The greatest directors are also technological innovators who push the tools of the medium and, sometimes, even discover or invent new ones. With everyone being able to record and edit a video using only their iPhone and a compute, the use of new technologies is what sets you apart from the rest.
Revolutionary Technologies In The Past
Camera Rigs
The dolly and the steady cam represent benchmark camera techniques as almost all motion pictures t utilize either (if not both) of these technologies today. The dolly is simply placing the camera on wheels that glide along tracks, allowing for a smooth movement that allows you to follow people when they are walking or talking, or even get sweeping opening shots, particularly when combined with a crane. The key to making smooth shots is the weight of the unit and the surface that the dolly rides on. Modern dollies are essentially heavy sleds on four wheels that can move in any direction, with a hydraulic lift system for the camera. The cameraman rides on a seat attached to the dolly, and the whole unit is pushed with great accuracy by a dolly grip.
|
The steadicam, on the other hand, was invented to incorporate the seamlessness of a dolly system while allowing the freedom of handheld shooting. The operator essentially wears the camera on the front of what looks like a bullet-proof vest. The camera is mounted, via the gimbal, onto a flexible "iso-elastic" arm that's attached to the vest. A system of counterweights distributes the weight of the camera and allows for a steady shot. This was all thanks to the filmmaker Garret Brown who, in 1976 came up with the idea. Iconic scenes from 'Rocky' and 'The Shining' were filmed using the steadicam
|
Green Screen
This process of digital compositing was used to superimpose backdrops as actors performed against a blank, colored wall. This used to be a time consuming technique that involves filming a scene against a green screen, and then re-filming it with a filter attached to the lens to remove all the colored areas of the film. In the final recording, the layers are arranged over each other, frame by frame. This technology gave actors the ability to appear anywhere in the world during filming, as well as create optical illusions while cutting back on production costs at the same time. The first movie ever to use this was The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
|
Current and Future Developments
3D printing and Props
Filmmakers can now execute their visions digitally through 3D printing.
The frontrunner at the moment is the California-based company, 'Legacy Effects'. They used 3D printing in designing and building Iron Man’s armor in Iron Man and Avengers. The same digital file was used to create the life-size armor plates for the actor. At that time, they were the first studio to experiment with 3D printing an entire costume. This company began exploring 3D printing after it was tasked with creating a miniature 3D model of a fight scene from Halo 3. . 3D printing allows concept designs to be digitally submitted and get them approved within a day. The joints and mechanics of movement for the models are incorporated into the designing stage, saving time during prop development and testing. This could revolutionize film and become the new norm as it offers solutions to issues that traditional approaches could not answer as Legacy Effects produced 26 full-size robot suits from 3D printing in the same amount of time as it would take them to sculpt one model from clay.
Another leading user of 3D printed props in the film industry is HBO's 'Game Of Thrones'. . A company based in Northern Island supplies most of the armor, masks, jewelry, and weapons seen in each season. The company prides itself on this faster way to create props that are lightweight and realistic. 3D printing has a profound impact on the film industry, since visual effects teams can draw up free-form props that are otherwise more challenging to design and manufacture via traditional methods. These props range from the 'Sons of the Harpy' masks to a large-scale printed dragon.
Another leading user of 3D printed props in the film industry is HBO's 'Game Of Thrones'. . A company based in Northern Island supplies most of the armor, masks, jewelry, and weapons seen in each season. The company prides itself on this faster way to create props that are lightweight and realistic. 3D printing has a profound impact on the film industry, since visual effects teams can draw up free-form props that are otherwise more challenging to design and manufacture via traditional methods. These props range from the 'Sons of the Harpy' masks to a large-scale printed dragon.
This move towards 3D printing appears as a reversal of the traditional workflow in which physical models were scanned into a computer program to be used in background effects and imagery as was done in Kubrick's '2001; A Space Odyssey'. The competitive nature of the film industry as viewers anticipate more realistic representations of supernatural and fantastical storylines is a major driving force for this technology to develop. This also incentivizes film studios striving to distinguish themselves in this competitive market to find successful alternatives in 3D prop printing.
Famous 3D printed props you may have seen include:
- Night vision goggles in Zero Dark Thirty;
- A full-scale tank exterior in Fast & Furious 6;
- The canopy of Peter Quill’s spaceship in Guardians of the Galaxy;
- Spaceship sets in Ex Machina and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Augmented / Virtual Reality
While 3D movies try to make audiences part of the experience instead of passive viewers Virtual reality aims to guarantee this level of viewer engagement and amplify it further. VR brings audiences onto the set, letting them poke around to get a deeper look at the world the characters are in. Filmmakers have described fantasies and utopian or dystopian futures since the earliest silent film days. Advances in set design and animation come e every decade and allow a blend of live and virtual action, from King Kong in 1933 to the latest billion-dollar Star Wars film. Recent proliferation of smartphones capable of supporting virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR) experiences is enabling an explosion of new content formats that may dramatically change how consumers choose their entertainment experiences.
