Artefact - Evaluation

When editing the footage there was a few things I wanted to make sure I get right.

I went for purple-pink-white colours to make sure the effect stands out from the background.

There were things like depth of field and reflections to make the composition sit together well, to make it look as realistic as possible.

To get the reflections right I simply duplicated the first layer which meant all the data with the tracking and all the movement was already there, just changed the opacity and dropped the height of it. That proved to be very simple and effective.

I just had to make sure the reflections are only where I need them, it was tricky to get the time just right to have the reflection only over the waters and not the sand on the edge. 

The depth of field was a little more tricky but I did a little bit of research and all I ended up doing is dropping an extra camera into the composition and in it's options you could control the depth of field of my object. I could control everything including how blurry I want it to be I love it and will definitely be using it in the future.

I went into the shoot so prepared that I ended up shooting a lot more than I needed I had time to improvise and get a little more shots than I originally planned and ended up having plenty to choose from in the end. 

The only problem I've had was the wind. It was so windy it made it nearly impossible to track, but I got around that and in the end I have a great video I am proud of.

If I was to do it again I would definitely work a little more on the sound. 

I would record it again if I had a little more time to make sure there is no background noise I could not get rid of. 

And maybe I would match it more to the image, I feel like maybe that could be improved on.

For the purpose of this I have used the Red giant plugin, I used the Magic Bullet Looks. 

This is such a great tool it was so easy to make the composition look so perfect I'm not sure how people go without it! 

I have learned a lot of new things during this process and I hope to use them all in the future.

Overall not many things went too bad and I am proud of how my organisation skills improved.

Twelve and Twelve rule

Initially when the schedule is made people get really excited, by people I mean the fans. But when you think about it, they don’t consider the issues that often set back the production a little. Issues like troubles with getting permissions, personal issues, technical issues etc etc.  And in the end when movies and tv series are announced to come out a little later than planned they are disappointed. But what they don’t think about are the crew. More often than not people are on set over twelve hours, which in a everyday job is seen as unacceptable. Yet still during a movie production it’s seen as a normal thing. “The worst day I ever worked on a show was 27 hours.” Steve D’Amato says. “You feel trapped with the hours, because you know that if you don’t do them, someone else will.” “It regularly happens when overly optimistic scheduling falls prey to bad luck, like cameras breaking, incompetence, and director egomania.”

After the death of Brent Lon Hershman, who died in a car accident in which he fell asleep while driving home from work after a nineteen hour shit on the set of Pleasantville Haskell Wexler, an American cinematographer, started an organization which supports a ‘twelve and twelve rule’. A twelve and twelve rule is nothing more than a twelve hour shift followed by a mandatory twelve hour rest, and no more than six hour between meals, and is supposed to apply to all industry workers. “John Lindley and the crew of Pleasantville were terribly upset about the conditions that were going on, and it was set off by Brent Hershman’s death while driving home…” said Haskell Wexler. According to a study by the British Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, after a 17-19 hours without sleep, the performance on some tests was equivalent or worse than that at a BAC (blood alcohol content) of 0.05%.

Logistics of shooting on location

For this particular task I looked at a big production of The Hobbit trilogy. People love the trilogies of Lord of the Ring, and the Hobbit not only due to the effects, but also because of its beautiful sceneries. Once again however, we come to realisation that nobody ever thinks about how difficult it must be. Audience just wants to see the finished product, see it in Ultra HD in the comfort of their favourite armchair.

The production took place all around New Zealand and it lasted for 6 weeks. For the location shooting of this size there needed to be about five hundred men involved. Everybody had to be at the right place and at the right time to get into the right vehicle to get to the right location. It is a job that needs a lot of planning. The crew used a total of two hundred and forty five vehicles to get everyone and everything around. It was stated that it was more difficult because of the filming taking place in the middle of nowhere. A lot of locations were only accessible by a helicopter. Everything the cast and crew could possibly ever need during the time of shooting needed to be taken with them. It was all about forward planning; there was no space for any kind of errors. The crew had to bring their own generators to create electricity for everyone associated with the production, bring equipment to cook food, provide water and areas for people to sit down and eat. The bathrooms and toilets, weather cover and even the heating when it was cold and cooling when it was warm had to be provided.

