space ship?

New_Zealand

New_Zealand

Veteran
I was wondering how to do something - I have a scene where my two talents are in a space ship and they crash land on Earth. I was wondering how do I do the interior of the small space ship? The scene is only about three minutes long. The outside of the ship will be done on the computer.
 
A large pod or something that would look like a space craft. I'm thinking we are going to have the object moving fast towards the ground so you won't really see what it looks like. After it hits the water just the tail part will be sticking out of the water for a short time before sinking.

The inside of the craft won't be huge just a few seats at a control panel and a few sleeping pods (like Aliens) for the two crew members to go into deep sleep until they are awaken to the crashing.
 
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Will the ship have 'windows' (or portholes or whatever)? If so, an establishing shot of the crew through the windows is worth considering (to be composited in post), which in turn means designing the ship interior to match those windows, especially if crew will be looking out them.

The other biggy is technology level - everything new and shiny like a Star Wars ship, or recycled technogrunge like in Matrix (ok, they weren't space ships, but you know what i mean) or what? The script will probably suggest a certain look, and then you'll have to see what stuff you can scrounge/build for a suitable interior. I suggest doing the CGI exterior detail last of all, to make it match the practical interior. In my limited experience of set building, the chairs and beds will be the toughest bits to build, as they need to actually fit humans, without looking like ordinary furniture wrapped in tinfoil (unless you want the cheesy look :) ) - nearly everything else on set is merely decorative
 
I was wondering what if I green screen everything - walls, chairs etc.... then had my talents do their lines etc... they can sit in the chairs - then we do the CGI to fill the spaces?
 
Chairs should be practical. If the pilots are sitting in them the whole time then they'll be almost invisible anyway.

I'm dubious about doing the rest of the interior as CGI either - if the pilots never need to react with the rest of the interior then why not just hide it with a door/hatch behind the pilots? Unless you're such a fantastic CGI artist that the interior will be utterly believable - but even then, why spend a zillion hours designing what will merely be a static backdrop for the cockpit scenes?

The only exception would be if you deliberately want a stylised/artificial look for everything.
 
There are several "tricks" to consider when using virtual environments. One is to set things up so that the talent makes actual contact with virtual environment as little as possible. Actors sitting in real chairs keyed into virtual sets are usually much easier to 'sell' than actors sitting in virtual chairs. The same goes with buttons, tabletops, even the floor sometimes.
I am working on an experimental little project right now that has several live actor/virtual environment sequences in it (pix at http://www.thedreamersite.com/interactive/#/photos/cgi).
I'm not trying to go over the top on this ... I'm thinking that if my effects look better than most of what is on the scifi channel I'll be okay. I worked the story so that there are security cameras all over the place, and my actor is being watched constantly. When he reaches for a button on an elevator or intercom, it changes for him right before he gets there. This not only helps establish the character's plight, but also makes my life much easier in post.
If you do decide to go cgi and can't you can alter your story, you might avoid some of the interaction problems with camera framing. I would suggest you practice like crazy before you bring your talent in and commit to a production schedule. This kind of thing can be a real time vampire.... Good luck and keep us posted.
 
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