Slashdot Mirror
Filming an Invasion Without Extras
Ponca City, We Love You writes "Kevin Kelly has an interesting blog post on how a World War II D-Day invasion was staged in a few days with four guys and a video camera using batches of smaller crowds replicated computationally to produce very convincing non-repeating huge crowds. Filmmakers first used computer generated crowds about ten years ago and the technique became well known in the Lord of the Rings trilogy but now crowds can be generated from no crowds at all — just a couple of people. 'What's new is that the new camera/apps are steadily becoming like a word processor — both pros and amateurs use the same one,' says Kelly. 'The same gear needed to make a good film is today generally available to amateurs — which was not so even a decade ago. Film making gear is approaching a convergence between professional and amateur, so that what counts in artistry and inventiveness.'"
While that is cool technology, it also means my chance of ever being in a movie just dropped from "extremely slim" to "Nicole Richie". :(
10 FILL MUG WITH COFFEE
20 DRINK COFFEE
30 GOTO 10
Looking at some of the crap Hollywood churns out these days, the convergence between professional and amateur cannot come too soon for me.
I can't believe I just wrote that.
It's not what you think. You're disgusting!
...the Townswomen's Guild reenactment of the Battle of Pearl Harbor.
Chris Mattern
"The same gear needed to make a good film is today generally available to amateurs -- which was not so even a decade ago."
A "good film" does not necessarily require advanced technology. What ever happened to a good story and good acting?
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
...they didn't use this technique to generate huge crowds of servers.
That's great. Now all they need is a few more little things to round things out. Let's see--a well-written script, some decent actors, a good sense of cinematography and creative vision. Nah, screw all that. We've got effects!
This guy's the limit!
Invasions that involve hardly anyone at all?
Too bad we can't do that in real life.
Gosh! That was deep and out of character for me.
Um, uh, in Soviet Russia... uh... you profit from a beowulf cluster of these... or something.
So actually you were so good, they included you in the same scene 30 times! Do they increase your daily rate for the duplication?
It can only do our stagnant societies good to make some cheaper megaphones.
Try reading slashdot with all comments visible and see if your statement needs any modifications.