Filming the Fantastic: A Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography

Front Cover
CRC Press, Dec 6, 2012 - Performing Arts - 312 pages
Don't waste valuable time and budget fixing your footage in post! Shoot the effects you want effectively and creatively the first time.

This full-color step-by step guide to visual effects cinematography empowers you to plan out and execute visual effects shots on a budget, without falling into the common pitfall of using high-end computer graphics to "fix it in post. Learn how to effectively photograph foreground miniatures, matte paintings, green screen set ups, miniatures, crowd replication, explosions, and so much more to create elements that will composite together flawlessly.

Filming the Fantastic focuses on the art and craft of visual effects using real case scenarios from a visual effects cameraman. These lessons from the front line will give you ideas and insight so you can translate your skills into any situation, no matter what camera or software package you are using and no matter if you are using film or digital technology. Learn how to film your fantastic visual effects with this book!
 

Contents

OneEyed Magic
1
The Fabulous Art of Matte Painting
23
Stop Motion
51
The Frame Is the Thing All About Film Formats
73
How Film Works
83
Film to Digital
113
Digital Cinema
121
The Moving Camera
137
Composition and Lighting
199
Miniatures vs Computer Graphics
221
So You Dont Have a Million Dollars
237
You Cant Always Get What You Want
255
Welcome to the Circus
271
Index
283
The Man Behind the Curtain
293
Copyright

Blue and Green Screen
157

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About the author (2012)

Mark Sawicki is a camera man, artist, and actor. He has had many roles in the world of film, from teaching visual effects for over 15 years at the UCLA extension, authoring video programs on the art of clay animation, and being an independent stop motion animator on several MTV videos. He won an Emmy Certificate for his contribution to the television series, Star Trek while working as a cameraman for Illusion Arts. He won a Clio for his camera work while at Celestial Mechanics Incorporated. Mark is currently a digital colorist and effects camera supervisor at Custom Film Effects. A few of his recent films include Premonition, The Black Dahlia, 40 Year Old Virgin, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

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