VSFX 406 Blog 5: I made one more shot

I made one more shot.

This is her.

With the time I had left, I got started on other shots, I recreated one of the abstract backgrounds from the film and proceeded to spend too much time on something that was a tad overambitious.

The shot I did make is a title shot depicting the hand on the cusp of death, indicating it would appear at the end of the film. The finger is twitching which adds some subtle movement to the frame while maintaining that the hand is weak and dying. There is a central spotlight, the bottom red ambient light is still there pushing the carpet's reflection, and several ambient lights are placed and then turned off leaving only the white and red contrast on a dark background. The camera then pushes in, pulling the focus closer. The exposure bumps slightly as does the strength of the spotlight.

There is a slight fisheye distortion on the lens alongside an uneven ratio on the bokeh which creates a radial blur. I enhanced this in compositing on the edges of the frame so that the harsh lines of contrast bleed together as they reach the outer edge, this is accompanied by a subtle vignette.

As the camera approaches (never fully coming to a stop since there is a constant jitter in the animation which emulates the kind of imprecision of older films), titles appear. "THE HAND" cuts through the upper third while Jiří Trnka credit rests right on top of it. The top edge of the text is placed so as to create vertical symmetry with the arm.

Previously the fur was only placed from the wrist up, but its now distributed along the entire model. The blur, halation, and grain all match the first clip.

Truthfully without more of the set extended, I'm limited in my framing. I have to keep the background out of focus and the camera in one direction, which makes it difficult to come up with new shots. However, I am happy with the shots I achieved and the ways in which I was able to play to my style while doing my best to match the aesthetic of the original.