Table Of ContentFilming the Fantastic
Filming the Fantastic
A Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography
Second Edition
Mark Sawicki
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ix
Introduction to the Second Edition: New Age, Old School
Visual effects have undergone tremendous changes in the past 40 years. The seventies i ntroduced
the digital age with computer-controlled cameras that made the fabulous visuals of Star Wars
possible. The effects artists of that era struggled to adopt and employ this new technology just as
much as the effects community in the 1990s struggled to adopt digital compositing and computer
graphic methods after Jurassic Park became a blockbuster. Today, with the dawn of digital cinema,
we struggle to rediscover the streamlined processes of yesteryear's filmmaking using a dazzling
array of new digital tools. Visual effects have gone from “hands on” organic methods to digital
hybrid systems (computer-controlled cameras) to completely synthetic virtual workplaces using
computer graphics.
Since I went to the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts, there
have been many technological improvements in basic filmmaking. Scalding-hot Fresnel movie
lamps are giving way to modern cool and bright LED (light emitting diode) lamps. Electronic
cinema cameras are replacing traditional film cameras. Digital still cameras now shoot high-
definition video as well. Nonlinear editing software has replaced the Moviola and flatbed editing
table. Production and Post-Production have nearly become one, as we color correct and edit at
the same time we shoot.
Figure 1: A new LED light bank capable of bright yet cool illumination. Courtesy of Lite Panels.
xi
xii Introduction to the Second Edition: New Age, Old School
Even though new technology improves and speeds the execution of the photoplay p rocess,
the traditional principles of stage line, continuity, lighting, composition, and the other b uilding
blocks of image-making for movies remain unchanged. In visual effects as well it seems that
every problem today involves a computer graphic solution, but the challenge of combining
real-world actors with other real-world actors and settings s eamlessly, remains within the
domain of traditional camera discipline and 2D c ompositing. The economical solution of
combining real-world photographic elements can far outweigh the extensive resources needed
for a CGI (computer-generated imagery) photo-real approach.
Computer graphic effects have become such a complex discipline that entire animation schools
have been devoted to its study. Film schools rarely have the financial means to sustain entire CGI
departments, and animation schools rarely have the desire to add live action production facilities.
The best solution would seem to be to have a copacetic relationship between a film school and
an animation school within close proximity. An excellent CGI school such as Gnomon School
of Visual Effects in Hollywood would profit by attending to the needs of film school students
at New York Film Academy (NYFA) at Universal Studios, for example. I encourage my film
school students to socialize with students at animation schools in order to find the talent and
resources necessary to accomplish effects-heavy s tudent projects.
For most student films, however, clever camerawork and simple 2D compositing is enough to
enhance a good story. At USC we were trained to first tell a film story without dialogue to learn
cinematic technique. Today we should also discipline film students to tell a story without effects
before moving on to an effects-heavy project, even though effects have become an inescapable
part of the modern filmmaking process. Filmmaking is primarily about telling a good visual
story while a good effect is a punctuation mark in a movie and is either i nvisible or a fireworks
display. One of the goals of this book is to teach the basics of creating the “invisible” effect in
order to enhance a story.
The Field Today
The big studios have transitioned from having in-house effects departments to closing those
departments and using vendor shops such as Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Dream Quest
Images, Illusion Arts, Boss Films Studios, and others. More recently the pendulum has swung back,
with corporations creating even larger studio-owned facilities such as Sony Pictures Imageworks,
Warner Digital Studios and DreamWorks Studios. As costs skyrocket we may see an increased
use of vendor shops in the future.
Introduction to the Second Edition: New Age, Old School xiii
Figure 2: An ARRIFLEX 416 Plus motion picture film camera. Courtesy of ARRI.
Figure 3: The ALEXA is a compact, lightweight, and affordable digital camera with ultrafast workflows and image
quality akin to 35 mm film. Courtesy of ARRI.
Figure 4: The Canon D7 still camera is capable of shooting high-definition video. This image shows the lens mount
modified to take high-quality motion picture lenses. Courtesy of Band Pro and Lewis Communications.
xiv Introduction to the Second Edition: New Age, Old School
Before the seventies, craft people who apprenticed and trained within the studio system executed
effects. Effects and animation departments within studios were often small units where cost-
e ffectiveness was a major consideration. The so-called “Termite Terrace” at Warner Bros., for
example, gave us the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons using miniscule budgets and a small group of
artisans. Special Effects: Wire, Tape, and Rubber Band Style (1984) is a good account of traditional
effects philosophy and practice written by a pioneer in the field, L. B. Abbott, ASC. Abbott
apprenticed under Fred Serson, who ran the 20th Century Fox effects department until Abbott
took over the position. Serson and Abbott worked together on the first film to win a visual effects
Oscar, The Rains Came (1939). Abbott's book was published in the mid-eighties, and its title was
an obvious reaction to the rapidly changing effects technology introduced by ILM for Star Wars.
