Have you ever watched a stunning TV episode, or even just a pedestrian street scene, and wondered how they managed to take over that part of Washington / New York / Boston / wherever in order to get the shot? Chances are they didn’t. Stargate Studios, a “visual effects and production services” company, also offers a “Virtual Backlot Library, which includes hundreds of photo-real, virtual locations covering 28 major cities from around the world”. To illustrate their capabilities they have a Virtual Backlot page, a gallery of cities, and also an amazing YouTube video showing before and after green-screen clips – many from very familiar shows! What else is there to say – just watch the video!
I have little film background, but have always been amazed by the process. I remember reading and watching stuff about the making of the Star Wars Prequel movies and how hard it was for the actors to deal with the lack of reality – apparently all of that has changed! I still remember a picture of George Lucas contrasting his ‘toys’ in 1977 compared to 2005:
What really struck me last fall was that my younger son’s 6th grade science teacher has an entire digital media area including digital video and green screen, and the kids have been able to learn interactively by making use of the film studio. Really cool stuff …
What are your thoughts on the whole green screen process? Do you even notice it anymore? Do you care? Do you think that so-called digital actors have killed the art of acting or simply changed the visual nature of the medium or … ? Add your thoughts in the comments!
Source: Stargate Studios via Goozex Twitter Feed
