Tom Guilmette and Jon Connor got together at Kessler HQ to have some fun with a FasTec High Speed Camera mounted to a Kessler CineDrive. The CineDrive is able to perform programmable camera moves at high speed, and in this behind the scenes video Tom shows us their setups for various shots, which revolve around food.
Remember when Jean-Clade Van Damme released his awesome Volvo Trucks commercial? Then, it was followed by an even more awesome Chuck Norris doing the splits between two planes video response? Yah, we do. Turns out Chuck Norris truly can be beat though!
Working at high altitude is always a challenge, but trying to follow fast moving objects that are actually people defying death is a whole other level of intensity. In this behind the scenes video for a Verizon Fios ad, Director Rob Cohen has wingsuit flyers recorded jumping off of a cliff, but then has to get creative to shoot the not-so-real landing. See how they did it and check out the final ad inside.
This brilliant video edited by Nelson Carvajal shows just how much visual effects have changed throughout movie history. The video starts with 1977's Star Wars and ends with this year's nominees for "Best Visual Effects". It wasn't until 1977 that the Academy Awards created an official category for "Best Visual Effects". Although, until 1995 the Academy Awards occasionally fell back to its old umbrella of "Special Achievement Academy Award".
"Beauty" is a short video by Rino Stefano Tagliafeirro, and it's a captivating 10 minutes that brings to life still paintings with a somewhat eerie soundtrack that almost forces rapt attention. The manifesto is described as delving into the "enigma of beauty." I would say more, but this is just one of those things that needs to be experienced. Warning, this does contain painted nudes.
Marc Donahue from Permagrin Films keeps popping up with new and interesting timelapse or GoPro projects– and his latest work features the gorgeous city of San Francisco. Using unique motion timelapses, Marc and his team put together another amazing piece of work. Marc shared some insight on the production, and we've also got some behind the scenes video too so you can see how it was made.
The Academy Awards nominations were recently released and it's no surprise that "The Wolf of Wall Street" received nominations in the "Best Picture" and "Best Actor" categories, but what about visual effects? The visual effects for the movie while extremely subtle are outstanding to say the least. The company behind the special effects for the movie is Brainstorm Digital. They released the VFX breakdown of "The Wolf on Wall Street", and proves just how much special effects can have an impact on modern storytelling.
Few months back we featured a great video showing how Joe Fellows creates his stunning parallax videos. After posting the article, many of you had follow-up questions on his techniques and methods, so he decided to release a 'part 2' video explaining some of the cool tricks he uses to transform a 2D photo into a 2.5D video.
Follow Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) as they explain how they created the design for the city of San Francisco in the year 2259 for the film Star Trek: Into Darkness. They also go into depth over the creation of the visual effects for the scene where the USS Vengeance crashes into the city and exactly how large some of the files ended up being.
Featured last year for his "Wedding Day Zombie Apocalypse" composite, Photographer Josiah Moore is up to his old tricks again. This past fall he shot a wedding where both the Bride and Groom were car enthusiasts. He decided to make a fun chase scene out of a photo from the reception, and this video shows his process in Photoshop.
Last week Jerusalem had one of the heaviest snow storms ever recorded in the region. Media outlets called it a "Historic Storm" and "Biblical Snowstorm," and thousands of people lost power and got stuck at home. Some even got stuck in their cars on the highway. This didn't stop photography student Nitzan Yogev (24) from going outside, hopping on the light-rail train and recording one of the most captivating snow videos I've ever seen - and all shot on the iPhone 5s.
There is something magical about having your 2D photos seem like they're actually 3D. It brings them to life in a way none other method can. The depth, the complexity and the subtle movements give your regular 2D photos more meaning and context, and it makes the viewer focus on the image much more than normal. Joe Fellows is a master of the 2.5D (Parallax) Effect and in this short video he shows you everything you need to know to make this effect yourself on your own images.
The team at Red Giant Films, working with special effects guru Stu Maschwitz, have yet again released another compelling short video. Unlike other shorts such as Spy vs. Guy and Plot Device, this is actually a pitch trailer for a film based on a video game that they hope to create. Check the full post for the behind the scenes video too!
