The FX Movie (A Tribute To Visual Effects)

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1. The FX Movie (A Tribute To Visual Effects) - HD version

by Spinning Blade

9 months ago

This short film is a tribute/parody of all those special effect movies I grew up watching with over-the-top non-stop action. Some references in this film include Star Wars and Quantum Leap.

If you're like me, you enjoy explosions, gun fights, super powers, lightsabers, action sequences, and anything involving ILM and WETA. I hope you enjoy the visual effects in this film.

I'd love to make more of these, so if you have any feedback on what you'd like to see or what worked/didn't work, let me know.

Music by Mitchell Covington.

Directed/FX/Starring Jake Mathew
spinningblade.com

I shot this with the Canon HV20, and had a great HD version (1920x1080) which was about 20 GBs. I then had to compress it to a 320x240 quicktime to upload to youtube which then endured further compression and stretching, resulting in this low-res disaster:
youtube.com/watch?v=NKtb5EgmlWY

I'd like to give props to Vimeo for being the first site to display videos in 720p HD. (and allowing my films to be seen in the way they were intended)

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125 Likes

Flavored Shampoo
10 days ago
Brad Miller
11 days ago
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13 days ago
Gord Stephen
13 days ago
Warren D'Aoust
16 days ago
woz
1 month ago
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2 months ago
See all 125 likes

Blake Whitman 9 months ago

Amazing.
Blake Whitman 9 months ago

and welcome!
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Thanks Blake. Took a lot of late nights to finish. I really dig this vimeo site. (speaking of dig, thats where I found out about you guys...Digg.com) I sense this site is going to be huge in a few weeks.
Patrick Moberg 9 months ago

Nice!
sanddunesandsea 9 months ago

great work!
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

thanks
Forrest O. 9 months ago

really does look great at vimeo resolution
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

the resolution looks great, but it seems that the frame rate isnt playing at 30fps. I've noticed this for a few of the HD videos. Maybe its just my computer. (which is unlikely since I have a 8 GB Mac G5) Does it play smoothly for you?
Forrest O. 9 months ago

hmm i might have read 24 somewhere...
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

I've exported a 30fps to 24fps before. This doesn't look like that...more choppy...like 15fps or 12fps.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

It plays fine on my Windows XP laptop, though. Weird.
Andrew Pile 9 months ago

This is fantastic, especially liked the Quantum Leap bit. Thanks for posting it here!
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

I like the Quantum Leap bit too. (just finished renting all the old episodes on Netflix)
Chad Pugh 9 months ago

There's nothing quite as satisfying as killing yourself over and over again in what could possibly be some of the most painful ways imaginable. Great Job! Welcome to Vimeo!
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Haha yeah. A little satisfying. A little stress-reducing. Definitely a bit morbid.
Clintus McGintus 9 months ago

kick ass stuff man. Makes me wish I was still in film making.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Clintus, I'm not a filmmaker, this is just a hobby. So just grab a camera and start making films.
Jonathan Marcus 9 months ago

Awesome response!
Mark 9 months ago

Just a hobby? Wow! You have inspired me.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

It's a hobby, but I work full-time as an animator/designer for a TV network. So I had the technical skill, just needed the time and motivation to create this in my free time.
Erick C. 9 months ago

this is really cool. the blood looks a little Mortal Combat-ty but if you were going for tongue-in-cheek or humor it was great.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Yeah, the blood needs some work. I was actually trying to make it look realistic. (although, getting punched in the stomach doesn't cause blood to shoot out of your stomach as it did in my film)
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

The content was supposed to be funny but the effects were supposed to look real. (except for maybe the giant fist, which was inspired by Looney Toons/Monty Python)
Ayz Waraich 9 months ago

that's outstanding sir!

wow.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

thank you, sir.

Your icon would fit nicely in this film. (if there was some blood splattered on your shirt)
Henning Horn 9 months ago

"...props to Vimeo for being the first site to display videos in HD"
- Take a look at Stage6 (http://stage6.com)

Here you can upload your video in True HD (1080)
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

The article I read on Digg didn't mention Stage6. (I hadnt heard of Stage6 or Vimeo prior to yesterday) In any case, the more sites that offer HD options, the better! Its only a matter of time before YouTube joins the HD club
James Bayliss 9 months ago

This is unbelievably awesome. :)
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

It was unbelievably a pain in arse to rotoscope (digitally cut out) each version of myself frame by frame since I didn't have access to a green screen. =P
Toby 9 months ago

wonderful stuff....nice rotoscoping...
Matt Chapman 9 months ago

Beautiful work man. That is the coolest visual effect demo reel I have ever seen if you are trying to advertise your skills.
Matt Chapman 9 months ago

Dude i live in the Bay Area too. Check out my YouTube Page

youtube.com/profile?user=matttchapman
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Rock on, Bay area!
Bernard Maltais 9 months ago

Amazing! Great clip!
dalas verdugo 9 months ago

I'm not a huge action FX dude, but your titles look really awesome, and I'm not being sarcastic. I'm really bad at making good titles.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

thanks!
Radthanael 9 months ago

He's right. The titles are incredible.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Are you referring to the 3D title logo, or the end credits text?
Ian Lucero 9 months ago

whaaa was that huge spliff that guy had in his mouth?
Yan 9 months ago

It's a cigar.

