Life After Pi: a short documentary about the fall of Rhythm & Hues

Employees of post-production house Rhythm & Hues found out that their company was declaring bankruptcy almost at the same time that they were awarded an Oscar for their astounding work on Ang Lee's Life of Pi. Somebody had the foresight to start rolling cameras to capture the thoughts and emotions of those affected. What followed is the making of a 30-minute documentary outlining the fall of the award-winning company and the awakening affect it had on the visual effects industry. Life After Pi chronicles the events leading up to a protest of 400 visual effects workers during the 2013 Academy Awards.

Aside from rallying vfx artists the world over to unify and find a solution for a broken business model, this event also helped pull back the curtain for the public. Moviegoers who were blissfully unaware of how much vfx workers actually contribute to their cinema experiences, as well as how they are treated, had their eyes opened up just a little bit.

Footage from last year's protest at the 2013 Academy Awards Ceremony. There is another demonstration planned for this year's awards, as well.

Watch the trailer above. Life After Pi premieres on YouTube on February 25th and will also be included in the feature-length documentary Hollywood Ending - Why the Movie Capital of the World is Forcing Filmmakers to Leave.

Life After Pi

What exactly is a GRIP on a film set and what do they do?

If a film set were the army, the grips would be the infantry. They push and pull production along behind the camera and are the main reason why a lot of movie magic is able to happen.

If you've ever wondered what the job of a grip is and what is so fascinating about it, then watch this 11-minute short doc and it will explain all to you.

Grip It Good is voiced by cinematographer Mark Vargo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 3:10 to Yuma, Poseidon). He has a small handful of other helpful videos on his Vimeo channel for those who are interested in learning more about camera and lighting tricks.

Film_Crew

How to Digitally Remove an Object From Your Shot

So you've shot your movie. You have the wrap party, recover the next day and then open your footage in your editing platform of choice...then your heart sinks. There's something wrong with your scene that amazingly NONE of the crew on set noticed. Either it's something in the shot that SHOULDN'T be there (a misplaced prop, one of the crew members' water bottles, somebody's reflection in a window) or it's something missing that SHOULD be there (a sign that appeared in one shot but not another, a disappearing prop). These are called "goofs" and cinema is laden with them. Seriously, you'd be surprised just how many of them pop up even in multi-million dollar movies and how obvious they seem once pointed out. Don't believe me? Here's a short list of 10 big ones you probably never noticed.

But once they're baked into your shot, what do you do to fix them? Options are either to reshoot, edit around it or get a magician to make the mistake go POOF! Luckily, some mistakes are easier to fix than others.

Here is one example for you to see: A PSA for Bike Safety that shows a cyclist running through a stop sign. The producer contacted me and asked how difficult it would be to remove the stop sign so the shot would be usable. This video is the answer.

This PSA was produced by the folks at Synndicus.