Music Video director Happy

[sisxtian]

There is a director who goes by the name of "Happy" who did a music video for the song "We Want Your Soul" by Adam Freeland (http://www.smugglersite.com/01/directors/music/adamfreeland_happy.html). The video utilizes a camera rig attached to the actor so that all movement is locked on him while the background changes. But there are a few full-body shots. Even if the camera rigging was removed, it would be very hard to rig a camera that far away from an actor to shoot their full body. Does anyone know how this effect was achieved? I know they used Flame and shot on an Aaton A-Minima Super 16 camera. But how was this rig done? 3D matchmoving on the actor? Anyone?

[gmask]

I haven't seen this video but you could stqabilize the footage using the actors body and that woudl give the effect of the camera being locked to them. The trick is replacing any parts of the background that would ride in and out of frame as the footage is offset based on the stablization.

[deke-kincaid]

Cool video.

i doubt it was that complex. Looks like it was simply having the camera attached to another person with the camera pointing toward the actor.

[sisxtian]

Well, that would be fine, except it's obvious that the camera movements are locked precisely to the actor on screen. Even the slightest of movements are effecting the camera motion. This had to be motion tracking.

[deke-kincaid]

Nope, it is definatly a camera attached to another person mimicing his movements. I rewatched it multiple times, frame by frame and there is way too much paralax in the moves and twisting for it to be a matchmove in the computer. It does not precisely match the actor. There is much independent movement in there, especially some twisting from the person who has the camera attached rotating their hips.

It definatly has some speed changes in those scenes, but that is about it. Possibly some additional 2d jitter, but I doubt it. Otherwise it was just a well choreographed move on the part of the person with the camera.

[sisxtian]

It's an interesting thought, but there's also way too much subtle movement that mimicks the movement of the actor. Perhaps it's a combination? A camera person mimicking, then the footage is stabilized in Flame?