Press Forum Invitation: Tippett Lead Compositors for Constantine

[Aruna]

Tippett Studio was one of several visual effects houses that worked on this film. They were responsible for 207 shots, many of which contained complex atmospheric effects, as well as traditional character animation. These two compositing leads helped control and masterfully define looks and techniques which would be used during post-production.

Dan Cayer: I supervised the compositing of a number of sequences for Tippett Studio on "Constantine", including the Exorcisms and Seplavites Attack sequence. I've been working on features for almost 5 years with my first show being right here at Tippett on "Evolution". Prior to that I had done some 2d and 3d work for an independent film, museum exhibit, and a court case, but was for the most part hired out of school. While here at Tippett I've worked on 9 features and about 8 commercials. "Matrix Revolutions" was the first show that I was given the opportunity to lead on, and "Constantine" was my second.

Matt Jacobs: I was a lead compositor on "Constantine" for the Hell Freeway and Vermin Man sequences. I have been with Tippett Studio for 7 years working on a number of films in many capacities. Coming to film from a background in photography, I initially worked as a rotoscope and 2d paint artist. Having composited on several shows I was given my first opportunity as lead compositor on "Men In Black 2", then later on "Matrix: Revolutions."

Because this thread may contain spoilers from the movie, it is recommended that you go see the movie before proceeding further!

Tippett's challenge for the show included:

Hell LA
The Demons
Vermin Man
Rooftop Sequences
The Exorcisms

Focus your questions on these areas of the film, since other companies completed other parts. We'll gather the questions one week from today (Sunday, February 27th) and forward them to the artists to answer!

[Aruna]

I'll start off... :)

What sort of freedom were you, as lead artists, given in relation to creating the looks for the sequences you were in charge of?

[dax3d]

Hi,

What were some of the biggest challenges of working on this film, and how did you overcome them. Which sequence was the hardest to work on, and why?

Which sequence was the Vermin Man? The demon made up of bugs, or the man who had bugs (flies?) crawling out of him?

[Aruna]

Which sequence was the Vermin Man? The demon made up of bugs, or the man who had bugs (flies?) crawling out of him?

The demon made up of bugs, snakes, crabs.

[worldofmaya]

Here's another one:
What kind of software you mainly use/prefere and why.
-Klaus

[dax3d]

Ah, that was a sweet shot. Very cool scene for sure. Not to hijack the thread, but which scenes did you work on Aruna?

[Ackdoh]

Hio All,

To Dan and Matt: As lead compositors, how many shots do you guy do yourselves, and do you get to assign the shots out to other compositors?

[majik]

Hi guys

Won't get to see the movie here in Ireland for a while yet, so I have some more general questions for you. Firstly how many artists do you lead and do you get a pick of the sequences or are they assigned based on your strenghts?

Secondly how do you find the crossover from commercials to features and back again. In terms of compositing what are those little areas that you like to pay more attention to when doing a feature composite as opposed to a commercial?

Finally, how often have you busted a gut putting nice subtleties into a shot only to see them disappear in a heavily graded print and how do you go about managing this aspect in your work i.e. when do say "hold on a minute why am I wasting my time doing this, it'll never be seen in the print'?

Thanks
Maj

[DeepRay]

as a vfx compositor... what i need to be a good compositor?... i talk about not computer-relationed materias... i talk about.. photography? color theory?...

[judeng]

Hi!

I just watched Constantine over the weekend. Great visual effects...not a bad story. Kinda reminded me of the first matrix and blade.

Anyway, my question is: for those scenes where Keanu is in Hell, are these motion control shots and the data was translated to the 3d software or are they all matchmoved using software? If so, what is Tippett studios preferred matchmoving software?

Thanks and good luck on your next picture!


jude

[Aruna]

Ah, that was a sweet shot. Very cool scene for sure. Not to hijack the thread, but which scenes did you work on Aruna?

Check out my review of Constantine (http://www.digitalgypsy.com/vfxlog/archives/2005/02/my_constantine.php). I list what I did there. I'll add thumbnails to the gallery when the DVD comes out in a couple months.

[gavinw6662]

Dan --

Good to see all is well after the Academy. Hope things are working out for ya!!! Is it fun to work on all these features after putting in all that time at School??

Later on good Buddy

Gavin

[boomji]

hi,
havent seen the movie yettt.
Were there any wire removal shots...and did you use any plugins for the same.
How much has the line between comping and 3d blurred for you.As a lead Do you have more controll on what the 3d department gives you.
when do you abandon the shot ;)


b

[Totoko]

Hi guys,

Following the previous post about the connection to the 3D department ...
What's the "accuracy" of the render compared to what the shot should look like?
Personaly I do the lighting and rendering in 3D as well as the compositing. So I know what I'm gonna get in compositing. It happens I create some really odd and funky renders where colors are all off but I know the information I need is in there and the image is well balanced. Happens that the renders are an ugly green at render time but will end up a nice soft blue after compositing. It saves me a lot of time to tweak in compositing instead of rerender everything several times to get that little color tweak done.
But hey, when you do both, you can't blame anyone but yourself if the "input" is ugly and have to do all the work later.

So what do you guys get in production? Do the lighters say "the hell with to nice area shadows in the background and the perfect texture since they'll blur the crap out of it anyway"? or "Doesn't matter if my water looks pink because one shift of a slider in compositing and it will look blue". or something like "what do you mean that car shouldn't be there? ... aaah well, just put mask over it you know..."
I might exagerate a little here but is't to make my point clear ;-).

So, how far do they dare to go? :-)

Thanks,
Tom

[spidex]

what was by the far the biggest challenge in term of visual effects in this movie. Was there a different treatment ? A new techique ? Any tips and tricks that was learn in this movie that could be shared ?

[Oxide]

As lead compositors, how closely do you work with the lighting and render people?
Do you have any input or do you just work with what you get?

The Vermin Man looked cool. How many layers was he rendered out in? What were the main challenges with getting the insects to "read" propperly on the screen?
I read somewhere that the CG artists had to limit themselves to 50.000 models when creating the illution of millions of bugs on the screen, were there any compositing tricks used to enhance that illution..... or was he just rendered out in parts of 50.000 insects at a time?

[P3t3r]

did you like working on the fillm? what did u have to accoplish in life to start making vfx? college? or did you start before that lets say in middle school or high?

Thank you

[opus13]

what process do you use for previz?

do you start with look and feel, and work towards describing each shot, or do you take a bunch of shots and try to find a contiguous element/feel?

[Joevfx]

I just did a short 3 second shake composite with some heat ripple effects in it, which took forever to render. I was just wondering how long it took to render out the first hell scene we see constantine in.

Joe Censoplano

[Hugh]

I believe (Aruna, correct me if I'm wrong here) that the questions have already been fired off to the guys.... I suppose we probably ought to have said something in here....

[geoffroy]

Hi everyone!!
First of all I'd like to thanks Aruna, Matt and Dan, for what you do!! you works are so impressive!! I love what you do.
my question: how is a tipical day for Compositors at Tippett (Organisation, daylies, pressure etc..)?
and How many Compositors work for one movie? thanks for all and keep us Dreaming!!

Your first french Fan!!
Geoffroy.

[Aruna]

That's correct Hugh, the questions have been handed off to the leads.. We'll see if we can add those last three on, though. Stay tuned for the official interview on the front VFXtalk page!