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Supergirl Effects

16 Mar 2015 19:56 - 16 Mar 2015 20:00 #40999 by castor
Supergirl Effects was created by castor
our friends at Supergirl TV is reporting a tweet from the specical effects team about supergirl.

www.supergirl.tv/visual-fx-team-supergirl-amazing

in it they take shots of a half a building-a building you see on sets that has the first part of the floor of but the rest is added Latter. The article also mentions that this is the same building where they filmed Lois And Clark. Fair enough- this maybe becuse well theres just not that many buildings like this in LA.

But more then that is kind of intresting.

The build part of a building thing isn't knew This Technique has been used since the 30s and 40s. Things Like Gone with the Wind are full of of they build one floor of something if that, and the rest is like a matte painting- i am sure this what they did in Lois And clark.

Eventually this practice mostly faded away-TV mostly shoots on locations and real buildings and real spaces-its actually kind of rare these days for them to do any exteror on lots these days like this. Unless well you have to.

The reason this is important-is well if this is just a matte painting for a static shot-well its not the worlds most complicated effect. Its not something you have to spend the wekeend preparing for. You shoot the plate, and what ever you decide to matte you just loop off and make the building. Spent three minutes doing this effect bellow. its just the basic equivlent of photshoping. the show probabbly spends more time, but even if this was all CGI, its still

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(i spent about 5 minutes on this, and thats mostly becuse i screwed up and picked the rest of the background that has a lot of trees.)

A dolly shot- the reverse shot of her walking in with breakfast-ehh not a hard thing to do. This is all they ever did with Lois and Clark i am pretty sure.

The reason i bring this up is-well this indicates that there spending a lot of time here. An SFX team wouldn't do that, That indicates that is there prime shoot location. You take measurements like this well-when you expect a stedicam or a handheld shot to really go crazy. to see lots of plates lots of locations for something.

Now this isn't just a hey "The front of the building where going to see a lot in the pilot " kind of post-not terribly intresting. But what it does say beyond that is...well there probabbly going to build a CGI building and likely a CGI city for the pilot.

One of the posts People have made here is "Well don't except a lot-probabbly not a lot of action, you know maybe she picks up a car or something"

Well if your going to spend a lot of time outside, and see from it a Cgi city with a lot of complicated camera movements-thats the kind of thing you do if your filming a big battle scene in the sky.

Becuse once you build a CGI city-its not that hard to blow it the hell up.

It also could be like a low fly by scene or something like that-but agian this something you need a cgi background for. You can just shoot a real plate shot of downtown or something, and add it latter. For my movie i am planning a couple of shots like that.

Its when you destroy it is when the CGI becomes necessary these days. Either that or really complicated flying shots(see for example Amazing Spiderman 2). But to my mind this suggest a really complicated action in the sky. Thats what this shot says to me.

Even if your planning a big outdoor street fight you wouldn't setup a shot like this. Maybe but i would think you would use buildings with real roofs. It would at least something of Air vs ground.

This isn't something i expect in the pilot-you don't start the show with a showstopper after all- see the climaxtic shot of the last episode of Smallville which does the barrest attempt at trying this. But to me the kind of "lets spendthe weekend measuring stuff" type attitude suggest far more complex then that.

And that could be intresting
Last edit: 16 Mar 2015 20:00 by castor.

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16 Mar 2015 20:14 #41000 by AJF
Replied by AJF on topic Supergirl Effects
IMDB list Supergirl as having not just a stunt choreographer, but a separate fight choreographer as well.

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16 Mar 2015 23:30 #41001 by castor
Replied by castor on topic Supergirl Effects

AJF wrote: IMDB list Supergirl as having not just a stunt choreographer, but a separate fight choreographer as well.


Thats not to uncommon really, but does kind of fit.

Its hard to extroplate yeah from one shot of preparing to shoot a Tv pilot but yeah this looks a lot more ambitious then i anticipated. What the final result is-who can say, but this does look intresting to say the very least.

I will also add its possible that the desicion to basically forgo the pilot means that the things they could amatorize in a series-like A CGI City as i mentioned are more affordable. There is no way you would build National City up as a grand metropolis just for a couple of shots of a Pilot-but well if your locked in for 22 episodes that may make sence. Which means you could do a lot more ellaborate and ambitious special effects, for not necessairly break the bank money.
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17 Mar 2015 11:06 #41004 by AJF
Replied by AJF on topic Supergirl Effects
Why is the show filming in California when the other Bertlanti produced DC shows film In BC? Is it because CBS has more money to spend or because that California Tax credit bill goes into effect this year and Supergirl will be able to use it?
Didn't somebody post here that they heard the show was going to film in BC?

