Part of Lesson Plan: Compositing

Activity Overview / Details

A large portion of what you see in movies and television involves compositing. Remember compositing from Photoshop where we combined multiple images to create a new photo? Watch this video clip and identify the composite shots.

Play Video Clip: Star Gate; Menace  5 ^th season, 19 ^th episode. Sequence where Reese introduces her ‘friend’ to Daniel. (Access video clip below under resources)

Break down sequence: This is a typical dialogue sequence with two main camera angles. There are ten shots in the sequence.

Shot 5:
1 ^st Composite: Camera pushes into bookcase as Reese moves out of the shot.
Point out composite elements: Background, Animation.

Shot 6:
Back to Daniel.

Shot 7:
2 ^nd Composite: Animation interaction with Reese
Point out composite elements: Background, Animation, Close-up shot of Reese. (Note: The example uses camera tracking to get the motion of Reese interacting with the animation. This lesson does not cover camera tracking.)

Shot 8:
Back to Daniel for reaction.

Shot 9:
3 ^rd Composite: Animation interaction with Reese (Shots 7 and 9 are a single composite shot split into two shots during editing.)

Shot 10:
Back to Daniel for intense reaction.

Bonus Question: How did the animators make the shadow follow the contour of Reese's arm? (Answer below)