“You don’t have to worry about actors leaving home for so many weeks, because we’re very very well looked after. The catering on these movies have been sensational.”

To make things easy for themselves, the crew made sure everything is on wheels, easy to pack up and ready to roll. The last thing needed was to waste time on packing and unpacking the same equipment over and over again, but in different locations.

In order to show how huge this venture was, I have decided to share a little bit of the statistics associated with filming the Hobbit trilogy. For the whole shoot the cast and crew had to bring with them: sixty kilograms of toilet paper, artificial trees, animals of all kinds e.g. sheep, chickens, goats cows pheasants, ducks and so on.

“It’s not just a small crew going to a few far away places, we’re literally occupying a space of two football fields.”

It is sometimes difficult to build sets, as they need to be built on rocks, or surface needs to be levelled, etc. The crew moved around seven thousand cubic metres of soil to level out the space, which needed to be done so all the trucks can park up without getting stuck so that everything would run as smoothly as possible without causing any delays.

When thinking about all these people having to get to these secret, hard to find, off the map locations one must think of a good way of communicating. To them it was not anything more than pointing arrows. Sometimes the simpler is better.

When shooting on location, the production has to have a strict time plan, which it has to stick to. It was stated that a lot of the time it comes down to hoping that the weather will be cooperating. There were several different spots, which had to be used for shooting, and there was no option as waiting around for the weather to change, not on a tight schedule like this one.

At one point of the production the cast and crew had to get to a part of a mountain, which had very fragile vegetation on it. They have decided to do as much as they possibly could to preserve all of it. For this they have built a huge ramp, so people would walk across it rather than the plants. This again comes down to the size of the team. A small group of people would not affect it as much as a crowd of five hundred people. That would leave it with nothing but mud covering it.

The films were shot by two groups who had to film two different routes. Everyday the second group had to show what they have done that day, in order to create shorts and get some scenes together and then send it off to Peter Jackson who was in group one, for approval.

As they were far from everything, they had to rely on satellite technology to communicate between each other. Half way through the shoot they have used about six kilometres of cable.

It is a lot of hard work when the shooting has to take place on location, however in the end people see the final outcome and are amazed. The crew also enjoy it as they get to see these amazing places and act in the environments rather than in front of an empty green space. The artists’ visions are still fulfilled because they find the places that are just how they imagined them to be.

“It’s been great to get outside, it’s been great to get that texture of middle earth into the movie, after many many weeks of shooting in the studio”

Actors Performance

The special effects, even though a lot of the time are amazing and we love them, we do not consider how actors take it. We do not always like the movie as we do not like the actors or their performance. We do not however tend to give it a second thought as to why this may be. Actors’ work is really hard. Depending on what kind of movies/programs they act in, they may be required to perform in front of a green screen for long hours. It may be that before the shoot they have to spend hours and hours in a chair while people draw thousands of dots on their face and body. This is of course if they are to do any motion capture. The actor would then have to be in a room lit only by artificial lighting in front of a green screen for hours. It is not an easy job. Actors are pushed beyond their limits, working unacceptable amounts of hours for a few hours of our amusement. A lot of the time, if they are not as popular, they are not even appreciated enough which seems like a huge waste of time and effort.

Creative Freedom

“In the analog world there were strict limits: you could only make a piece of wood or a violin do what it was capable of doing. In the digital world, there are no physical limits: it’s only a question of storage capacity, processor speed....”

This is probably the main reason why people use so many virtual set extensions nowadays rather than build sets. With built sets, puppets and people acting everything out, it might get a little too complicated, depending on the story. It might sometimes be that it is physically impossible to do something that the story requires to be done. For example, characters in a lot of horror movies twist up and walk all over the ceilings and walls. It is possible to build a set upside down and have the person walk ordinarily creating an illusion, however it is much quicker and simpler to shoot the actor on a green screen and have the rest done digitally.

“... it’s all about creating a window onto another world. A world where each of us can find our dreams, our fears and ourselves. All these effects we have are just tools to help us get there… And we have some fantastic tools, so use them, and make something great.”

The action can sometimes take place in outer space, or in a very abstract environment. As previously stated, it is possible to build a set that would make it look like the required environment, however in most cases, the completed effect does not look as realistic as the creators intended for it to look.