As filmmakers, we often find ourselves in less-than-perfect circumstances; we may be losing sunlight at the end of a shoot or trying to capture a fleeting moment before it disappears. Often times you’ll find that you've captured great moments with an undesirable camera shake. I've found myself in this situation countless times and I want to share something that has changed the way I deal with shaky footage.
Whether you’re a photographer or you focus on video, this article highlights the high octane visual set piece created by Slaughterhouse Pictures, who successfully combined principles of both stills and motion work to create high impact visual media with zero budget and very limited resources. Read the exclusive FStoppers article and watch the BTS video to get some simple and highly effective little tips that you will be able to apply to all aspects of your own work.
Grand Theft Auto 5, which launched yesterday, is the most expensive video game ever produced, at a cost of $250 million of production and marketing costs. It also set records for day one sales. Most of the short time I played over the last day was spent inside the house one of the one of the main protagonists. I moved from room to room and realized I’d just spent almost an hour trying to work out how to position the character for best dramatic lighting effect. As I stepped outside and watched the sunset and saw the lighting change, it got me thinking - can Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 5 actually help us to improve our photography?
It's always fascinating to get a glimpse behind the scenes of high-budget productions, and Andrew Kramer of Video Copilot provides us with an absolutely wonderful look into the creation of the title design and introduction scenes for Star Trek Into Darkness. The best part? The plugin used to create many of the effects only costs $150.
Salience is the name of the five minute short that will probably be remembered as one of the most innovative, experimental (and beautiful) short films of the year. If you do one thing today for your inspiration, please spend the next few minutes checking it out and you'll see what I mean.
I'm sure if you're reading this you are a Game of Thrones fan just like me! Spin VFX has put together an amazing peek behind the visual wizardry that they do for the HBO series. Sometimes you will see some poor visual effects take you out of the experience, but this video is a study in how to do it right.
Where we’re going, we don’t have roads. The North Face sent photographer Celin Serbo on assignment to an area near Canyonlands National Park to capture stills of Alex Honnold, Daniel Woods, and Matt Segal establishing new climbs in a place called Labyrinth Canyon. In this post, Celin reveals the challenges of shooting a 10 day expedition, and shares his amazing images.
The summer zombie blockbuster film ‘World War Z’ starring Brad Pitt was rolled out to theatres everywhere a couple weeks ago, and showed the world some of the most in-depth special effects used to date. Hordes of tens of thousands of zombies showed us, perhaps, a realistic view of what the surely impending zombie apocalypse would really look like. Now they want to show us how it was done.
Chris Godfrey, VFX Supervisor on the film The Great Gatsby, recently released a 4 minute clip of before and after shots from the movie.
The sweeps reveal the sheer amount of post production that goes into a Hollywood movie like this. As a viewer, we know the movie magic is happening and that the heavy amount of FX are standard in blockbusters that hit the silver screens. It is interesting seing how some of the wide shots
Comicbookgirl19 has to be my favorite channel on youtube at the moment. She and her trusty side-kick, 'Robot', review the latest shows, movies and comic books. Recently she interviewed one of the greatest practical special effects artists of our time, Alec Gillis. They discuss why practical effects seem to be losing traction in the film industry and how it will affect future filmmaking.
With the new Iron Man movie out this week it's only natural that companies would cash in on the film trilogy. Verizon Wireless have released a new commercial for their new internet service, FiOS Quantum. VFX house, The Embassy, who created the special effects also worked on the first Iron Man film.
The Walking Dead is among the hottest shows on television today. The amount of work that goes into the visual production to make this show so spectacular and real often goes unnoticed by its fan base. The latest reel from production company Stargate Studios shows us the amount of work they had to put into the latest season of AMC’s hot television series.
If you've seen any movies in the theater recently you've probably seen a preview for the movie Oblivion. A major part of the movie takes place on a science fiction "sky tower" above the clouds. Instead of using green screen the director had a 360 degree set built that allowed the team to project real skyscape video around the glass building. The results not only look incredible but they also gave the actors a more realistic set to work on.