It's a reference to the T.V. show Quantum Leap.

I also like the Loony Tunes reference.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Yes, I was doing my best impression of "Al" from the show Quantum Leap. But I was in such a rush to start on the FX, I rushed through the pre-production and production. When it came time to shoot the "Al" scene, I didn't have a cigar or a "Ziggy Upload Link thingie" so I just ripped off a page of my script and rolled into a cigar shape and then just used my cell phone as the handeheld link.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

For that Looney Toons reference, I originally wanted the guy to brush off his jacket and look in the sky, and then take out an umbrella and hold it above his head as a pre-emptive safety against more bad weather. Then an ACME anvil or something would have crashed on top of him. But, I couldn't find my umbrella during the shoot and didn't know of a way for the anvil to exit the screen. So i made a giant fist instead which is similar to the giant foot from Monty Python.
Dr. Tae 9 months ago

Did you shoot this in 60i or 24p?
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

I think the Canon HV20 doesn't do 60i. Only 30fps. Even its "24p mode" apparently shoots in 24fps and then converts it to 30fps when it stores it on the miniDV tape. Weird. I shot this one at 30fps and shot another piece in the"24p" mode and the latter definitely looks more like film. (despite it still being played back at 30fps)
chriskalani 9 months ago

gosh that is some good stuff
Paul McClintock 9 months ago

You have to post some kind of tutorial on how you achieved some of the effects. NOW! GO!
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Any effects in particular you wanted to learn more about? I don't think I'd be good at creating a tutorial, but can answer any questions here.
Redge 9 months ago

Nice job man!
HooverDST 9 months ago

Ahahaha nice work! For those looking for some After Effects tutorials, then look no further than the excellent efforts of Andrew Kramer online:

videocopilot.net/tutorials.html
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Hoover i right, Andrew Kramer has the best FX tutorials out there. I used his techniques to create the lightsabers and blood splatters. I even added him to the credits because he is so bad-ass.
Lucasberg 9 months ago

That was just plain Awesome
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

Nice! It got an "Awesome" with a capital "A"
Prasad RL 9 months ago

This is just fantastic. well done.
Reeven 9 months ago

I'm looking at an HV20, and I've been learning After Effects using the tutorials and lessons on Andrew Kramer's site. After seeing you taking the things he taught and going the extra mile with them, (that weather stuff at the beginning was awesome, and when you get shot, the way the blood slowly drips down the wall! I actually said "woah" outloud.) it's really inspiring to see what can be done with this stuff. Excellent work.
Spinning Blade 9 months ago

thanks man! cant wait to see what you come up with
Scruff_E_Guy 8 months ago

really cool....am I morbid that I liked the blood splattering the most?
Spinning Blade 8 months ago

Just as morbid at me for finding painful ways of digitally killing myself on screen.
Brad Miller 8 months ago

wow, who could think some much action could happen in one kitchen.
Spinning Blade 8 months ago

Ooooh...that sounds like a good tagline to promote this film.
Roland Lazarte 8 months ago

I love this! Stuff like this really makes me want to dive into AE!
Spinning Blade 8 months ago

Thanks. I've been working with AE for about 2 years. It's definitely worth learning.
Jonathan Mak 8 months ago

The movie's incredible! And the music's pretty awesome too. Great job :)
Chodite 6 months ago

Soo bad ass! Great work man.
Spinning Blade 5 months ago

Thanks
m4tthie 5 months ago

*gough* video-co-pilot *gough*

well done mate! took some time, didnt it?? :D
motionblur studios 5 months ago

Brilliant!
Eddie Navarro 5 months ago

This is incredible work... I'm very impressed. how did you get the effects layering done? What did you use? truely cool effects man. Thumbs way up!!!
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

Not sure what you mean. Everything was composited with After Effects. I had the bottom layer of just two minutes of nothing (just my kitchen wall), then a layer for each 'actor' and then a layer for each effect (lightsaber, blood splatter, smoke) By the time I was finished, I had close to 100+ layers.
RyanRamtin 5 months ago

Bloody Brilliant! (And I'm not even British.)
Barrel Assassin 5 months ago

Please, go make a movie! I will pay money to see it.
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

