Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14320
n n n n Interactivity are seeing footage from four different cameras. On location, the surrogate vehicle was out- fitted with a RED camera, which was mount- ed on the front of the vehicle facing forward. Attached was a 6mm lens for capturing the 210-degree environment the car was travel- ing in. Tis footage was later undistorted and merged with RED, 6mm footage captured on the soundstage of the car’s interior. As Hallberg explains, the 6mm lens was key, as it enabled DP Claudio Miranda (Oscar nominee for Te Curious Case of Benjamin But- ton and DP for the upcoming TRON: Legacy) to capture a 210-degree scene, basically “see- ing” slightly behind itself. Another big factor was the RED Mysterium-X camera itself: “It was the bomb!” says Brown. “We spent a lot of time up-front trying to figure out how to look around inside the car and still have good-quality imagery,” says Hall- berg. “We only had a few days before the shoot when we found the RED camera—this is a brand-new one that makes it easier to shoot in low light, which allowed us to have a 6mm lens and still get sufficient light for our shoot. We didn’t need any [additional] exterior lighting.” In post, the crew “undistorted” the footage At top is the practical production model of the car’s interior (called a “buck”), which was shot on a soundstage. At bottom is the stand-in vehicle used in the action scenes on set. That car was later digitally replaced by a CG version of the new Lexus, which is still in production. “You are the hero,” Brown says of the unique nature of the ambitious project, which, to the best of his knowledge, breaks new ground. Tony, as well as the baddies, look as if they just stepped out of a TV or movie drama. Te wise-guy villains project a Sopranos-like atti- tude. Te chase scenes could be straight out of the latest Hollywood action flick, the in- teractivity from a popular triple-A game title. In fact, the production quality of this Internet piece is on par with those types of projects. Tat’s because a large portion of the movie was filmed with Red Digital Cinema’s new RED One Mysterium-X HD camera, which was a prototype at the time of the shoot. Smaller Canon cameras were used to capture support- ing footage for the visual content in the side mirrors of the car. Most of the time, the camera in the movie reflects your POV from the passenger seat, al- lowing you to gaze at all the car’s interior offer- ings (this is done subtly, as you are focused on your mission) as well as see the action unfolding 64 July 2010 outside the car. Inside the vehicle, a wider view- ing angle lets you pan left or right, akin to actu- ally sitting in the vehicle and turning your head from side to side. Other times in the movie, the camera cuts to a third-person POV, providing a better look at the unfolding scene. Time to Drive (and Shoot) Te scenes were shot using two different meth- ods over six days. All the vehicles are practi- cal, except for the CT 200h. For the exterior shots on location, cameras were mounted onto a surrogate tracking vehicle that had the same wheelbase and wheel track as the new car. (Te stand-in was later replaced with a photoreal computer-generated version of the new Lexus.) Meanwhile, the interior car shots, including those with Tony, were filmed on a soundstage at Fox Studios against greenscreen using a pro- totype model of the CT 200h’s interior (situat- ed within a box-like casing), then composited within the live action. In the film, when you are in the car, you shot with the 6mm lenses. Ten, the 6mm RED footage from the front bumper was blended with the 6mm RED footage from the soundstage. (Te soundstage cameras were situ- ated at head level, where a passenger would be seated, so when you are sitting inside the car in the featurette, you can see the interior of the car and the action outside.) “All the POV segments were done with the 6mm lens, says Connor Meechan, VFX supervisor from Speedshape. Two additional RED cameras captured the action from various angles as the surrogate car travels through the locations. Two Canon cameras, meanwhile, were mounted on the side rearview mirrors looking backward; that footage was later used in the rearview mirrors. Te Cannons were later tilted upward to cap- ture the light sources on the set; this was then used to project the light back onto the interior model on the soundstage. On the greenscreen stage, the imagery that was recorded on loca- tion was projected back over a screen fastened horizontally over the interior model. “We effectively lit the car in the studio with a projection of the real, existing lights on loca- tion. Consequently, it all matches and looks great,” says Brown. “We wanted people to feel like it was the real thing.” Of course, pulling this switcheroo would have been impossible without the photo- realistic car model. “Te model couldn’t be too perfect or it would look like it was created