a moving train scene

dlang

dlang

Well-known member
There is a scene in the script that I am working on that requires a box car on a train. There is a homeless man that enters the box car before the train takes off, then while the train is moving loses a suitcase out it's door in the country (this shot is shot from outside and does not require the homeless man to be in the frame). We have Union Pacific and burlington Northern where I live, Has anyone ever dealt with these guys, or any train service for that matter, in regards to filming. Most of what I want can be done in a "derailed" box car, which should be fairly easy to find, but the moving train is where we will run into issues. Just wanted to see what I was up against before I call them. Any info/thoughts?
 
Just plan out what shots you MUST have (and cannot work around) and start making calls; or go guerilla style and hobo it.

(Not legal advice)
 
I bet that you could probably find a place where you can rent replica trains or perhaps you could make a very detailed set. This would be hard though because it would take a lot of time and money.
 
Suitcase from a train.

Suitcase from a train.

Film a train going by,
then add the suitcase CG?
(http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/In...uitcase&intMediaType=-1&Submit.x=0&Submit.y=0)
Use stills of your hero prop as texture maps.
Seems like a suitcase would be a simple object to render photo-realistically,
and motion blur would hide a lot...

Composite with dust and cut to the real one on the ground.
Try someone with skills from vfxtalk.com.

It's probably less than a 2 day job.

Whatever.
 
Whatever said:
Film a train going by,
then add the suitcase CG?
(http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/In...uitcase&intMediaType=-1&Submit.x=0&Submit.y=0)
Use stills of your hero prop as texture maps.
Seems like a suitcase would be a simple object to render photo-realistically,
and motion blur would hide a lot...

Composite with dust and cut to the real one on the ground.
Try someone with skills from vfxtalk.com.

It's probably less than a 2 day job.

Whatever.
Click to expand...


Sounds like a good idea, unfortunately your not speaking my language, nor do I have the tools to do something like this. I'll look into it though, sounds interesting. It could be a last resort if I can't get the permission I need. Thanks for the thought. Just curious do you have any idea how much it would cost do something like this?
 
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Check to see if there are any train museums in your area.

Here we have several (including the one used for "Eastwood Ravine")
that have been very helpful to indi productions.

This place rents out trains you can drive by the hour. We bought an hour for my mom's birthday for $140.

http://www.wplives.org/
 
Try to interest a student from vfxtalk.com or cgtalk.com!
Go to the gallery section, find some good students work,
open an account and PM some people.

It could cost next to nothing!

You'd still need a plate and texture photos from your hero
prop, though. Photograph the suitcase from all six sides at
the highest resolution you can, in as flat lighting as you can
get.

If you go out to a rural area to shoot a real train plate, I'd
also film a cutaway of throwing the real suitcase at the gound,
as hard as you can. Then, you'd have the sequence of the interior
with the bag starting to fall, the cutaway of the moving train plate
with CG suitcase, then cut to the suitcase hitting the ground.

Then just win a bunch of film contests, get a distro deal, market
underoos of your main character and begin building your independent
film-making empire! Simple.

whatever.
 
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