The industry is advancing rapidly with video game developers have taken an early lead, modifying multiplayer games with an immersive experience. Augmented experiences for travel and immersive stories about exotic locations are starting to appear, and new standards for format will enable thousands of storytellers and filmmakers to expand into a new medium of immersive augmented reality experiences.
The industry is advancing rapidly with video game developers have taken an early lead, modifying multiplayer games with an immersive experience. Augmented experiences for travel and immersive stories about exotic locations are starting to appear, and new standards for format will enable thousands of storytellers and filmmakers to expand into a new medium of immersive augmented reality experiences.
Glasses Free 3D
With most audiences complaining that 3D movies now are more of a gimmick than a film experience, the stage is set for glasses free 3D technology. Quality 3D effects instead of gimmicky pop-outs could bring back cinemagoers.
While this technology is mostly found at tradeshows and in development labs, viewers might be closer to experiencing it than they think. Rumors suggest that James Cameron's Avatar 2 will debut in 2020 in glasses-free 3D as Cameron’s production company has signed a five-year deal with Christie, a technology company focused on 3D technology to develop a glasses-less option that cinemas can use to fully bring his vision to life.
James Cameron is known for waiting for technology to catch up before releasing his finished work. He first had the idea for Avatar in 1994, but waited until 2009 to release it when the necessary technology existed to fully realize his vision.
If Cameron can pioneer glasses-free 3D movies, then other filmmakers are sure to follow.
While this technology is mostly found at tradeshows and in development labs, viewers might be closer to experiencing it than they think. Rumors suggest that James Cameron's Avatar 2 will debut in 2020 in glasses-free 3D as Cameron’s production company has signed a five-year deal with Christie, a technology company focused on 3D technology to develop a glasses-less option that cinemas can use to fully bring his vision to life.
James Cameron is known for waiting for technology to catch up before releasing his finished work. He first had the idea for Avatar in 1994, but waited until 2009 to release it when the necessary technology existed to fully realize his vision.
If Cameron can pioneer glasses-free 3D movies, then other filmmakers are sure to follow.
Another company developing this technology, 'TronXYZ' uses a special optical device laminated on the top of the regular screen to control the light directions from the pixels on the screen so that both eyes can see different pixels. Essentially one eye sees a different picture than the other eye which is how we currently view the real world.
The benefits to this new technology compared to the old style allow for a much more robust viewing experience. With the current design, structure, and materials, there is no loss of brightness. Historically there are other glasses-free 3D solutions, however, the user will experience a 70% brightness loss. The second issue with the old glasses-free 3D technology is that the viewer must remain in the 3D "sweet-spot." TronXYZ's technology makes it possible for the viewer to be in a large spectrum of viewing positions, distances, and angles without any drop in quality. Finally, the technology is not limited to keeping a device in only landscape mode, but also watching glasses-free 3D content in portrait mode. This technology can be utilised by the television industry as a lot of television is viewed at home on tablet devices |
AI-Developer Screenplay
Researchers at NYU have developed AI technology in the form of 'Benjamin' that writes screenplays.
Benjamin created the screenplay Sunspring, a short science fiction film about three people possibly in a love triangle. “Somehow, a slightly garbled series of sentences became a tale of romance and murder, set in a dark future world,” Newitz writes. “It even has its own musical interlude with a pop song Benjamin composed after learning from a corpus of 30,000 other pop songs.”
While the screenplay isn’t likely to win awards anytime soon for its plot and character depth, it’s an interesting look into the field of AI and creativity.
We have seen the depiction of Artificial Intelligence in many movies, in fact movies has been the real inspiration for scientists but this is the one technology which has not been much part of the Movie Production Industry.
Wondering where would be the AI involved in the Movie Industry well, Robots can do the work of writing the Sci-Fi Movies Script. AI researchers of New York University developed a program of recurrent neural network named as Benjamin. The input to this program was the scripts of many sci-fi films including classic science fiction movies and the output script was weirdly entertaining, strangely moving science fiction story of love and despair.
Benjamin created the screenplay Sunspring, a short science fiction film about three people possibly in a love triangle. “Somehow, a slightly garbled series of sentences became a tale of romance and murder, set in a dark future world,” Newitz writes. “It even has its own musical interlude with a pop song Benjamin composed after learning from a corpus of 30,000 other pop songs.”
While the screenplay isn’t likely to win awards anytime soon for its plot and character depth, it’s an interesting look into the field of AI and creativity.
We have seen the depiction of Artificial Intelligence in many movies, in fact movies has been the real inspiration for scientists but this is the one technology which has not been much part of the Movie Production Industry.
Wondering where would be the AI involved in the Movie Industry well, Robots can do the work of writing the Sci-Fi Movies Script. AI researchers of New York University developed a program of recurrent neural network named as Benjamin. The input to this program was the scripts of many sci-fi films including classic science fiction movies and the output script was weirdly entertaining, strangely moving science fiction story of love and despair.