EDITORIAL SHORT FILM PRODUCTION





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DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY (DOP) CAMERA ASSISTANT AND PRODUCTION RUNNER

Working with Jomar O'Meally (DOP) and Bradley Panda (Camera Operator) as the Camera Department. I assisted in building the Camera Rigs and Monitors for the Editorial shoot.

Assisted throughout the overall Production, but mainly for the Camera Department.



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Camera Assistant and Production Runner





SHORT FILM PRODUCTION - Live Action





'A prayer to the wind'



DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY (DOP) SHADOW/MENTEE

This short film production was a 1 day shoot that took place on location in a park in South London with a small, but efficient crew. Collaborating with Don't Duck Production, it was a fun shoot with a lot of learning involved.

During the day, I was shadowing the Cinematographer, Jomar O'Meally. We were using an ARRI Alexa 35 camera with Anamorphic prime and zoom lenses.

Other than observing him and the rest of the crew, I also did some VFX Supervision/ Consultation work - as one of the shots required some VFX for Post- Production.

I also did some BTS shots, in between some DOP shadowing tasks. Using Jomar's Fujufilm X100 VI, it was fun to use another camera for the day.



bts photography



BTS PHOTOGRAPHER

The crew behind 'A prayer to the wind'

To capture these images, I was using a Fujifilm X100 VI Digital camera.
Photos retouched in Photoshop.



Cinematographer Jomar O'Meally (left) with
Director Chirolles Khalil (right)



SHORT FILM PRODUCTION - Live Action





'SHRIKE'



A Bournemouth Film School (BFS) funded short film.


'Shrike' is about Steph, a skilled artist, is the only female applicant for a prestigious sculpting apprenticeship. But, when her chance is jeopardised by a misunderstanding, she must convince the gatekeepers that her craft has earned its place, and her along with it.


BFS ARTICLE

the shrike crew



A 4 day shoot on location at Charlton House and Gardens in London.

Majority of the Head of Departments (HODs) are Alumni's of Arts University Bournemouth. With the short film funded by Bournemouth Film School, this encouraged students to be part of the film crew and the production of Shrike. Their involvement made this experience a more fulfilling and collaborative space for learning and creating lasting connections.



VFX FOR SHRIKE





VFX SUPERVISOR - PROJECT MANaGER - CREATIVE DIREcTOR - CG GENERALIST



For Shrike, my responsibilities are in Visual Effects for onset data acquisition and post- production.


Due to the scale of production, I had to take on a variety of roles with different responsibilities. This first of all included overseeing all departments as the VFX Supervisor, being the Creative Director to lead the pitches with the Director, managing production and the overall project, as well as being a

CG Generalist.

As I mainly specialsie on the 3D side of VFX, I recruited my friend, Dan Carney to help me oversee the 2D aspect.

We reached out to the VFX course at Arts University Bournemouth to look for students who would like to volunteer and work on 'Shrike'. This led to formation of the most talented and hard working (small) team. For 2D we have Lala Leung, Marco Gilot and Maisie Jackson. For 3D we have Jiyeon Baek and Radu Bidat.

This was the first time I have taken on a VFX Supervisor role, it was very challenging, but it was an opportunity for growth and a way to expand my horizons.



creative director



As the Creative Director of the VFX of 'Shrike', my main responsibility was to add CG Sculptures that feel like they belong in the
story's universe. I worked closely with Jiyeon Baek and Radu Badita for these sculptures; they are VFX students of Arts University Bournemouth and are volunteers who wanted to be part of the VFX crew.

With Jiyeon and Radu, we became the 3D VFX Department. Jiyeon came in as a 3D Generalist; she mainly covered 3D Modeling and Texturing. Radu is our amazing 3D Sculptor, and he also helped out with the Renders. As for myself, I covered more 3D bases - this included Matchmove and Layout, 3D Modeling, Look Development, Lighting and Rendering.

Before joining the crew, I spoke to the Director and Writer, Daisy Leigh-Phippard, to know more about what her inspirations and motivations were to writing the story. The characters and the story are influenced by Mythological characters that include 'Medusa'
and 'Ariadne'.

Through some research I was able to know more about these characters, their origin stories, and other Mythological individuals closely associated to them. This then led me to Perseus, Poseidon and Athena - other characters who belong in the stories of Medusa and Ariadne. It felt fitting to have them be part of the story so I pitched the idea to Daisy, and she approved it.

Now that the individuals have been chosen for the CG Sculptures, I then proceeded on illustrating the designs for each of them.



on-set vfx data acquisition



Prior to being on set, preparation is key, and knowing which shots required VFX was vital. CG Integration and set clean ups were the 2 main tasks for VFX in post- production.