By 1984 the studio system of old was gone and the age of apprenticeship was fading fast.
I was blessed to have apprenticed under Bill Taylor, ASC, at Illusion Arts. Illusion Arts was for-
merly the Universal Studios matte department under Albert Whitlock. This small effects depart-
ment could trace a lineage of artist and apprentices back to the days of silent cinema. Matte
artists Norman Dawn, Percy Day, Peter Ellenshaw, Albert Whitlock, Syd Dutton, and Robert
Stromberg passed down their knowledge from silent cinema to Avatar. Today the era of secrets
handed down by film magician to film magician has been replaced by students learning an ever-
changing cavalcade of data and software with little or no continuity of experience obtained from
a working master.
By the 1990s digital processes gave rise to huge digital facilities and a global marketplace. The
team of effects artists working on films went from a handful to hundreds. Production costs
skyrocketed, and the effects became breathtakingly spectacular. Software now rules the day, and
animation schools crank out hundreds of young, hungry artists anxious to obtain employment
in one of the huge effects factories at Disney, Sony Imageworks, Rhythm & Hues, ILM, and
others. In the United States, the biggest hurdle for employment in the field is that the digital
world lends itself to outsourcing. Digital effects are now executed by hundreds of artists in India,
Singapore, Romania, and elsewhere. Getting a job in the highest of the high end is extremely
difficult, and the costs associated with digital effects invites a philosophy of hiring hundreds of
low-cost, marginally skilled artists with a few seasoned pros in management to supervise.
With this current state of affairs many reviewers have asked, what audience does Filming the
Fantastic address? I have received comments that this book is not simple enough, while others
say it lacks complexity. Many have praised the book, believing that the blend was just right—and
that is why we have a second edition. In my teaching experience, I come across two types of
students, and it is my hope that this book can serve both.
At NYFA my effects class is offered during the final semester of the MFA in Filmmaking
program. The students have made several films and are well schooled in standard filmmak-
ing technique. They are not beginners. NYFA at Universal Studios is not equipped with
an animation department stocked with Maya, Fusion (formerly Digital Fusion), Mudbox,
Introduction to the Second Edition: New Age, Old School xv
and many other effects software tools. NYFA focuses on teaching filmmaking using cameras and
Apple Final Cut Pro editing software. My effects class teaches how to shoot real-world photo-
graphic elements properly so that shots may be composited effectively in Adobe After Effects or
other 2D compositing software.
At the other end of the spectrum, my class at UCLA Extension attracts students who are already
professionals in the digital field working as compositors and computer graphic artists. These artists
have a great deal of experience in the virtual world and seek to learn about real-world photogra-
phy practice in order to become on-set supervisors, or to learn how a cinematographer evaluates
imagery in order to do their jobs better. I recently attended a filmmaking class at Oxnard College
(in the Ventura County Community College District) to get a sense of that school's resources and
curriculum. Professor Andres Orozco conducts a fabulous class for beginning filmmakers using
very limited resources. Orozco's lessons fit in well with today's so-called “run and gun” shoot-
ing philosophy. Like many college teachers, Orozco is asked to make do with older equipment
and limited software choices. For many small colleges offering film studies, forming a computer
graphics department is not feasible, but offering a class in traditional composite photography can
easily be accommodated.
Many film schools have no interest in investing in a multitude of high-end software packages to
handle the specialized field of computer graphic visual effects. From a learning standpoint, the
students have enough of a challenge just learning editing software. A filmmaking student typically
has no desire to delve into the complexity of learning Maya or Autodesk 3ds Max. It would
almost be the same as asking an acting student to learn C++! Filmmakers by nature tend to be
more aesthetic than technical, impatient than patient, and extroverted than introverted. As a result
many film departments find it to be more effective to have only cameras and editing software.
Figure 5: Professor Andres Orozco on the left instructing student Andrew Jimenez at Oxnard College. The camera
is a Panasonic HVS 200.
