Anima

[jenkins]

this was cool. i was glad i watched it

[wilberfan]

Cameron Beyl ("The Directors Series") on Anima.  In part,

After serving as his own cinematographer through his string of short works as well as PHANTOM THREAD, Anderson invites seasoned DP Darius Khondji to shoot ANIMA using a mixture of film and large-format digital acquisition.  A fine layer of organic grain blends the two formats seamlessly, better allowing for a subtle emphasis on their differences: the clean stability of the Alexa 65 image versus the constrained tension of film (it’s unclear whether ANIMA’s film segments were captured on 35mm or on the larger 65mm gauge to better match the digital resolution).

Full article

[eward]

Love that guy’s videos.

[Pringle]

Thom Yorke was on Colbert recently and shared an interesting tidbit about Anima: in the shot where he is trying to get through the jammed turnstile and enter the subway, there are actually 2 crew members who wore green screen body suits that were there to hold the turnstile in place, and they were later CGI-Ed out of the shot in post.

[eward]

Movie magic 

[Lewton]

Thom Yorke was on Colbert recently and shared an interesting tidbit about Anima: in the shot where he is trying to get through the jammed turnstile and enter the subway, there are actually 2 crew members who wore green screen body suits that were there to hold the turnstile in place, and they were later CGI-Ed out of the shot in post.

I also caught that interview, and yeah, it is interesting. Kind of surprised me because I don't really think of PTA as someone who's all that interested in digital effects. But I guess it was the best solution here. Also made me wonder how often he's used them... outside of certain shots of the oil geysers in TWBB and some of the frogs in Magnolia. Maybe to remove buildings in IV and/or PT? Tarantino had to do that for OUATIH.

[Lewton]

On another note, every time I see the opening shot of Anima, it reminds me of the beginning of the original Half-Life video game. (Almost certainly not a deliberate reference, of course)

Great image and, in an interesting way, somewhat weird in the context of PTA's movies overall? I can't think of anything else in his movies that has a similar vibe. Kind of Star Gate-esque (from 2001: A Space Odyssey), I guess.

[eward]

Thom Yorke was on Colbert recently and shared an interesting tidbit about Anima: in the shot where he is trying to get through the jammed turnstile and enter the subway, there are actually 2 crew members who wore green screen body suits that were there to hold the turnstile in place, and they were later CGI-Ed out of the shot in post.

I also caught that interview, and yeah, it is interesting. Kind of surprised me because I don't really think of PTA as someone who's all that interested in digital effects. But I guess it was the best solution here. Also made me wonder how often he's used them... outside of certain shots of the oil geysers in TWBB and some of the frogs in Magnolia. Maybe to remove buildings in IV and/or PT? Tarantino had to do that for OUATIH.

The Golden Fang building is definitely CGI.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

I mean, I don't know if he's interested in making a big CGI extravaganza thing, but he's never been dogmatic about it either -- frogs and oil being two big examples, but I'm sure there are a ton of small tweaks that we're not even seeing. Basically every single thing out there has at least some VFX work in it, even if its only to paint out a boom pole or signage, or in this case, a green man augmenting a practical effect.

For me the big ! that I want to know was how he felt about the Alexa 65.

[wilberfan]

It never occurred to me that TWBB had any CGI in it.    Do we know specifically which shots?

[eward]

The derrick blowing, for sure.

[Lewton]

The Golden Fang building is definitely CGI.

Forgot about that. I also really like that shot... Phoenix staring, holding his hat, camera moving up, etc.

It's been a while since I read Inherent Vice but I'm pretty sure the novel had a few other scenes that would have demanded CGI but Anderson went another way with it.

Basically every single thing out there has at least some VFX work in it, even if its only to paint out a boom pole or signage

I never thought about it this way. I do know about Fincher doing a lot of covert CGI stuff, but I just never really made the jump to assume it's happening in every single movie to some extent, arthouse or otherwise.

Nothing inherently wrong with it. Like, just to be clear, I wasn't trying to say he's betraying his own sensibilities simply by utilizing digital effects or whatever. My thought is really just... as a first impression, when thinking about PTA and digital effects, it's just kind of an odd pairing in my mind.

Even the idea of him sitting there and supervising the CGI for the Golden Fang building is a slightly peculiar visual, lol.

And yeah, I doubt he'll ever make a "CGI extravaganza thing." With regards to that, I do think it is a matter of his sensibilities. I think he's said more than once now that he thinks the actor is "the best special effect" (or however that comment was worded). And, to his credit, I think he's also very interested in the texture and age of actual buildings and objects. I'm assuming that sort of thing won't ever take a backseat to CGI (even if he one day decides to do a sci-fi film and is somehow granted a sizeable budget).

[wilberfan]

We'll recall I just saw IV again a couple of weeks ago, and that tilt-up impressed me.  As someone with a big interest in PTA Locations, I remember thinking, "Man, why don't I recognize that place??".  As you said, CGI and PTA aren't neurons in my head that ever touch each other.

[Pringle]

Since we’re on the topic of PTA videos and visual effects — does anyone know what process was used on the ‘Divers’ video?

[eward]

I think that's all practical, shot through a series of tanks in which the clouds were formed in real time - similar to how they did the cloud formations in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, just pouring paint into water and letting it do its work - layered across a few miniatures...or something like that. I swear I read a bit about how they did it somewhere but a quick search ain't yielding anything...