There are locations people can simply not be able to get to. Some movies are so abstract that no camera trick and no set will make it believable. It is also not just about us judging the movie when we watch it - it is about making it too. George Lucas talked about how limited he was when making the original Star Wars trilogy.

“Things have advanced so far in the last 20 years in terms of the ability to portrait things on the screen that were literally impossible before.”

The movie may not always be what the director wanted it to be, purely because of the limitations. Producers and creators have to settle to save money, as they cannot do such things, or it is too difficult or simply impossible. This is where the vfx comes in handy. With the use of special effects Lucas could make Yoda walk and fight and do all the things he wanted him to do and make the movie a lot more interesting from this specific point of view. Vfx makes artists proud of their outcome. They do not have to settle for anything anymore or change the script.

“Jackson has admitted that he could not have made the Lord of the Rings trilogy on the epic scale that he did without the help of the computer-generated imagery”

“Filmmakers no longer need to build elaborate sets or amass hoards of extras in order to create crowd scenes.”

When creating a digital environment you have a lot more control over it, whereas if you are shooting on location you have to pray and hope for a lot of external forces, e.g. weather to be ideal.

It is also more convenient, as the actors or the crew do not have to be taken away from their families for weeks or sometimes months. A lot of the time it is cheaper to bring the actors in front of a green screen and create a backdrop for the scene, rather than sending them up into the Himalayas and shoot there. When thinking of a location shooting it seems pretty straightforward, however it is not that simple to go out into the field with a camera and few lights, as there are many conditions which has to be considered.

Safety Issues - Shooting on location

There are surely advantages and disadvantages for the use of computer generated imagery. One of the worst disadvantages, I came across during my research, was the death and serious injuries of the actors and stuntmen. When shooting on location, there are sometimes scenes, which require difficult manoeuvres or dangerous stunts. Most of the time it is not the actors who play these parts, it is the stuntmen or doubles. The audience would be unaware of what is happening, as the scene may be filmed from an angle at which they cannot see the face of the person performing. I came across a lot of articles, which talk about all the famous movies, and injuries that stand behind them. A lot of the time the critical shots are used in the end product. Audience watches the movie being unaware of what happened think of how realistic the performance of a specific actor/stuntman/double was. In this case it would be a lot safer to perform these stunts in a controlled environment, in front of a green screen. A lot of people agree that in the end, taking less risk of brain, spine, any other injury or even death, is worth it.

“Australian stuntman Scott McLean suffered critical brain damage while filming in Bangkok after a taxi he was leaning out of the window of, failed to dodge another vehicle, causing McLean's head to collide with it, leaving him with a huge gash over the right side of his head and flesh torn from his skull."

The problem with special effects is that more often than not you can really tell it is a fake, which ruins our experience. Bad vfx can even cause us to hate the movie, which is a big thing.

“The thing is, when you rely on the latest technology to tell your story- and that’s it- that dates. It can date badly. Whereas, when you actually make the stuff, I think there’s something about that that is a little bit more ageless.”

Academic Poster

One of the deliverables for this project is an academic poster.
At first I wasn't sure what a poster like that should have in it.
After some research I decided to talk about stuff like, what my dissertation is about, the development so far, the tests I've done and a conclusion.

After presenting my academic poster to everyone I have received a really positive feedback.

Someone made a good point about the snow.

There was snow in the scene and it looked quite good but there was no snow falling on the actress. I got advised to, in the future to have some fake snow at hand to make it more believable. I took it on board and in the future I will definitely for it.

Another thing people really wanted to see are the screen shots from the tests.

After receiving those comments I re-did the poster and here is the finished piece.

Preparing for the shoot

Before I went in to shoot I had to consider a few things.

Thinking of the time I went in to do a green screen test I made sure all the kit I was taking out the lights etc were working so I am not stuck with no lights.

I thought through all the shots I need, I have taken all the videos from the forest etc to make sure I don't miss anything out. 

I found that practice to be very useful. Before when I went in just with storyboards there was always something I missed out. This time I've taken a little more and I must say I've done an alright job. It allowed me to quickly have a look at videos to see what kind of lighting I must have in the scene and it's definitely a practice I will continue ^^

I also wanted to be as organised as possible to not waste anyones time. I wanted for everything to go smoothly and as quickly as possible. And I think it did. 

