Fremont, CA â July 24, 2020 â Blackmagic Design today announced that visual effects (VFX) company Flying Turtle Post used Fusion Studio VFX and motion graphics software on the new comedy âLooks That Kill.â
âLooks That Killâ tells the story of Max Richards, a teenager born with a medical condition of being lethally attractive, whose life is forever changed when he meets Alex, a girl with a bizarre ailment of her own. Written and directed by Kellen Moore, and starring Brandon Flynn, Julia Goldani Telles, Ki Hong Lee, Annie Mumolo, Peter Scolari and more, âLooks That Killâ is the latest film from Syracuse based production company American High, the producers behind âBig Time Adolescenceâ and âBanana Split.â âLooks That Killâ is distributed by Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company.
With the filmâs cinematography consisting of fluid camera movements and continuous takes, the Flying Turtle Post team was challenged with creating long seamless VFX sequences. According to VFX Supervisor and Flying Turtle Post Owner Shaina Holmes, âOur most challenging sequence was referred to as âthe big oneâ because the plates we received included more than 7,000 frames for just this one shot, which was around five minutes of footage. It follows the main character Max through multiple locations with one long time lapse, so we had to seamlessly stitch edits between green screen shots and place lots of speed ramps to go fast, slow and normal speed throughout.â
With the scene bringing the audience through Maxâs emotional journey as he travels between a hospital room, memorial service and the outside world, the Flying Turtle Post team relied on Fusion Studio to bring the shots together into one extended seamless sequence.
âWe compared this shot to the kitchen sink omelet at a restaurant, because it has everything,â said Holmes. âLots of artifact cleanup was needed, along with rig removals, creating clean plates to slide objects down a wall, dealing with daylight changes and camera movements, marrying together two forest plates with different camera pans and time of day, and more. With all the speed changes applied and shot stitching, it ultimately was around four minutes long, and we couldnât be happier with how it turned out.â
Holmes and her team also used Fusion Studio to create impactful invisible VFX for the film, including compositing multiple plates together, such as adding fire to a tree or capturing a cigarette falling through the air; giving a character a nosebleed; creating and distressing weathered signage; turning light bulbs on and creating flashing lights; removing unwanted people, safety rigging and tattoos from shots; and more.
âWhether itâs doing cell screen replacements or beauty fixes or creating split screens to stitch together the best performances, invisible VFX are most filmsâ unsung heroes as they keep the audience enthralled in the storytelling without distracting them with technical imperfections,â explained Holmes. âUsing Fusion Studio, we did a lot of invisible VFX for âLooks That Kill,â such as artifact cleanup, stabilizations, fluid morphs, wipe transitions, and so on, that the audience would never notice, and thatâs exactly how it should be.â
Led by Holmes, who currently also teaches VFX at Syracuse University, the Flying Turtle Post team consists of many of her former students who have gone on to pursue careers in post production. With a focus on mentorship, Holmes works closely with the junior artists, who all work from home as the VFX house operates remotely. For example, for âLooks That Kill,â Holmes helped train the teamâs junior artists on working with the filmâs anamorphic aspect ratio, including how to use Fusion Studio to add anamorphic lens distortion to stock footage so the look was consistent throughout.
POST PRODUCTION6 min read
Flying Turtle Post Creates Visual Effects for "Looks That Kill" with Fusion Studio
Grithaus Agency
Contributor
Fremont, CA â July 24, 2020 â Blackmagic Design today announced that visual effects (VFX) company Flying Turtle Post used Fusion Studio VFX and motion graphics software on the new comedy âLooks That Kill.â
âLooks That Killâ tells the story of Max Richards, a teenager born with a medical condition of being lethally attractive, whose life is forever changed when he meets Alex, a girl with a bizarre ailment of her own. Written and directed by Kellen Moore, and starring Brandon Flynn, Julia Goldani Telles, Ki Hong Lee, Annie Mumolo, Peter Scolari and more, âLooks That Killâ is the latest film from Syracuse based production company American High, the producers behind âBig Time Adolescenceâ and âBanana Split.â âLooks That Killâ is distributed by Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company.
With the filmâs cinematography consisting of fluid camera movements and continuous takes, the Flying Turtle Post team was challenged with creating long seamless VFX sequences. According to VFX Supervisor and Flying Turtle Post Owner Shaina Holmes, âOur most challenging sequence was referred to as âthe big oneâ because the plates we received included more than 7,000 frames for just this one shot, which was around five minutes of footage. It follows the main character Max through multiple locations with one long time lapse, so we had to seamlessly stitch edits between green screen shots and place lots of speed ramps to go fast, slow and normal speed throughout.â
With the scene bringing the audience through Maxâs emotional journey as he travels between a hospital room, memorial service and the outside world, the Flying Turtle Post team relied on Fusion Studio to bring the shots together into one extended seamless sequence.
âWe compared this shot to the kitchen sink omelet at a restaurant, because it has everything,â said Holmes. âLots of artifact cleanup was needed, along with rig removals, creating clean plates to slide objects down a wall, dealing with daylight changes and camera movements, marrying together two forest plates with different camera pans and time of day, and more. With all the speed changes applied and shot stitching, it ultimately was around four minutes long, and we couldnât be happier with how it turned out.â
Holmes and her team also used Fusion Studio to create impactful invisible VFX for the film, including compositing multiple plates together, such as adding fire to a tree or capturing a cigarette falling through the air; giving a character a nosebleed; creating and distressing weathered signage; turning light bulbs on and creating flashing lights; removing unwanted people, safety rigging and tattoos from shots; and more.
âWhether itâs doing cell screen replacements or beauty fixes or creating split screens to stitch together the best performances, invisible VFX are most filmsâ unsung heroes as they keep the audience enthralled in the storytelling without distracting them with technical imperfections,â explained Holmes. âUsing Fusion Studio, we did a lot of invisible VFX for âLooks That Kill,â such as artifact cleanup, stabilizations, fluid morphs, wipe transitions, and so on, that the audience would never notice, and thatâs exactly how it should be.â
Led by Holmes, who currently also teaches VFX at Syracuse University, the Flying Turtle Post team consists of many of her former students who have gone on to pursue careers in post production. With a focus on mentorship, Holmes works closely with the junior artists, who all work from home as the VFX house operates remotely. For example, for âLooks That Kill,â Holmes helped train the teamâs junior artists on working with the filmâs anamorphic aspect ratio, including how to use Fusion Studio to add anamorphic lens distortion to stock footage so the look was consistent throughout.
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