'The Escapist' Updates | Tracking

The project I am working on in conjunction to my main piece with Jeppe Nielsen and Michal Zagorski is nearing an end. It should be summed up by Monday the 10th.

The main animation sequence in the extreme long shot has been updated (last week):

Some tweaks have been made to this. Particularly, the moon does not scale up and appears to light up the fog as it parts (not all of the fog) and the bats/stars in the sky stay there for the majority of the clip until they fly away with the moon. I am waiting on the final particles for the bats from Thomas using Sean's bat then will sync' it the best I can.

I have tracked and corrected this other shot in the sequence. I took the light from inside the boot out to make sure it was darker; put Sean's 3D bat in position, rendered them, tweaked them in Photoshop and then composited them and the corrections into the tracked shot.

Here is the latest on that shot:

Original plate:

 Comp' still:

The track could be a bit less shaky if it were done in another software I think, but it was done in After Effects for flexibility. I am happy with the composite though in regards to how the lights and shadows are reacting while still keeping to the surreal idea the director wants - the idea that we do not quite yet know what all of this stuff in the boot is (dark and abstract in a sense).

After this, the bats will all flood toward the screen and then passed the character and into the sky as you can see in the first clip.

There is another shot I've not mentioned where the headlights of the car seeps into the sky, and for this shot my friend Brian Lindsay is drawing trees which I will use in the background to make it appear as though the headlights are lighting the background up (which of course is very dark and lost in the plates).

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In my main project: The storyboard is underway, the script is getting good feedback, I am thinking about the practicalities and how long it will take to execute the effects in the shots, we're still developing the piece in regards to these things and our plans for shooting. By May we will be filming, so the planning and testing will all be done. Then I will be executing the final techniques. For August, the full piece may or may not be fully polished and finalised, but the effects and look will be thoroughly detailed in what is presented. After August, the final film touches in general will be finalised and it will be submitted to this and that.