip Curl, using the GoPro array, to film surfers Owen Wright, Matt Wilkinson, Dillon Perillo and Dean Brady.
To mark the banning of the production of old-style clear tungsten bulbs today, here’s a well-produced new spot from Independent, directed by Philippe André for Philips LED Lighting.
The ad begins with a row of Philips LED lamps turning on one after the next in a domino effect, cutting across gardens, along the surface of a swimming pool and continuing along a road, a car park and a highway, and finally lighting up a cityscape.
“It was funny to block the traffic on an eight lane street in Buenos Aires to set up hundreds of lamps and make them light up, on one after the other, live,” says André.
Title: Philips What can light do?
Production Company: Independent Films
Director: Philippe André
Producer: Ohna Falby
Agency: DDB Amsterdam
Agency Producer: Marco van Prooijen
Creative Director: Chris Baylis
Creatives: Geert Jan Bijlstra & Sharon Cleary
A recently launched iPhone and iPad app enables you to legally sign production documents while on the move. Details below...
What is Softsign? It’s an iPhone and iPad app (Android is coming soon) from a UK-based company that enables you to ‘sign’ .pdf and .jpg documents with your finger. Production companies and filmmakers can use it to sign legally binding (in the UK at least) release forms, health and safety forms, expenses, timesheets and any other essential production documents on the move.
How does it work? When a document needs signing, open it in Softsign and input the names and details of those who need to sign it. They can then do so with their finger or a stylus. You can email the signed contracts to interested parties directly from the app and copy in the production team (or anyone else) if necessary. Documents signed using the app don’t need to be printed to be legally binding.
How much is it? The app is currently free, but a paid-for 'premium version' is in development.
Are Softsign-ed docs legally binding outside the UK? According to the maker of the app, electronic signatures on commercial transactions should have the same legal status as a written signature in the USA, but some States may have their own laws regarding e-signatures so you need to check to be certain. The company advises users to “ascertain whether electronic signatures are valid under the laws and jurisdiction applicable to your contract.”
Who is using it? It has received 35,000 downloads so far – users of Softsign in the film/TV industries include Agile Films and United Agents.
Dutch-Italian freelance director and motion designer Giovanni Bucci, based in both Los Angeles and London, has just completed an vibrant, striking animation for artist Antonio Meneghetti.
The film, to be shown at art galleries and exhibitions, deconstructs one of Meneghetti’s paintings and immerses the viewer into the creative process of making the artwork.
The painting was provided to Bucci as a flat image, with a completely free brief to do as he like with it. Bucci has made both 2d and 3d stereoscopic versions of the film. You’ll need a pair of the old fashioned red and blue anaglyphic glasses to view the 3d version.
ITFC's Stuart Campbell on the challenges of subtitling and audio description for 3d content. As published in the July 2011 issue of Televisual magazine.
Subtitling, audio description and signing will be one of the next big challenges for 3d content. That’s because the positioning of subtitles on screen in terms of the depth of field (the z-axis) will affect the viewing experience with a risk of eye strain.
Should subtitles be placed in the foreground or in the background? Should they be locked in one place or follow the focus of the action?
The process of subtitling for 3d is similar to 2d up to the point of positioning, so a logical step would be for subtitlers to use 3d monitors while preparing the subtitles. No doubt we’ll work with our R&D specialists to develop the best solutions.
Producing media access services for 3d, a field which includes audio description and signing, will bring a new dimension to our well-established workflows, but once the hurdles are overcome, it will be like the move to HD and regulations will adapt.
We’re all looking at ways to make 3d accessible, but there’s still a way to go before we see satisfactory working solutions.
Vfx education in the UK is having to shape up following the publication of the Next-Gen report, but some colleges and universities have much further to go than others. There are already some standout examples of good practice, including the University of Hertfordshire, which created its vfx degree course after extensive liaison with a number of leading UK vfx companies.
Mark Wallman, visual effects BA course leader at the University of Hertfordshire explains why he believes vfx education in the UK is in the state it’s in. A shorter version of this interview appears on page 23 of the June 2011 issue of Televisual.
Are universities/colleges out of date when it comes to the vfx software they use?
Yes. Having worked for 10 years plus in Soho, in companies such as Double Negative, The Mill, Framestore and Cinesite on many different feature films, you begin to see a pattern in the software being used. Although it’s my first year as a full time lecturer I had previously lectured at other universities. Those universities had a big disconnect between what they were teaching and the skills the students needed to get jobs. We are lucky in our university to have Maya, Nuke and now Mari as the main vfx teaching tools.
Do you believe the standard of vfx education in the UK falls behind the US and elsewhere, as claimed in the ‘Next Gen’ report?
Currently, yes. I believe you cannot teach vfx or games art or 3D with a commercial focus without having yourself worked in the industry. I’ve noticed many lectures in higher education in universities throughout England have never worked in the field they are teaching in. They also have a rather institutionalised view of the world. Teaching something creative should not be something you do just pay your bills. You need to have a driven passion for it.
What is the University of Hertfordshire doing to ensure students receive high quality vfx training?
I only took the job at the University of Hertfordshire because everyone who teaches there has come from the industry. I feel this is really important. And the university approached Soho Companies such as Double Negative and Framestore when first setting up the course to ask what skills the students needed to learn to gain the correct skills. So the whole course is based on industry advice.
We also have all the top companies frequently coming in to give presentations and tutorials to the students. We recently had an animator from Double Negative coming in to do a lunchtime talk, which ended up going on much longer than planned. The students were passionate and he was passionate – it was a great atmosphere. Furthermore, we get cg artists from around the world to help design and input into the courses we run.
Our vfx students work on the roto, matchmoving, compositing and 3D on live projects – pop videos, TV commercials, idents on the BBC, etc – and next year hopefully this will also include professional film work. All our vfx students gain a thorough knowledge of the vfx process and from my time at The Mill, I can show them the full process/pipeline. Now The Foundry are pushing Nuke in education, it’s a real help as budgets are tight.
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