Quotes I found useful

Film Studies - "we expect slickly produced images, a rich and complex soundtrack and we want films to feed our insatiable appetite for story and sensation" p3

“Jackson has admitted that he could not have made the Lord of the Rings trilogy on the epic scale that he did without the help of the computer-generated imagery” p328

“Photography, film, and sound recording taken together shifted dramatically our historical perspective.”

“The development of recording media… was as significant historically as the invention of writing seven thousand years earlier.”

p.42 “But these days, there’s no need to hire real people, and the biggest line item budgets is CGI. This is especially true of comic- book and fantasy-based projects which don’t need high-priced stars to succeed. The combined budgets for Sam Raimi’s three Spider- Man films exceeded $500 million.”

p42

“There are two ways to spend exorbiant amounts of money on making movies. For apocalypse Now Francis FordCoppola reinvented the Vietnam War with the proverbial cast of thousands. The film cost upwards of $30 million in the mid seventies…”

“There was just so much love poured into it and so much care. The thing is, when you rely on the latest technology to tell your story- and that’s it- that dates. It can date badly. Whereas, when you actually make the stuff, I think there’s something about that that is a little bit more ageless.” - Isaac

p9. “...cinema has given up the purpose and the thinking behind individual shots (and narrative), in favour of images- rootless, textureless images- designed to violently impress by constantly inflating their spectacular qualities.”

“Special effects… often draw attention to themselves, asking the viewer to share the joke, pretend s/he is fooled or simply marvel at what technology and imagination are capable of.”

“In all instances the spectacular use of CGI tends to slow down the narrative and distract from the story.”

“With numbers like that Hollywood will never stop making these films.” (talking about profits)

“... in the age of Spilberg, shortcomings of story, character and dialogue are often compensated by special effects.

“an agumented public appetite for the experience of speed itself, as visceral commodity, and for thrills without threat to personal danger. Arguably this appetite has been the common driving force behind a diversity of entertainments over the last century, including theme park rides and the movies.”

“He has consistently aimed to transport the cinema viewer into imaginary landscapes and infinite space, devising techniques and film formats that harness the sense of sight to the sensation of speed.”

p77. “Without editing, the expressive and narrative capabilities of the moving image would not be anything like as rich as they are.”

p.42 “But these days, there’s no need to hire real people, and the biggest line item budgets is CGI. This is especially true of comic- book and fantasy-based projects which don’t need high-priced stars to succeed. The combined budgets for Sam Raimi’s three Spider- Man films exceeded $500 million.”

“There are two ways to spend exorbiant amounts of money on making movies. For apocalypse Now Francis FordCoppola reinvented the Vietnam War with the proverbial cast of thousands. The film cost upwards of $30 million in the mid seventies…”

“The production staged the majority of ruin

Case study: Gladiator

“It was decided that location shooting would bring down the cost of the production, rather than trying to construct everything in Hollywood. However, filming on the site of historical monuments was impossible because of the likely damage incurred during filming, and because of the often poor condition of the sites to begin with.” p 45

“The biggest set, that of ‘ancient Rome’, was built at Port Mifisalfi, Malta, over nineteen weeks in the winter of 1998-99, immediately prior to filming. The set included a full-scale section of the Roman Colosseum (the rest would be filled in using computer graphics)...” p45

“From the beginning, the shoot was a very complex affair. The scale of the production - with a mammoth budget of over US$100 million, scenes involving thousands of extras and a four- month shoot in four countries - necessitated the use of four different crews.”

“... incorporating replicas of Roman war machines and an army if 1000 extras.”p46

“Preparation of the sets had begun long before shooting:because of the scale of the set…”p46

“The year 1946 marked the peak in cinema-going in the USA, unsurpassed to this day. In that year, the average weekly attendance in the US was 95 million.”

p77. “Without editing, the expressive and narrative capabilities of the moving image would not be anything like as rich as they are.”

“Photography, film, and sound recording taken together shifted dramatically our historical perspective.”

“Whatever can be told in print in a novel can be roughly pictured or told in film (although the wildest fantasies… might require a lot of special effects.)”

