OK, here's an open-ended question for all you effects wizards (this topic actually spans across pre-production and production, but I put it here because I get the feeling most of the work will be done in post):
I'm co-directing a short this summer, a comedic adaptation of Dante's Divine Comedy--one man's trek through hell, purgatory, and heaven. We'll (most likely) be shooting on HDV and the locations for heaven, hell, and purgatory will (again, most likely) be a hotel, a school, and an International House of Pancakes, respectively.
Anyway, we're finishing the script now, and in the process of researching and reading the Divine Comedy, I have come across Gustave Doré's wonderul illustrations, and have gotten the inkling to try and recreate some of them on screen, specifically this image from Paradisio: 
and this image of heretics from Inferno: 
I'm imagining a lot of bluescreening and a lot of fiddling in After Effects, but I would like to avoid 3D graphics because I have neither the equipment nor the expertise, and I would also like to keep other costs (construction, additional software) to an absolute minimum.
Any thoughts on how I can best recreate these in the film?
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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my vodcast on iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=96931870
and my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com
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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com
and my reel at http://portfolio.exgfilms.com
Well Paradiso_Canto_31 should be easy enough. Small chunk of land, two actors, and a big greenscreen. I'd animate the flying folk the way they do in Monty Python or shoot one (laying on his back, shot from above, wings manipulated by someone to be chopped out of frame) and then reproduce that one over and over in the background.
Inferno_Canto_9_verses should also be fairly easy. Small chunk of land with a grave in it with a greenscreen in the background. Three actors. Some smoke. Then either (a) get some volcano stock footage (b) create a matte painting and composite in smoke from other sources to give it life (c) Get a 3d background program like Bryce to cook up the background.
In both cases you probably want to paint the wall of a room green to ensure you have a large greenscreen. Then build a small set in front of it.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
I know this has nothing to do with this thread and I'm sorry but have you finished 'Wholesale Souls'? Are you selling it to the cinemas or going to be publishing it on the internet?
I was just wondering after getting your vodcasts.
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You can't keep 'em out, they're already in!
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You can't keep 'em out, they're already in!
Thanks for the ideas! One thought I had regarding the Canto 9 images to reproduce the large number of graves without needing a large set would be to build one and then shoot it using a step-and-repeat method (shooting it from many different angles and distances) to create all the different graves. Thoughts on whether or not this would work?
As for Wholesale Souls, I'm still putting the finishing touches on it (color grading, sound mix, etc.), then hopefully it will show somewhere in town, and DVDs should be available online by mid-August at the latest.
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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my vodcast on iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=96931870
and my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com
-----------------
Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com
and my reel at http://portfolio.exgfilms.com
You can shoot the same grave from different angles and distances. It should work. You can either paint the graves onto the matte as greenscreen green or paint the graves without the figures just for placement, I don't think it should matter as long as you use greenscreen on and around the actor and grave.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