I was present for all the days on set, observing and taking notes of extra shots that may need to be worked on in post-production. Whilst being on set, I was responsible for acquiring all the data we needed to make the post-production work more seamless.

The VFX kit was provided by Bournemouth Film School - this included:

- HDRI kit
- Lens grid
- DSLR cameras and accessories
- Portable Green screen



3D Scanning



The Ipad was the main tool I used to 3D scan
sets, props and characters.

The apps/software I used were
'Scaniverse' and 'Canvas'.



HDRI



I communicated with the Director, 1st AD and
Camera crew about the acquisition of
HDRI data for each VFX Shot.

After we have taken the last take of the shot, I would step in to position the HDRI kit for
lighting/shadow references.



LEN GRIDS



Camera and Lens information with Lens grids.

We allocated some time with the camera crew to shoot our lens grids. There were 5 different lenses in total that was used for the film. I created the cards for all the different camera lens information.

Arri Alexa Mini LF Camera - ZeissCP2 Lenses
135mm, 85mm, 50mm, 35mm, 25mm



3D Scanned interior
Environments/ Sets



These rooms in Charlton house were the main sets we were shooting in.

So I spent some time scanning these rooms with my Ipad - it's impressive how much detail you can acquire with it even
in a rushed manner.

The Apps I used were 'Scaniverse' and 'Canvas'. Later on, these scans were exported as OBJ's (for use in 3DE and Maya) - along with their texture maps as you can see on the images below.



ACADEMY STAIRCASE



THEA'S WORKSHOP



WORKSHOP CORRIDOR



CLAY WORKSHOP



3D scanned exterior
environments/ sets



It was very important to scan the Academy Garden location, as this is where the CG sculptures are to be integrated as background set designs. I spent an hour before the shoot going up and down the garden, going as steady and fast as I can with my IPad.

I'm quite pleased with the results as shown below - despite the small holes on the mesh. These scans were very useful for Matchmove and Layout once the scale has been established in Maya.



3D MESH OF ACADEMY GARDEN



For this grass expanse, 5 CG Sculptures are laid out in
the background of the action.



3D MESH OF GARDEN STEPS



On the (screen left) white podium, another CG Sculpture
was added on top of it.



3D scanned poses
for modeling



After illustrating the designs for the 3D Mythological Sculptures, their poses are then established.

With my IPad, I had my brother and his partner do the poses of the different characters. I scanned them to generate these really rough 3D base meshes our 3D Modelers Jiyeon and Radu could use to build up on.

I made sure the scales for each mesh was correct in Maya, before passing them onto the 3D Modelers.



Ariadne - Athena - Medusa - Male Bust - Perseus - Poseidon



POST PRODUCTION - VFX





production planning



After the film has been shot, it went to editorial - which enabled time to do further planning and design work on the layout of the 3D sculptures.

This period was also dedicated to setting up the pipeline, workflows and plan the production to make the project seamless for the Students involved.

We mainly used Frame.io, Google Sheets, Google Drive and Whatsapp to communicate and share assets across multiple locations.



layout designs for 3D garden sculptures



This shot from the film showcases the sculptures of the garden. We regarded it as the hero shot/ master scene that would infuence all the other shots that would show the sculptures in the background.

These designs were pitched to the Director, Daisy, and outcome was choosing idea #2.



Layout of Perseus



For this shot, it required a CG Sculpture to be
feature in the foreground.

I pitch this layout of Perseus to the Director
which she approved.



layout development



Placing the Mythical characters on the approved Layout design.



Garden Sculptures Layout



Male bust on white podium



CG ASSETS DEVELOPMENT





DEVELOPING THE SCULPTURES



I passed on the 3D scanned base meshes to Jiyeon and Radu, who then used them as a starting point for 3D Modeling. They were also given the concept designs for each character.



reviews and feedback



As the VFS Supervisor and Creative Director, it was also my responsibility to review the submissions of the Artists.

The Artists would submit their latest versions on frame.io. Using Procreate on the IPad, I would then add detailed annotations on images of their submissions and conduct video calls as well to give further feedback.



3d scanned poses and final sculptures



3D MODELERS

- Jiyeon Baek - Perseus and Medusa Sculptures
- Radu Badita - Ariadne, Athena, Medusa and Poseidon Sculptures
- Kate Racho - Male Bust, Props for Athena and Poseidon



Ariadne - Athena - Medusa - Male Bust - Perseus - Poseidon