“... the new technical capacity to record and reproduce sounds and images presents us with an exciting new set of choices.”

“Previously we were limited by our own physical abilities.”

“In the analog world there were strict limits:you could only make a piece of wood or a violin do what it was capable of doing. In the digital world, there are no physical limits: it’s only a question of storage capacity, processor speed....”

“the live action sequences were scheduled to begin filming in august 1932”

“Achieving a seamless joint between live-action and painting was quite difficult and involved a great deal of aligning and testing” p184 “It was not unusual for a shot to be redone twenty or thirty times before it was done right

“Filmmakers no longer need to build elaborate sets or amass hoards of extras in order to create crowd scenes.”

“Jackson has admitted that he could not have made the Lord of the Rings trilogy on the epic scale that he did without the help of the computer-generated imagery”

“Digital compositing: The digitally manipulated combination of at least two source images to produce an integrated result.”

“... the new technical capacity to record and reproduce sounds and images presents us with an exciting new set of choices.”

“Previously we were limited by our own physical abilities.”

“Photography, film, and sound recording taken together shifted dramatically our historical perspective.”

“The development of recording media… was as significant historically as the invention of writing seven thousand years earlier.”

“There are cinics today that believe modern film is too reliant on CGI and that we should return to a simpler form of real filmmaking…. But, that era never existed - filmmakers from the very beginning have sought to push the medium with special effects.”

“The undeniable truth about filmmaking is the only thing that matters is what’s on that screen.”

“... it’s all about creating a window onto another world. A world where each of us can find our dreams our fears and ourselves. All these effects we have are just tools to help us get there… And we have some fantastic tools, so use them, and make something great.”

Music/Sound for the Practical Response

When I was doing the sound for the sequence. I have previously recorded Kat reading out the poem. 

At first I haven't realised that there is something wrong with the camera. It was rattling and when I listened to the recording afterwards it turned out that the mic picked up on that. 

It was the first issue I've had with the sound. I tried to fix it but there was not much I could do about it then apart from re-recording it. But I didn't want to take up any more of anyone's time.

As for the background music I thought of many things. 

I recorded some sounds while I was out shooting the video but I think a constant sound of waterfalls and things might just be too boring.

I found some relaxing music. I have chosen one which had a bit of everything in, birds singing, waterfalls, water flowing, and all sorts of forest noises. 

I thought a relaxing music might be a lot more suitable than any other type of music. 

When watching the end result I still agree with that thought, I think it was a good choice.

Choosing a story for the sequence

It's about your dreams, imagination and subconscious. 

It takes you to a different place.

That sounded like a perfect fit for my practical so I decided to use it. 

It's a poem titled:

To a dreamer.

Tracking Nightmare

When I filmed my footage. I wanted for it to look natural so there is a little camera shake going on, also it was really windy so things were moving like crazy.

When it came to tracking it was a nightmare because of that.

There weren't many things I could hook a tracking point up to because there weren't many sable points on the screen. D:

Before that I wasn't really comfortable with using tracking because I haven't really used it in the past which was an additional issue.

But in the end after I spent a few hours on it I got quite good with it, I must say.

Some things still need polishing up but I would need to spend a lot more time on it. 

In the future I will consider maybe using a tripod like, always. Because it's a lot of playing around it seems especially when there is green screen involved. Even if I did all the color corrections it would still look a little funny because of the camera movement. 

I did work as hard as I could on it, to do it to the best of my ability and I like the end result ^^

Back to basics - Compositing

Once I filmed the short sequence it was time to remember how to edit it. I do have to say that I didn't open the After Effects throughout the whole summer so I'm a little rusty.

But I didn't seem to forget much, I still remembered how to get around.
I started from the basics, I applied Keylight, then keyed my greenscreen.
I used cc snow effect to add the snow.
There were a few different things to consider, size of the flakes, the amount of the flakes, and the speed they're falling at. The snow in the foreground was bigger and falling faster, there was also a lot less of it than in the background. The snow in the background was a lot smaller and falling a lot slower. I also changed the opacity of the snow so it's not so sharp, it looks a little more natural that way. I think for it being my first time with the snow it didn't work out too bad ^^

Other than that let's talk about what this task was about.
I managed to key out the green screen and remember pretty much where what and how in AfterEffects. I managed to remember a lot of shortcuts and whereabouts of specific effects to speed up the process of compositing.
I remembered how to blend layers to make them look believable. There was some little issues during this little process but it wasn't anything that couldn't be resolved.
Overall it was good practice to remember all the whereabouts.

