S & M complete post on SciFi’s ‘Tattoo Man’

Smoke & Mirrors worked with director Vaughan Arnell to complete the entire picture post-production on this atmospheric film for the SciFi Channel in New York.
When Vaughan approached S & M initially in mid-October, one of the challenges of the project was the tight turnaround time required. The SciFi Channel scheduled the spot to play when the new Spielberg channel series ‘Taken’ launched in early December, so there was not a lot of post-production time to work with.
Discussions with Vaughan led to recommendation of working with 3D for the smaller creatures and prosthetics for the angel figure. The 3D creatures - the spider, dragon and butterflies - were chosen from a list that we provided of appropriate existing models which would not require complex anatomical animation.
S & M provided special effects supervision in the form of Creative Director Sean Broughton. Tracking markers were carefully placed on backgrounds and the actor to allow 3D tracking software to analyse both camera moves and actors action. Hi-res. digital stills were taken of the tattoos on the actor and the actors' cleaned bare skin. Lighting references of the entire set were also taken along with all camera lenses, lens heights and angles.
The second half of the film was edited and locked down first in order to give S&M the maximum amount of time to work on the VFX shots.
The approved live action passes were analysed and tracked in 3D using Boujou. Tracking markers were removed and mattes made for the angel using Effect. 3D models were made of the actors’ arm, shoulder and hand wherever there was interaction between the two. Once this preparation was done, Vaughan was able to work closely with S&M's 3D-animation team to direct the action of the CG generated creatures. CG Modelling and animation were done using Maya software.
The angel was shot against green-screen for the coming-to-life scene. The live action was heavily treated in Flame to create firstly a 2D blue ink image warped to the movement of the actors’ back. As the angel lifted, a second version, treated to look more three-dimensional, was revealed using depth-cued mattes.
This second treatment, once approved, was given to the remaining live action shots of the angel. The angel was not always in foreground, which required candles, other parts of the set and the main actor to be matted and restored after this treatment.
Many late nights and a “lot of laughter,” said S & M, were required to complete the work for the deadline.
(SP)