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Digital Set Extension Research Methodology 2
Digital Set Extension Research Methodology 2
The researcher truly believes that digital set extension could really shift the audience
into a fantasy world where building a real film set will be almost impossible without a big
budget. 1.1 Problem Statement
One of the biggest challenges for filmmakers is to find a suitable location to shoot a
scene. It is often to that the film location is too far or really difficult to get access to. Hence,
this is where digital set extension is really useful.
"With production costs soaring, many production companies are
cutting back on distant location work, choosing instead to film closer
to home and expanding the scope of their settings with digital set
extensions or physical models that are skillfully lined up to full-scale
set pieces to make them appear as one continuous environment."
(Charles Finance and Susan Zwerman, 2010 ; p 10)
Apart from the difficulty in finding a suitable location, budget constraint can be a
problem when shooting a film. The researcher agrees with Charles Finance and Susan
Zwerman where a closer location can cut down cost in terms of logistics and transportation.
Imagine all the work it needs just to transport all the equipments and crews to a remote place.
It is much more better to shoot at a closer location and add the necessary sets through CGI
later.
"One area where digital matte paintings are being used very
effectively is set extension. This simply means that the production
builds a partial set, and the matte artists add on to it extend it- where
the physical set leaves off." (Charles Finance and Susan Zwerman,
2010 ; p 9)
The researcher agrees that building a partial set rather than building the
whole film set will definitely cut down cost in production set design. At some
cases, it is much more time efficient to add a virtual set than building it. For
instances, replacing a signboard or adding a signboard in a scene with a real one
would be time consuming compare adding it through CGI.
"There are many situations where placing an actor in a scene for real
would be too expensive, too dangerous, or even physically impossible.
In these situations, you would want to film the talent in an inexpensive
and safe environment, then later composite them into the actual
expensive, dangerous, or impossible background." (Steve Wright,
2008 : p 6)
The researcher highly believes that the talent's safety is a number one priority. We
wouldn't want to place a talent near a real cliff where accidents could happen even with a
carefully crafted plan. Hence, digital set extension would likely serve this purpose to avoid
any unwanted incidents.
1.2 Research Objective
i.
ii.
iii.
"In recent years, miniatures have run into stiff competition from computergenerated environments and objects. The trend began mainly in television
and gradually spread into feature films as software became more
sophisticated, allowing digital artists to model, texture, and paint their
creations in the computer faster and cheaper than their colleagues who
were building physical models." (Charles Finance and Susan Zwerman,
2010 : p 32)
According to Charles Finance and Susan Zwerman, the advancement of sophisticated
software makes it more accessible for the visual effect artist to produce realistic virtual sets at
a cheaper price compare to the traditional miniatures. Every film production would love to cut
down cost as much as they can and save that resources to other things. The researcher also
believes that since the virtual set is a CGI product, it can be stored easily in a computer and
can later be used for a future project. In contrast with the miniature sets, it is difficult to store
the miniature especially if there is a lot of them and also the quality of the miniature such as
the paint job will likely fade over time. Thus, if a film production wants to reuse the miniature
sets over a period of time, they need to refurbished it and indeed this will add to the
production cost.
2.2 The Process of Making Digital Set Extension
Before everything else, pre-production phase is the most important steps in getting a
quality finished product. This is true especially if it contains any CGI aspects in the film.
"The process is first to talk with either the visual effects art director or the
visual effects supervisor about the requirements of the shot" (Dylan Cole,
2005 : p 11)
According to Dylan Cole, communication is the key element in getting the
understanding of the vision shot. A clear understanding of the scene is a must before
anything is been done. Failure in understanding the needs would result in frustration as the
visual effects artist would keep on making the same mistake over and over again.
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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
For this part, the researcher would explain the methodology used for collecting the
related information and analyzing the collected information. The researcher would use
phenomenological research method to find the information regarding with the research
questions.
3.1 Research Methodology
The methodology that is used in this research would help the researcher in answering
the research question.
3.1.1 Phenomenological Research
"Phenomenologists distinguish phenomena (the perceptions or appearances from
point of view of a human) from noumena (what things really are)" (Willis, 2007: p 53)
The researcher believes that phenomenological research is a method of interpreting the
experience of someone through listening or reading the story of the participants. The
researcher choose this methodology to answer the research questions. The researcher would
search information through written report from experienced people in the industry about the
digital set extension. This include journal, recorded interview and magazines. The researcher
would also browse and search for online video tutorials in getting the answer for the reseach
question.
"The focus is thus on understanding from the perspective of the person or persons
being studied" (Willis, 2007 : p 107)
Through this methodology, the researcher would get the insights from the people in the
film industry especialy the CGI industry about the challenges that they have to face using
digital set extension. Their thoughts and experience in the industry would help the researcher
answer the research question. Since the results will be the experience or beliefs of the
participants, this methodology is considered as qualitative research
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books:
Finance, C., & Zwerman, S. (2010). The visual effects producer understanding the art and
business of VFX. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Focal Press.
Wade, D. (2005). Matte painting. Mylor, S. Aust.: Ballistic.
Wright, S. (2008). Compositing visual effects: Essentials for the aspiring artist. Amsterdam:
Elsevier/Focal Press.
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