Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/863793
14 2 0 1 7 E D U C AT I O N & R E C R U I T M E N T S P E C I A L life. And, the Visual Effects crew were critical in the produc- tion and the postproduction processes, as all the footage had to be captured properly in order to be stitched into a beautiful image that would immerse the audience. THE TECHNOLOGY AND SPECIFICS "Say It With Music" was shot in a single take on location at Gryphon, a SCAD-owned and -operated restaurant. The team maintained the integrity of the space and accommodated the needs of the equipment by working with practical lighting, covering mirrors, and replacing furniture and décor that did not fit the set's color palette. The video village was set up in the kitchen so the team could watch the story unfold during each of the 11 takes. As Howard points out, there were no computer-gen- erated elements in this film. "That's actually one of the impressive feats we had to overcome. We did this 100 percent live action in a single fluid take," he says. "It took us 11 tries to get it right, but on the last take, we nailed it." The "Say It With Music" technology team built its own camera rig and designed a new workflow from the ground up. "After looking at all our prosumer camera options – cameras that bridge the gap between con- sumer and professional models – we decided that only a custom rig would satisfy our low-light needs in our restaurant setting," says Howard. To this end, the group integrated five Sony FS7 cameras and six GoPros — all filming at 4k resolution — set atop a Panther dolly, en- abling them to capture every angle of the action on set. As soon as the footage was captured, it was taken to the postproduction team in Montgomery Hall at SCAD, which transcoded and ingested the footage. This took almost a week due to the 11 cameras shooting at 4k, as filming with 11 cameras required extensive postproduction work and data management. In order to ensure that the image did not warp when a cast member moved between camera angles, rotoscoping was performed every time a waiter or patron crossed from one frame to another. The initial stitch was completed in Kolor's Autopano image-stitching software and then intricately rotoscoped and fine-tuned within Foundry's Nuke at SCAD's Kiah Hall. To remove the camera rig and dolly track that were visible because of the 360-degree view, the postproduction team also reconstructed that space with a series of photographs. A HIGH NOTE At the eight-day Savannah Film Festival, which honors both professional and emerging student filmmakers, a new VR programming track was introduced, immersing audiences in dynamic and award-winning VR experi- ences from a variety of platforms and genres, including narrative, experimental, documentary, animated, and in-