Friday, November 7, 2008

We'll Fix it in Post, or, Looking Backwards is Sometimes a Good Thing

My dad worked in the movie studios for many years, lastly owning his own special effects shop. This was when the look of CG was "Tron," and people still used a lot of stop-motion and rotoscoping techniques. I remember using an X-acto knife to cut the shape of an explosion for a main title his shop was working on.

One of the things I used to hear a lot was, "We'll fix it in post," meaning, they'd take the raw footage and remove any flaws later.

I'm reminded of this phrase as I examine the rain damage on Stewie. Because I didn't quite twig to Spookyblue's directions (my bad, not his), Stewie was quite a lot larger than his daddy, the Grumble. Unknowingly, because it was my first build, I loaded 90% of Stewie's weight to the front of the prop. I added an extra chicken wire section of his stem to help offset his tendency to lean forward, but the rain has changed the weight ratio and bent a few things out of whack. (Or maybe Stewie's just tired of chasing all those rotten pumpkin-smashing children up and down the street.) I include before and after photos for your edification.


















No worries, though. I'll fix it in post.

When I was taking pictures yesterday (and early this morning), I walked past a number of potential images because the angle I approached from didn't hold the light in an interesting way, or a number of other reasons. I accidentally dropped my lens cap and glanced back, and voila! A photo op! I got some shots I really liked after that.


As I was driving home, I ruminated on that thought. It captured my mind. Look back sometimes, capture an image you may have missed hurrying down the path to other things. Just remember not to live there. Use it as a frame of reference, appreciate its light and darkness.

And if you don't like your result, fix it in post.

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