FXWars SuperPower!: Stark Raving Mad (team)

#26

not sure what your plan is… I know she is supposed to absorb power from around her, I would add a small effect to show she stops the first guys ipod from playing. otherwise it’s not going to be readable to someone unfamiliar with the project. it might make even more sence if she takes power even from the parking meters and the parked car, just to emphasis her ability.
I’d also cut the last scene tighter, the last guy’s lines are come across like she is gone or already too far away but then you cut to show she is only about 20 feet away. maybe you cut it to be
“i… i didn’t get” cut to her waving over her shoulder “your name” over that shot instead of his face. does that make sence?

on a side note, it’s also kind of funny that she is nice and helpful to the second guy but takes power from the first guy which isn’t nice and is kind of mean.

#27

destruct007, thanks for the advice and critique. Part of of VFX is turning the scene into an evening shot. So we are adding light to the lights and then they are going to flicker on and off as will the bar signs on the left as she walks by them. So you will certainly see the effects of her pulling electricity from the environment in ways other than the iPod.

I agree with your assessment of the last shot, we have actually considered shooting pickups to make that a little tighter; re-cuting those with the VO might work just as well.

As with all super heroes her power has a downside; she can’t control the collection of power, only distributing it. So she isn’t being mean by killing the guy’s iPod, she just can’t help it.

#28

Now I get it, I saw those tests of the day to night and was wondering, since I didn’t read the whole forum before… cool.

Have you considered doing more with this character? I really like the idea, with those powers, I’d imagine there’s no way she had a normal childhood, which would make her a dynamic and troubled character. Powers that you can and can’t control make for some great characters, like Rouge. Quite ingenious to think of that. I’d love to see a short film based on the same character.

On the mean note, just b/c she can’t help it doesn’t really justify it from the 1st guys perspective, only hers. :smiley: I’m only playing devils advocate. I’m totally not serious.

#29

Thanks for your kind words on our character development. We spent a couple days nailing her power down, how it would work and how we could show it in action were very important considerations for us.
Haven’t really thought much about continuing the character. While we didn’t develop an entire back story; we did play with some hypotheticals like what her parent’s electricity bill might have been like :slight_smile:

Isn’t this the problem most super heroes face at one time or another, their powers are misunderstood? Of course the first guy is pissed, though maybe he doesn’t know what/who caused it… :wink:

#30

Finally did some work on the electricity that will be used under her hand in the tight shot.

Quicktime H264, 783kb
Sample Movie Link

#31

really nice look!

will it flicker?

#32

You shouldn’t do your tests on a black background, because transparent effects turn out completely differently when composited onto background plates. You should also use an additive blending method for the layers.

This look cool, but has a 2D animated feel. It’s also moving to slowly.

#33

Mathew, thanks for the critique and the advice. We will definitely be speeding it up and making it more of a 3D orb rather than the flat proxy that it is now. Your absolutely right that it looks too flat, and it still doesn’t have the crawling electricity feel that ultimately I’m looking for.

#34

Hey Velk, this is turning out to be very interesting. I am eagerly watching the development.

#35

Just an FYI:
FXWARS 911 Call: Post here if you are SEEKING/ OFFERING LAST MINUTE help!

-R

#36

This is an FYI to ALL teams.

ROBERTO’S BULLHORN: SUPERPOWERS DATELINE Three Weeks to go!

Also I Just wanted to check how you all are doing, and i there are any issues or questions please post on the thread i just posted.

-R

#37

ROBERTO’S BULLHORN: SUPERPOWERS DATELINE Two Weeks to go! Just an FYI

-R

#38

Update finally
Here is one of the tests that we have been running to refine the lightning. Only a still as we haven’t finished the roto on her hand yet. You can also see the first stages of the color correction.

We are still loosing a bit too much in the skin tones, and overall its too blue for dusk. We will be pushing this right up to the deadline to get everything completed. More updates soon.

#39

Made some changes to Shot 09, did a first roto pass on her hand. Also started refining the color correction. Temporarily removed link as the file wasn’t compressed for the web

This is what the footage looked like at the start.

Here is a quick peek at our Shake node setup for this shot.

#40

Here is the final sequence:

High Bandwidth, 34MB, Sorenson3
High Bandwidth, 21MB, H264
Low Bandwidth, 4MB, H264

More screen shots, and settings/experiences to follow.

Software Used:
Shake
Maya
Motion
Final Cut Pro
Sound Track Pro
Photoshop
Illustrator
InDesign

Time Taken:
The shoot lasted for 3 hours, after that I stopped keeping track of the time things took.

FX
All Shots:
Color correction.

Shot 1:
Follow shot steadied with digital camera stabilization, iPod battery screen animated and added, lighting effects added, sky replaced.

Shot 8:
Replaced sky.

Shot 9:
Rotoscoped in FX lightning under the hand.

#41

Looks cool, but I dont really like the overlay color on it. Have you tryed to use an other or maybe without it?

Concratulation with completing it, and best of luck:)

#42

H3ro: thanks for taking a look and for the comments. That coloration was the 3rd or 4th attempt that we made. Still not really happy with it; simply ran out of time to continue fixing it. Discovered that the blending modes in Shake work somewhat differently than in PS, figuring that out has been interesting. Should really have used a ND filter on the camera to make our lives a lot easier.

#43

Hi there,

just seen the low-bandwidth version only (and with no sound, don’t ask… I should be workin…:smiley: ):

I like the first shot in general as it pulls you into the action. As for the ´FX, I know it’s a good thing in general when you don’t notice their existence too much, but the flickering light of the lantern/street light was quite inconspicious. Might have been more of an eye-catcher with the second street light going dark, too, maybe.

The superpower shot is very nice. Reminds me of the Star Wars dark force flash… :bowdown:

When it says “sky replaced” in shot 8 what piece of sky are you referring to? Again, just seen the low bandwidth version only and I was trying to make it out. Is it in the bg among the roof tops?

Will watch it again back home with sound and high-res.

Til then: great work and good luck with the voting…:thumbsup:

#44

Mu: There is just a small piece of the sky that is visible in shot 8 between the building tops, it was blown out and we replaced it with a gradient. As for the light, it was in perfect view; and then we cropped for a 16x9 feel and almost lost it. Started to add a second light but ran out of time to add it in effectively.

I’d say that of anything that I learned from this challenge, the fact that you can’t plan too much would be at the top of my list.

#45

Here is a quick screen cap of the lightning fx shot; hand rotoscoped and keyframed.