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April 2013

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ture, which would then be replaced digitally. Covert Affairs is challenging because every other episode is shot abroad. Master Key will handle the show's VFX as well as the foreign shoots. The studio has been involved with the show since its pilot, and recently began work on Season 4. "They are an interesting case," says Dassani of the show, which is shot with Red cameras. "It's a spy show, but it's not obvious visual effects. In reality, we do like 100 shots per episode. They do a lot of things that you wouldn't think are a visual effect. Some of the driving stuff — some is live and some is greenscreen. They take the philosophy that they are going to punt to visual effects as much they can to basically save money. Most shows do that, but not to the degree that they do." Last season, the show had a large effects sequence that involved a massive sand storm that chased the characters through the Moroccan Desert. The VFX team used 3DS Max and the Krakatoa volumetric renderer to create the storm, which Dassani says had 500 million particles. For plates, Master Key often shoots with Red — the studio owns Epic and Scarlet models. "We do some on Canon 5D if we Post0413_028-30, 32-33-VFXMLV3ALMOST FINA.indd 33 need it to be tiny. The Scarlet is small enough to be almost the size as a 5D." It was Covert Affairs, in part, that led the studio to set up the Toronto operation for VFX, and use the LA office more for production services. Dassani says the team was already shooting the show's plates when an opportunity came up to combine both production and VFX skills. "There was a sequence that they wanted to look more authentic than a greenscreen plate could look for a sequence in Venezuela," he recalls. "I told them we could hire two doubles for the actors and take a wardrobe down, match the vehicle, and get a wide shot of the actors coming down the street. When the actors turned the corner, we would transition to the greenscreen version in Toronto for the close-ups. The wide shot was 100 percent not a visual effect, but that's what got the ball rolling." Today, Master Key continues to provide VFX for the show, but also handles production of all live action taking place outside North America. "We didn't have an office until a year ago," he explains. "Last March — specifically for Covert Affairs and Suits — the folks in Ontario pitched us on moving our visual effects operations up there. Covert Affairs gets 37 percent money back for anything that they spend with us, which is a colossal savings!" In addition to 3DS Max, Master Key also uses Autodesk Maya, but "we find that Max is a little bit faster for what we need." Red and Alexa footage is processed out to DPX frames for VFX and is composited using Nuke. They also have Adobe After Effects. "It depends on how fast we need it done and what the shot is," he says of the compositing solutions. "Having both is useful." MAGIC CITY, NECESSARY ROUGHNESS Sarah McGrail is a visual effects producer with Encore Hollywood (www.encorehollywood.com), where she is involved with a halfdozen popular television programs and pilots. In addition to ABC's Revenge, Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva, HBO's Game of Thrones, and CBS's CSI, McGrail also works on Starz's Magic City and USA Network's Necessary Roughness. "Television has its cer tain seasons and cycles, so a lot of times you will have continued on page 52 3/27/13 4:58 PM

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