How To Get Through VFX Challenges In Indie Film?

The most important thing is that you have to have the visual effects (VFX) working for you, instead of you working for the visual effects – David Heyman

My first thought was to ask the colorist if he had any colleagues, he could recommend who could perform the visual effects (VFX) for the film. There was something about his and his wife’s standard that made me go in for the ask. I was surprised when he told me that he could assist with the VFX. (Whew. What a huge relief?). A month later the VFX services began.

The first task was to send him a breakdown grid of all the shots that needed VFX added onto them. It was slightly out of my level of film expertise, so Morgen was more than willing to complete it. The VFX artist goes through the breakdown and starts asking more in-depth questions such as the model of the phone prop that was used.

The only details I remembered about the prop were that it was a flip phone, silver, and had the retailer’s logo on it and the shots containing this prop were especially important.

I reached out to the Production Designer to see if she remembered more details about the phone, but she couldn’t. I tried going through the receipts she sent me but nothing. Finally, I decided to wing it and google flip phones under the retailer’s name and send the closest model look alike I could find.

After I sent the VFX artist my choice, I didn’t receive any pushbacks, so I guessed my selection worked.

Then there were more issues with the phone prop. The green screen that we placed on it didn’t have any pointer markers, so his tracker kept getting thrown off on his system’s perspective shifts causing extended delays. So, he had to call in a favor with another VFX artist for additional help. (Gosh. I felt so bad.).

A week later the first VFX grade was received. All the shots came out good but there’s a main object on two different characters that I felt needed a bit more work.

I sent my feedback to Morgen, and she agreed. Our feedbacks were then sent to the VFX artist along with pictures as a form of guidance of what we desired the main object to look like. Three additional VFX passes were made after that and in the end the main object on one out of the two characters came out perfectly.

Morgen really liked how the VFX came out on the second character, but I felt that just a little bit more could be done. I needed it to be a bit more noticeable but not too artificial while still blending in with the color grade.

For more guidance I sent the VFX artist the updated movie poster, tests, the second mini trailer that was done early in the project, and more stills of how I desired the main object to look like. He informed me that it would require a bigger budget. (Shoot!).

Two weeks passed by and the VFX artist suggested that we meet via Zoom because he could only make one more VFX pass on the film. I started to panic. We finally met up on a Sunday and spent two hours adding VFX on a few of the remaining shots.

I made sure to give honest critiques so we were both on the same page when the meeting was over. Another two weeks passed by and the final VFX grade was sent and I was completely satisfied. After nearly five months of color grading and VFX, the film could finally proceed to the final stage of post-production, music composition.

But there was another problem, my grant funds had reached its limit. (You’ve got to be kidding me!).

Other Posts You May Be Interested In:

• Why Coloring Is Considered The Most Exciting Time In Film?
• How Editing Tests Your Character In Film?
• The Importance Of An Editor In Film?

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