Superman Returns pre-vis

Bryan Singer and Peter Jackson did similar vlogs for King Kong and Superman.

Most of the time it just makes me yearn for practical effects.
 
Chunk of a recent episode of Entourage was shot on Jackson's previz stage
a few weeks back.. they are all doing it :)
 
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that as more movies get pre-vis'd, a lot of the movie looks stiff and that sense of spontaneity is lost on-screen. Pre-vis and digital workflow didn't help George Lucas with his Star Wars prequels. (I'll say it made his films worse)
 
When it comes down to it, the actual opposite is the case. Its mainly action and
vfx sequences that are being previz'd and a large focus of that previz is to allow
filmmakers to avoid the 'locked off camera' that tends to be the necessary
component to keep vfx affordable. When one looks at films that have been
extensivly previz'd, like the prequels, fight club, panic room or something like
xmen, its easy to focus on the weaker films and blame 'previz'. Still comes
down to the director, story and budget.
 
Oddly I think X Men 2 was fantastic & Superman Returns blew.

I guess it comes down to the difference of directors.
 
Knoxworth said:
Oddly I think X Men 2 was fantastic & Superman Returns blew.

I guess it comes down to the difference of directors.
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You mean like comparing Bryan Singer and Bryan Singer?

wwwscifiskou6.jpg


singer-osborne.jpg
 
I think pre-vis can be a GREAT thing... Look what Hitchcock did back in his day. He storyboarded almost everything he did. Painstakingly. I think it's got the potential to be the same thing... it gives a director (or whomever) a chance to see what the final result will resemble - and it's a great way to communicate visual ideas between director, dp, vfx team, etc.
 
Jg Marceaux BestBetter said:
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that as more movies get pre-vis'd, a lot of the movie looks stiff and that sense of spontaneity is lost on-screen. Pre-vis and digital workflow didn't help George Lucas with his Star Wars prequels. (I'll say it made his films worse)
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Lucas had a guru friend... a spiritual guy... that influenced him on the first 3 movies... and the friend unfortunately died before the 3 prequels... and you can see what happened as a result. It isn't the pre-vis that's hurting modern films... it's the lack of deeper content.

Most films these days have less subtext then the 3 stooges.

"AAAWww did you see THAT... that guy smacked him so he smacked him back!... Yeah Boyee!"
 
MattinSTL said:
Lucas had a guru friend... a spiritual guy... that influenced him on the first 3 movies... and the friend unfortunately died before the 3 prequels... and you can see what happened as a result. It isn't the pre-vis that's hurting modern films... it's the lack of deeper content.

Most films these days have less subtext then the 3 stooges.

"AAAWww did you see THAT... that guy smacked him so he smacked him back!... Yeah Boyee!"
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Then one of them blows up the other one's car... and the guy wants revenge... and in the end, he gets it...
 
MattinSTL said:
Dude... we should be a creative team you and I... maybe we should pitch this brilliant idea while I'm out there. :huh:
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Sounds good to me. We can show it to Michael Bay. He lives in my apartment complex. Let me see what he's doing last week of August...
 
Previs is important. I don't think anyone is saying that storyboards take anything away from movies. I storyboard as much as possible. However previs in the sense of 3d models performing the action and actors recreating the 3d model performance... I'm pretty sure Kevin Kline would **** himself if the director handed him this, lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AASx1X7sps

I understand 3D models for FX shots. But some of Peter Jackson's previs was just for people walking around on a boat, etc. A lot of King Kong would have been better if they went old school here and there.
 
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You're still hung up on story, not the effect of 'too much planning'.

I've done a decent amount of previz in the past year... its just a
storyboard that can answer a few more questions that can be hard
to do w/o having camera optics.
 
Knoxworth said:
Previs is important. I don't think anyone is saying that storyboards take anything away from movies. I storyboard as much as possible. However previs in the sense of 3d models performing the action and actors recreating the 3d model performance... I'm pretty sure Kevin Kline would shi* himself if the director handed him this, lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AASx1X7sps

I understand 3D models for FX shots. But some of Peter Jackson's previs was just for people walking around on a boat, etc. A lot of King Kong would have been better if they went old school here and there.
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3D models performing action allows for planning out blocking before you get to the set. That, to me, is a great idea. You can find what works and what doesn't work... even try different things and see if you can come up with something that's visually interesting.

And a director or visual effects guy would NEVER give a 3d animation to an actor and say "Here. Watch this and then repeat everything that the 3D model does." No, a director gives an actor blocking. To me, that's the exact same thing.
 
tommyinla said:
And a director or visual effects guy would NEVER give a 3d animation to an actor and say "Here. Watch this and then repeat everything that the 3D model does." No, a director gives an actor blocking. To me, that's the exact same thing.
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There was a great video from the King Kong production diaries where Peter Jackson was showing Adrian Brodey and Naomi Watts what the previz looked like and asking them to act it more like the models. He was emphasizing that they needed to be more stiff and to not emote as much.
 
TC said:
There was a great video from the King Kong production diaries where Peter Jackson was showing Adrian Brodey and Naomi Watts what the previz looked like and asking them to act it more like the models. He was emphasizing that they needed to be more stiff and to not emote as much.
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Wow. Why on earth would he do that?? I've just lost a little bit of respect for Peter Jackson...
 
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