Making the digital video “Figure/Ground” Part 12: Filling in the Blanks.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
In this post, I’m working on the final sequence of the movie, entitled, “December 21”, where my dad passes away. I will still have two more sequences to complete after this. The first sequence (which I am re-doing) and the opening credits. Today’s sequence is the longest sequence in the film, requiring several different types of images. There are several blank areas where nothing has yet been filmed or created.
For this sequence, I decide that I want a look that relates to the rest of the piece but is more somber and distinct, signifying that something different and important iss happening. I use the same greenish-yellow color for the background, but add a lot of greens and yellows to the foreground figures as well. I also make sure that all colors are very muted and de-saturated.
Our make up person for the film is oscar-nominated Jim Choate. His makeup for the death scene is so crazy and intense that I’m beginning with some very painterly images before I do anything. I take advantage of this and just try to emphasize these qualities.
In this frame, you can see a picture of Allan, the actor that played my father, with my two real life sons. I created this in Photoshop, framed it and placed it on the table. The picture on the wall is from Allan and Naomi’s actual wedding.
There’s a brief scene of dad leaving his body as I talk about hoping to get a glimpse or insight into the process of life and death. This is one of the blank areas in the sequence. I don’t do much 3D modeling but I create a 3D animation for this sequence using Poser and Apple’s Motion Software. Many, many layers.
This blog entry is part of an ongoing series documenting the creation of my short film, “Figure/Ground”, about the death of my father, starring veteran actor Allan Kulakow. The finished film is a hybrid of photographic and painted imagery, created using Photoshop, After Effects and Final Cut Pro. The film uses many of the techniques discussed in my book “Digital Art Revolution”. I’ll document my techniques, approaches, decision process and frustrations in hopes that they’ll be of interest to digital artists and filmmakers.
Links to other entries about the making of Figure/Ground:
Another “blank” spot discusses feeling a strong electric jolt go through my body at the moment of Dad’s passing. I actually experienced this, holding his hand when he died. I’ve since learned that this is not an uncommon experience. The image I want to create would be very shaky and washed out in color and value. Because of this, I decide I may be able to make a little Quicktime video using the tiny camera on my Macbook Pro and then blow it up to HD. I find the same shirt I wore two years ago for the filming, put it on, and film myself on my computer. I have to position everything so it’s not apparent that I’m in a different house. This experiment actually works!
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