Now I just need someone to pay money to FUND it! =P
Wynner3 5 months ago

Awesome work, not to sound creepy but I like watching you. Your work.
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

A little creepy. But glad you like it.
ElectroFilms 5 months ago

pretty good effects, i know roto is a pain in the ass!
your lightsabers do need some work though.
The Glow was WAY too huge, and you could see the prop most of the time. Frame by frame is the only way for good results.
btw. andrew cramer's sabers look like crap
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

Yeah, the lightsabers didnt turn out as I thought they would. A lot of it was frame by frame, though. I can't see the prop behind it. The prop cast a dark shadow on the wall behind it so maybe thats what you are seeing.
Scott Blanks 5 months ago

What software did you use to do the titles? Both at the beginning and the end. And what software for the effects? Effects look great. I use VisionLab from fxhome.
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

For the 3D titles, I modeled and animated the text in Cinema 4D. For the effects and end titles, I used Adobe After Effects.
Xerxes Sangco 5 months ago

This was really cool. Did you use some of the clips from Creative Cow's Action Movie Essentials? If so you did real good with them. Would you also be able to tell me how to create an alpha matte of yourself? Preferably in After Effects? I've been trying to figure this out so that I can complete my motion tracking projects in 3DS max.
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

I used the blood splatters and gunshots from Action Movie Essentials. To create an ALPHA matte of an actor, you would need to shoot them on a green screen, and then remove the green in After Effects with Chroma Key or something. I didnt have an actor, so I used the Bezier pen tool and masked out my actor when I needed to put effects behind him. (or add another version of myself to the scene)
AE Whisman 5 months ago

Yeah...I wanna know what FX program you used too. I'm guessing After Effects. Really cool vid
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

yup. After Effects.
jean-pierre chery 5 months ago

good work that was really entertaining
Kroujt 5 months ago

Excellent!
Alex L. 5 months ago

Nice fx movie, it was entertaining...I had to watch it more than once. :)
Savannah Thomas 4 months ago

i don't know if anyone has noticed, but vimeo's the shit! i just got a canon hv30 and i can't wait to post my videos! love this video by the way. I watch it all the time :)
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

Thanks. Enjoy the hv30!
Wasted Lives 4 months ago

i never imagined all this in one continuous shot. wow... nicely done!
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

Glad you liked it. I lost count on how many late nights I was working on this. (after getting home from my day job) I entered it into a film festival in San Francisco and won "Best Visual Effects" and runner-up for Best Editing and Best Music
Assen Ivanov 4 months ago

Amazing!!!! How much time did you spend on making it? Please explain what software you used, techniques and effects? Did you use green screen? I want to learn doing this too! For now I know only Adobe Premiere...
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

I started mid-July 2006 and finished sometime in September 2006. Adobe After Effects was the software I used. No green screen. (although that would have made the process 10 times easier) You might be able to do similar compsiting with Adobe Premiere, but not all of the effects. Having multiple versions of myself on screen worked because I never stopped recording and had a consistent (for the most part) light source. I shot all the scenes as "the good guy" then shot all the scenes as the bad guys. Then in After Effects, I placed the shots on top of each other and "erased" the background of the top layer", leaving only the actor. The film was shot in HD which made the process even longer.
lieven moens 4 months ago

You do all that with freeware :)???
Spinning Blade 4 months ago

Nope. After Effects is at least a few hundred bucks. Luckilly, my daytime job provided me with the software so I worked on this at the office. (after working hours, of course)
ShadowChaser 3 months ago

Absolutely awesome!!!! Love your Quantum Leap reference - excellent...I'll have to watch it again now!!!
Saydren Koth 3 months ago

yikes! Well done sir. very well done.
Web Mistress 2 months ago

Great piece! I'm sure it took alot of work!
Spinning Blade 2 months ago

Thanks. It did! I recently have thought of an idea for a "sequel". Stay tuned! =)
tuco 2 months ago

In response to your HV20 doesn't do 60i, Canon's default HDV mode is indeed 60i on this camera. I believe Cannon's 24PsF (and 30PsF on HV30) are in a 60i wrapper.

Because when I want 24p from mine, I shoot at 24PF and I capture at 1080i60, firewire basic in Final Cut Pro and follow the work flow noted below to get a 24p time line with no interlacing or cadence issues.

Also note that 60i is 60 half-frames per second (= 30 full frames per second). They're interlaced!

HV20, 24p Workflow (FCP):
docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306389
Spinning Blade 2 months ago

Ooooh...interesting. Thanks for the article...I've probably been importing my HDV footage wrong all this time..
Gord Stephen 14 days ago

That's great! :D I'm amazed that you rotoscoped the entire thing. Well done.
Matthew Joseff 10 days ago

You make it look so easy! Love the blood splatter.

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