I stumbled upon this great montage video today that shows a whole bunch of shots from some of the top TV shows, that used green screen visual effects. The interesting thing about most of these shots, is that you would never know about them or pick them. They're just shots you'd think were filmed on location. Some are obviously digital, like the boat on fire from Greys Anatomy. But the only reason you'd know it was digital is because it's kind of obvious that it would cost way too much to actually have a real boat all smashed up and on fire. And of course the space walk on another planet had to be digital because, unless we've had some serious technological advancements in the last twelve months that I'm unaware of, I know we can't just pick up a camera and crew and head off to another world.

Have a look at this awesome video from Stargate Studios.

So why are they using digital compositing on green screen shots on what appear to be simple location shoots in the cities?

Well more often than not it comes down to two factors. Budget and time. Possibly the two biggest influencers of any film project, big or small. Quite often a TV show is not filmed in the city that it is set. It would take up way too much time to actually go and get those shots that take place out on the streets. Also the logistics involved in shooting on location in a city (or almost anywhere these days) is nightmarish. The endless red tape that needs to be sorted through, the officials that need bribing (Oops sorry, I meant location shooting fees that need to be paid...) and then if you have the time, money and patience to push through all of that, you then have to deal with keeping members of the public out of the frame and avoid showing trademarked logos and signs that you don't have permission to use...

Sometimes it's just easier, cheaper and quicker to build a small section of shop fronts, throw up a green screen, get a few extras, shoot the scene in a controlled environment, and then get some digital compositing whizz to throw it all together in post-production. Not to mention when done that way, you have complete control over weather, lighting conditions, the time of day and so on and so on.

So did you ever think that so much planning and work went into seemingly straight forward shots, or were you putting some dinner into your mouth at that moment and missed the shot all together?

Being a visual effects artist is an interesting job that plays havoc on our egos and emotions. At first, it's a great feeling to be a visual effects artist and have your work on display for everyone to see. But then if someone from the audience states "they were some great effects" and then comes up to congratulate us, we know that we've failed. An audience should never be aware that a  great effects shot has just happened right in front of them.

After a three day grueling film shoot, I realised I still had the camera for one more day. I couldn't let it go to waste... I came up with this little idea and set off with my co-producer Chris Daniels and Unit manager Brad Armel, to find a place to film it.

Luckily we didn't have to go far. I found a fairly bare looking field with one great looking tree in the middle and a wonky windmill in the background. It couldn't have been more perfect. Brad operated the camera, while Chris and myself got into character.

About two hours later and I was pretty sure we had all the footage I needed.

Unfortunately, post-production wasn't that quick. A number of other jobs got in the way and it was a good six months before I got the project finished.

The was shot on the Sony HVR-Z1 HDV camera. I loved almost everything about the camera except the format. HDV is truly a terrible format if you want to apply visual effects and heavy colour grades to the footage. It just doesn't hold up with all the compression that is on it. Oh well, I managed to save both this and the other project I was shooting at the time.