Thursday 5 April 2012

Digital prosthetics

Further blurring the line between what is real and what is digital...

Work on  All That Remains, our current feature project, is a constant battle between our artistic vision and  budget restraints. Because we can be pretty stubborn when it comes to scaling down our vision, we're always having to think outside the box, always looking for "another way to get the shot".

The special make-up effects needed for some of the shots we have in mind is a case in point. To further keep production costs down, we have decided that some of the required special make-up effects will be created digitally – that is, added to the actors in post-production. Pixel Revolution Films will be responsible for the digital make-up shots (in other words, we’ll be doing it ourselves).



A Digital Prosthetic for "All That Remains"

The wounds were created in Photoshop using photographic material and digital painting techniques. These were then mapped to the actors face in Adobe After Effects, using the Motion Tracker.

Below are stills taken from test shots for the post-atomic bombing sequence.

In this close-up shot of one atomic bomb victim,  a "heat wave" distortion rippling effect is also added to help both obscure the horror and enhance the feeling of something distorted and nightmarish.

Even the blood here has been added digitally.

Of course, you can't beat good old fashioned make-up, but the digital alternative is a good and more low cost, albeit time consuming, alternative if you have the necessary skills and patience.