Here I applied the keylight and a few masks to have just Kat on a layer.

After adding the snow I had to make Kat sit in the composition a little better. The colours on her were way too bright and it did not look natural at all.

For this I used the Magic Bullet Looks, from the Red Giant Plug-ins.

I have found them to be dead easy to use and very useful. 

There are so many various options I don't know how I lived without them before -__-

Anyways here is the finished product! ^^

I'm quite proud of it. And I have learned a lot along the way c:

Old vs New - King Kong

One of the greatest ways to illustrate the worth of using the green screen would be to compare an old film with a more modern remake. In this case I will use an example of King Kong.

Firstly I looked into the making of King Kong originally released in 2005. At first, Universal and Peter Jackson projected a budget of $150 million. Over the course of filming, with additional special effects needed, and Jackson extending the film’s running time by thirty minutes, the budget increased to $207 million.

Due to Jackson not wanting King Kong to behave like a human, it took hours and hours of study as well as time to travel to see and understand the behaviour of the real gorillas in the wild. “Jackson saw King Kong as opportunity for technical innovations in motion capture.” Andy Serkis, who played the part of King Kong had to go through two hours of motion capture makeup every day. The process during which artists attach 135 small markers to different spots on his face. It is a long and tedious process but in order for the job to be done right, it is essential for skill motion capture actors to go through it. It seems like the modern practice is time consuming, however when looking at the old ways, one might change their mind.

The original King Kong, which was released in 1933, relied on stop motion animation. In order to make that happen the artists had to build models and make sure they are able to move them around easily. They constructed a total of four models. A variety of materials were used for different parts of the body. It was mostly aluminium, foam, rubber, latex, and rabbit fur. All four models were made for different shots to make it easier when filming. King Kong’s face was constructed of rubber and the eyes were made from glass. The artists were able to control Kong’s facial expressions by thin bendable wires threaded through holes drilled in his aluminium skull. As always, some problems occurred during filming. One of the main problems encountered during the production was the use of the wrong material for Kong’s skin, as the rubber used dried very fast under the studio lights. This made it necessary to replace the said skin often and completely redo model’s facial features, which was very time consuming and obviously costly. The production team could not even made the King Kong whole, as it would stand thirty to forty feet tall, so they have created only the parts needed for specific shoots. These parts were huge, they had to be moved around either by a crane or they had to be made with wheels attached to them for the ease of movement.

The estimated budget for the movie was $670 000, which adjusted for inflation (up to 2005) increases to over $10 650 000. When looking at earnings however, the 1933 version of King Kong grossed $89 931 in the first four days after release. This calculates to $1 301 040 when adjusted for inflation up to 2005. This can now be compared to $9 755 745, which the new King Kong grossed only in the first day of release or to $66 100 000, which it grossed in a total of five days. All of this clearly shows that investing a little more into a movie is worth it.

Jen Sauer - Creative Director/Universal Creative: “Now we can tell that story in a way that we were never been able to tell it before. Kong can move fast, he can move around us, he can move in a quick and natural way that surpasses anything we can do with sets and robotics, even today.”

Interviewing Actors and Professionals

When it came to having to find actors and actresses to interview it was tricksy. 

I have emailed so many people that haven't replied. And I was losing hope that someone ever will o_O

Then I started worrying that what if I won't be able to find anyone I can film with for my practical. I don't know it was an awful time but eventually once a few replied, everyone started replying and the fears went away I had hope that I will complete this project again hahah 

