ANTM cycle19 ghost VFX
while on location in jamaica (working on the graphics for the cycle 19 final runway) the director and producers of America's Next Top Model asked if i could create some ghost-like visual effects for cycle 19's fashion film (or motion editorial.)
this was a pretty exciting project as i was able to work with the director (the excellent Tony Croll) and producers quite closely to design the overall look. the project eventually expanded to the point that i provided all the postproduction on the piece, from colour grading to final delivery.
the crew spent quite a bit of time on location at Rose Hall in Montego Bay working out the shots and planning the flow from a VFX standpoint. some of the ANTM producers actually ended up serving as test subjects for some early VFX tests:
Ken Mok, EP for ANTM gets ghosted.
the entire piece was shot by mr. Croll on a canon 5DmkII, mostly with an image-stabilised lens. this, in concert with a bit of postproduction trickery, allowed me to get some of the "sweeping" ghosty shots without any complicated rigging or grip gear, as time and space were tight on set. even with the 5DmkII's limited latitude in post, i was able to get some pretty rich looks with DaVinci:
Sophie Sumner's ghost effect is a combination of rotoscoping, pre-planned backplate shots, some particle and transparency effects, and a bit of additive lighting fun.
i have to give taylor smith, longtime collaborator, big ups on this one for sitting with me for hours rotoscoping shot after shot.
in all, this was a tremendously fun project to work on, and i fully appreciated the opportunity to have a bit of creative input on this very unique aspect of the show.
DIRECTOR: ken mok
CAMERA: tony croll
DIT: chris morgan
EDIT/VFX/POST: darkenergymedia
CAMERA: Canon 5DII
COLOUR: DaVinci
