Hasta La Motion!

I have to admit that I was wary of reviewing Hollywood Camera Work’s Visual Effects for Directors. When the package arrived, I groaned. Seven DVDs. All about visual effects. “Great,” I thought. “When I get bored, I’ll watch paint dry instead.”

How wrong I was.

VFX for Directors, it turns out, is actually fun. Although densely educational, the material makes sense—and more importantly—it feels relevant to the art of digitally enhanced storytelling. Every chapter had me saying, “Oh, so that’s how that works.”

Smarter Directors = Happier Productions

The overarching goal of the seven-disc series is to empower visual effects artists and filmmakers in general to make sound decisions so that post-production time can be spent creating the best visual effects possible. The course is aimed at newcomers to the world of vfx, but it doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to technical details.

Touching on the history of visual effects and CG imaging when necessary, the course delves into the “how” behind digital image-making. The result is a richer understanding of vfx—it’s no longer a “black box” or a magic wand. And that means that in addition to making smarter decisions, directors can also be more efficient (and less annoying) when working with others in the post-production chain.

Depth and Breadth

If you’re looking for step-by-step instructions on how to model a Tyrannosaurus rex in Maya, this isn’t the series for you.

If, however, you want to understand everything it takes to realistically pull off a shot of a Tyrannosaurus rex trudging through the forest before munching on a squealing paleontologist, then you’ll be more than pleased with what VFX for Directors has to offer.

The creators of VFX for Directors literally spent years working up the tutorials, and you get a sense of their commitment right from the start. Countless live action and CG shots are woven into the instruction with nearly 1,000 examples of digital effects in total.

The CG samples are mostly rendered at draft quality, since it’d be cost prohibitive to fully polish each and every shot. This doesn’t get in the way of the instruction, though. In fact, it helps isolate the topic at hand, highlighting only the necessary aspects of a given shot.

The series covers a staggering array of topics, including sexy stuff like the simulation of massive swarms, crowd replication, virtual set creation and digital stunt doubles—to touch on only a few. (See Hollywood Camera Work for a full list.)

Because the series focuses primarily on the underlying principles of vfx, the in-software instruction is relatively timeless. Most of the software packages used in the series are familiar—for example, Maya (for 3D and particle systems), Fusion (for compositing) and BodyPaint (for texturing)—but the coverage is broad enough that it can be generalized to any major package for any part of the vfx workflow. Again, you won’t be going step-by-step, chasing cursors through the UIs, but you will learn, for example, what a Merge node does and why it’s important.

You’ll also learn loads of practical on-set information, like how to properly light a cyc or how to shoot for planar tracking. There’s even a section on building your own cyc from scratch. (Note to self: stop by Home Depot tomorrow.)

Criticisms

It’s hard to find serious fault with VFX for Directors. Hollywood Camera Work knocked themselves out to create a practical, comprehensible course.

My only small criticism has to do with the direction of the narrator. While professional, the narration is very staccato, with slightly too-long pauses after each sentence. In defense of Hollywood Camera Work, this does allow for easier digestion of new concepts and terminology.

Bottom Line

Whether you’re working alone or planning a larger project, Hollywood Camera Work’s Visual Effects for Directors provides an excellent base for understanding visual effects and directing appropriately. Currently the course is offered for $329. Considering the amount and quality of instruction you get, that’s an incredibly good deal.

You might want to go deeper on select topics, but I can’t imagine a more comprehensive introduction to the general subject. I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in visual effects and filmmaking.

The entire course, by the way, is available as a box set of DVDs or via download. Nice to have that option. See Hollywood Camera Work for more information.

As with all reviews on Motionographer, I was not compensated for this review. I received a copy of the course, which was used for the sole purpose of writing this review.

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This massive 8-minute offering from four Supinfocom Arles students may be the most ambitious student piece I have ever seen—and it’s my favorite to date.

Amazing attention to detail, exquisite lighting, and epic matte paintings are just the beginning of this oil rigging adventure gone wrong.  The suspense follows 2 futuristic oil riggers, one barring a remarkably close resemblance to Romain Jouandeau himself, as they square off against what they are looking for in the first place. Unfortunately for their sake, it finds them.

Created in 10 months by Romain Jouandeau, Adrien Chartie, Gilles Mazières and Fabien Thareau, this project has some truly beautiful moments.  It also boasts a very high level of skill in the technical department, with an awesome combined use of Realflow and the 3D Max plug-in, Dreamscape.

For a behind the scenes look at the making of Oceansize and other delectable goodies, be sure to look here at the official site.  For even more excellent sketches, concept art and matte painting work, have a look at Romain’s personal site.

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This is just a friendly reminder to get your submissions to onedotzero before Friday, May 29th. Do it!

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Supinfocom students (Arnoux Anthony, Dessinges Rémi and Fesquet Guillaume) continue the recent legacy of exceptional students films with ‘From the Hoop’. This film is a surreal journey that follows the life of Rucker Park star, Earl Manigault, through his struggle with drugs and eventual rise to Harlem philanthropist.

The thing about Supinfocom films that resonates is their consistent attention to detail through all aspects of production. There is an obvious thought and care given to every layer of their films from story, to character development, environments, etc.

However, what really makes this film for me is the lighting, art direction and cinematography. For the majority of shots, there is a maturity in the movement of the camera and dramatic use of lighting that is often lacking in student films. Much of this happened in the final composites, but there is definitely a cinematic intuition in the early concept art and photographic research (see making of).

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Those damn Supinfocom kids do it again! Gary, a short film created by Clement Soulmagnon, Yann Benedi, Sebastien Eballard and Quentin Charillet is a unique vision of a boy struggle with his sexual coming of age. In a time when we are so used to crispy 3d animations with cutesy round beavers and big eyed rabbits as the main characters, that only emulate what Pixar churns out on a yearly basis, I find animations with this illustrative style and somewhat risque storyline to be a far cut above the rest.The Supinfocom and Gobelins students have learned a very hard and important lesson with their software and that is to not let it dictate their style. With each animation that comes out of these schools I find that style exploration is a lengthy process and then they bend the software to meet their needs.

I was able to get in touch with some of the crew and ask them some questions about their film. Its a long interview but make sure to read it, there are some gems of information and techniques about their production not to be missed. Read it here.

Make sure to go to the official Gary website to check out images of their lengthy design and research process. Also if you are wondering, Clement is in Paris working as a young director with Gary Levesque under the name, Viking & Viking. Yann is in London working as a director and illustrator. Sebastien works as a TD and lead animator for Mathematic in Paris and Quentin is freelancing as a 3d animator.

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Gary: Another great Supinfocom short