I even managed to speak to a young film maker who gave me some amazing advice and guidance for this which I am really grateful for ^^
I spoke to an actor who has had various experience including a lot of green screen and who really helped when answered my questions. 
"When you're infront of green screen it is much harder and more of a challenge than ctually being on the set. Production companies who have the money for it tend to always limit the green screen as much as possible. For example the Harry Potter movies they make things as real as possible for the actors and limit the green screen to things that can't be done any other way. Its always much easier to have a truthful reaction to something thats there than to green screen. Most actors can go on set without much preparation and react fairly truthfully but with green screen it would usually take more time for an actor to prepare. In my opinion I think its much harder to work at 100% because there is no stimulus for a real truthful reaction. I can't think of any actor who has had experience with green screen would prefer green screen over the real space. If you can get the real location then always best to do it. When I'm acting the more effort put into a set the more comfortable I feel and can perform better. This applies to stage however if im filming a scene set on a beach it would be such a challenge to have a truthful reaction on a green screen. All the small unconscious reactions to the sea, the people and the heat will not be caught on film if done on a green screen.


Here is some questions I've asked other actors:
Does green screen effect the actors performance?
So yes, here are the interviews. Being able to have a chat with actors and filmmakers were a huge help to me. They all gave me tips and something to help me and for this I am very grateful.

Are you comfortable with performing in front of a green screen? 
"Yes to an extent its challenging but a good way to

improve as an actor by having multi task."

Is it confusing having to remember what is where with just the marks on the carpet? 
"I had to have a crew member to mark out where my invisible computer was, as your eyes wander if you don't have something to focus on."

Do you think your performance is affected in any way?

"In someways yes as you have to concentrate on more than the acting and it can be a distraction but also a good challenge."

Do you think shooting on location would be more beneficial to your performance? 
"Yes if possible but not always practical when shooting sci fi stuff that needs alot of special effects"

Do you think that movies sacrifice the storyline for special effects? 
"Some do, but if you are making a film that requires sfx then you just have to have a balance and work hard."

Are you comfortable with performing in front of a green screen? 
"Yes. Its like make believe."

Is it confusing having to remember what is where with just the marks on the carpet? 
"A lot of theatre these days uses minimal sets so I'm used to standing in front of drapes acting as though I'm somewhere else."

Do you think your performance is affected in any way? 
"I think to some extent as your not reacting to a real thing so its not as easy to judge your performance."

Do you think that movies sacrifice the storyline for special effects? 
"Yes sadly a lot of movies put effects over storylines"

"iIt's really lovely to hear someone is asking actors about how effects effect what they do, I think it genuinely depends on what kind of story it is and what kind of acting is required, for me, as it's been fairly light-hearted, comedic type stuff with a director who's very clearly told me what he needs, and who also acts himself but is a very capable effects-drived filmmaker and animator also (so he has a complete understanding of what I need to know to do the job) it's been fun, but I do know that if it were emotional heavier work it would be difficult and would seem a shame to use effects rather than try a more natural approach."

 "I truly believe that is down to the actor. An actor that has had experience with green screen should be as comfortable as if they were right there on location. Also it's the directors job to make the actors believe and paint a picture for them.
An actor that is brand new to green screen may struggle, but green screen is now heavily part of our industry, it's not just blockbusters using it, but small indie dramas too. Actors should be familiarising themselves with this technique.
Vfx can massively improve a story, if they are used in the right way, they can also maximise your budget. A film like Wolf of Wall Street relies heavily on vfx, they go unnoticed in the film because they are there solely to improve the story.
There are a lot of poor films that rely on silly vfx, the sy-fi channel produce many of them, but used correctly it's another tool for a filmmaker.
Personally if it's something that can be done in camera I'd always opt for that decision. However, sometimes it cannot, or there's budget restraints, and that's when you need vfx."

Also they have made some interesting points which I went on to research further ^^

Wolf Of Wall Street - vfx

http://vimeo.com/83523133

When chatting to James Wall, he told me to look into the vfx of The wolf of wall street. 

When I started recalling the movie it didn't look like there was much at all so I was surprised to say the least. 

But it's a different use of effects. It isn't much for huge explosions and surreal environments.
They are there to help you believe the story.
They populate streets and add houses and create the environments worthy the Wolf of Wall Street.
I don't think that kind of special effects affects people in such way as being alone in front of a green screen.
It's what works efficiently with your budget. It stretches it, makes it go a longer way rather than shooting on location for example of making everything cg. It's a good inbetween which in my opinion is harmless. It's only the certain things that are cg which we don't even notice and we can't really complain about it's quality or it isn't distracting.
It's a perfect use of vfx.