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17 Mar 2015 13:48 #41006 by castor
Replied by castor on topic Supergirl Effects

AJF wrote: Why is the show filming in California when the other Bertlanti produced DC shows film In BC? Is it because CBS has more money to spend or because that California Tax credit bill goes into effect this year and Supergirl will be able to use it?
Didn't somebody post here that they heard the show was going to film in BC?



Went to a seminar by the head of the California film Commision a couple of weeks ago and one of the facts of the new law are, that becuse they are a new show going straight from pilot to production before august, they can't receive the tax credit right now and in fact never recieve the credit ever(unless they leave the state and come back).

Now its possible that Warner Brothers may have figured out a way to weasel into it, but on the surface nope.

However i guess a reason to film in LA is they did able to get some decent gets in casting-doubt they could have gotten Calista Flockhart to go to Vancouver for 10 months of the year.

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19 Mar 2015 01:58 - 19 Mar 2015 02:00 #41038 by five_red
Replied by five_red on topic Supergirl Effects

castor wrote: The reason i bring this up is-well this indicates that there spending a lot of time here. An SFX team wouldn't do that, That indicates that is there prime shoot location. You take measurements like this well-when you expect a stedicam or a handheld shot to really go crazy. to see lots of plates lots of locations for something.


Actually CGI'd manipulations of sets and locations is pretty common -- at least in the UK. My background is in computer graphics (written books, etc.); I don't actually specialize in movies or tv effects, but I do know just a little about how CGI can be used on screen.

youtu.be/m4RnmK0LN8I?t=27m1s

If you take a careful look at the above video clip of a BBC London news broadcast you'll notice something odd -- yes, aside from the desk the whole set is virtual. It's all green screen. If you watch the whole broadcast you'll see the camera can pan and zoom freely, and the effect never fails. That's because the computer generating the 'studio' knows where the camera is and how it is orientated, and creates the graphics to fit with the appropriate focus blur.) This is a fairly unremarkable effect these days -- lots of UK shows use full or partial virtual studios (Match of the Day is another well known example!)

(Did you notice the weather presenter's feet have no reflection on the shiny floor? Likewise the main presenter when she stands next to the screen at the start of the broadcast.)

Period dramas like Downton Abbey will use CGI to remove pesky signs of 21st century life on their historic buildings, while other dramas will use CGI to cover up location elements that don't fit with the style of the show. Other times a part-made set will be complimented with CGI elements -- the trains that rattle over the bridge in BBC soap EastEnders are post-production effects composited into a the real backlot set. Now, it's not cheap to do this, but it isn't mega-bucks either these days. The cameras used on location shoots don't necessarily have a lot of fancy positioning sensors in them, unlike the BBC's news studio cameras, but if careful measurements are taken of key reference objects in shot, basic trigonometry can be used to work out the camera movement/orientation/distance by software in post production. The computer can then composite the 3D models accordingly, tracking the camera movement (semi-)automatically, assuming it is told the lighting conditions, camera focus, etc. Green screens can even be erected to allow the 3D elements to be matted behind moving real-world elements.

So basically, the fact that someone is taking measurements on a location or backlot set doesn't mean that they're planning a special effects extravaganza. It may just mean they're planning to augment a shot with some 3D graphics. Yes, those graphics might be a vast Cyberman army, or they might just be a few extra virtual floors atop a building facade for a panning wide shot.

Anyway, I heard the VFX guy who tweeted the pic has said the 'Daily Planet' set had nothing to do with Supergirl -- he just liked the sunset. :)

(Btw, I've stood outside that set a few years back. It actually looks a lot smaller in real life!!)

R5
Last edit: 19 Mar 2015 02:00 by five_red.
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19 Mar 2015 02:33 #41039 by castor
Replied by castor on topic Supergirl Effects

five_red wrote:

castor wrote: Anyway, I heard the VFX guy who tweeted the pic has said the 'Daily Planet' set had nothing to do with Supergirl -- he just liked the sunset. :)

(Btw, I've stood outside that set a few years back. It actually looks a lot smaller in real life!!)

R5


Huh.

Maybe i overthought that one a bit.

( Apreciate bueaty blurginflurging morgraph)

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