July 5, 2004
I spent the morning injecting milk into a vat of water with a syringe for transitional plates. It was glorious.
My brother rented Who Framed Roger Rabbit last night, and after refreshing my memory of the film, I watched the behind the scenes material. It reminded me again of how much computers sort of spoil us, as viewers. Everyone assumes everything is done with computers these days, even though a.) that's not necessarily the case and b.) most people don't realize exactly how much hard work and careful artistry goes into quality CGI. But I often fall into that same trap myself, and I can scarcely remember what it was like not have that blanket assumption instilled in my head; back when everything and a kitchen sink might have been used to achieve any given effect. Watching Roger Rabbit and knowing that every frame was made up of dozens of handpainted layers run through optical printers and then edited on a Movieola was just staggering. It was such a different method of working; I've often thought about how glad I am that I don't have to worry about ever editing on film, but at the same time, I'd sort of like to have the experience, just so that I can appreciate this technology that so recently undermined nearly a century's worth of carefully developed and perfected techniques.
Anyway, after cleaning up all the cloudy water that I spilled creating classic practical effects, I switched gears and modeled and animated a CGI sunrise.
And now comes the portion of the day set aside for writing, in which I stare at the screen, drinking coffee, pondering this plot and perhaps even writing a page of new material, until I'm too tired to keep my eyes open. I kept my obsessive tendencies at bay on that first draft; they're back in full force now. I had hit page ninety last week, but now I'm back down to seventy six.
Posted by David Lowery at July 5, 2004 2:05 AM