distantprospect_tf_art

"Run!!!" VFX Process Demo

Added 2025-05-21 14:41:50 +0000 UTC

When time is short, we need to get creative with how we shoot things. In this instance, we didn't have the time to take the team all the way up to the moors, light and shoot a scene, so we did what any indie operation would do next - we blagged it on a green screen. Sorta.

Step 1: Film the shot

Again, lack of time to get these in, so we used the green screen were possible and shot downwards to the floor. Normally, we'd have a much larger green cloth do do the job, but hey-ho.

Step 2: The background

With the lack of a photo plate to composite Elle against, we ran through Midjourney to generate a few versions of the moors and heather until we got something we felt we could use. Not perfect, but certainly usable. We then added various blurs and shaders to create the illusion of Depth-of-field to the image.

We also motion tracked the footage so as the match the camera movement to the background.

Step 3: Roto and Keying

Because Elle wasn't fully against a screen for this shot, we needed to rotoscope her get get the majority of her performance lifted from the plate. The green screen area was still used to lift some hair details for the shot.

Now we can add her to the prepared scene.

Step 4: Colouring

We wanted to give the scene the feeling of a) being outdoors on a late summers eve but also b) contrasted and lit by a campfire. So, we ran a couple of colour passes over the footage until we got something we liked.

There we go. Dark with heavy shadows. And lastly...

Step 5: Fire!

When we shot the plate, we lit it as best we could guess for the placement of light in the scene, which included one light filling in for the campfire.

Taking a pre-keyed fire asset, and overlaying it on the footage is easy enough.

But one thing remains; the glow from the fire.