A short video I did for the martial arts school of Kaze Arashi ryu in Mountain View, CA:
If you are curious about the school itself -- visit their website.
For the technical video geeks, the footage is shot at 720/60p with a 1/1000 exposure. This made each frame crispy-sharp, with virtually no motion blur even for the very fast moves. Then I slowed it down in Apple’s Motion using optical reflow -- that’s the secret behind the Matrix-like slow-mo effect.
The “talk” is the only exception: 24p at 1/48 with a long zoom and open aperture (about 2.0). This “tricks” the small sensor camera into a shallow depth of focus, making the background soft.
Oh, and by the way, the last fighting sequence is no special effect -- all real, unrehearsed, actual speed. It looks a bit weird and “too fast” precisely because it lacks the motion blur. I found that not only it’s impossible to take the blur out once it’s there, it’s also quite hard to put it back in believably. So I didn’t 
The entire clip was shot on a single Saturday morning and edited together in a couple of evenings. Having a great “cast” makes a world of difference!
Tags: Kaze Arashi ryu, Martial Arts, Motion, SFX, Special Effects, youtube
A previously unknown producer from Uruguay Fede Alvarez makes a 5 minute short called “Panic Attack” with awesome special effects on a shoestring budget, and gets a $30 million deal with Hollywood – read the story on Yahoo buzzlog. That is really amazing! And what’s most amazing to me is how much work he must have put into it. Of course, some SFX are a bit patchy, but for a small and (I’m guessing) volunteer crew that is a sign of a real passion.
Now, here’s the video:
Tags: Animation, Fede Alvarez, Hollywood, Panic Attack, SFX, Special Effects, Success Story, Uruguay
