cgi How does this editing technique work? Ripped paper transition

[Ofelia_b]

Hi!

I have a question regarding this transition technique:

Exactly how is this made? Does anyone know? It seems to me they film an empty paper then edit in the next scene in post production.
I'm using premiere pro and after effects and really want to mimic this technique! But i feel a little lost and desperately want some help...

Thanks a lot!
/O

 

[Nate North]

Ok, so this is just a bit of work and money. Not a ton, but obviously whoever made this had a budget and didn't have to pay it back.

First, note the fidelity of the image and light reflections on each crumpled piece of paper. This can be done with CGI, but it wasn't in this case, this is a practical effect.

Here's what they did. They filmed the shots in a sequence. Between the filming of each shot, they printed out a large glossy print of the final frame of each shot. Then they started each subsequent shot with a a tripod or otherwise pixel matched framing of the last frame of the previous shot. It's easier than it sounds because you can control time in the edit in post, so for the moving shots, you can get your perfect match on a tripod or gimbal while static, then basically fast forward in the edit to make motion between shots appear seamless.

Also note the freeze frames on the transitions. At times we see very quick light flashes, especially on the edge of the screen. These are happening so fast that your mind doesn't catch them. What they are doing is hiding the inexactness of the frame match for just a single pivotal instant, similar to slight of hand magic.

I'd note that this latter technique will be helpful to you all throughout film. A quick flash, explosion, smoke, lens flares, and other such things can allow you to get away with just about anything, as long as it happens fast enough. Imagine if I wanted to pickpocket people, and I have this friend willing to crash his car into a telephone pole every time I did it. Suddenly it gets very easy to pickpocket. All you really need is a distraction strong enough to cover up what you're actually doing, for just a moment. In film, especially with post, it's easy to set up exact timing, so this kind of thing becomes trivial.

How did I get all that? The gleam on the paper as it's crumpled.

 

[James Rogers]

I don't know. I think they might have mapped the video onto a prop piece of paper, possibly with markers on it. The reason I think this is because, if you look close, the image on the paper being crumpled or torn is still moving during the crumpling. It's hard to tell but if you look at the shot that shows cars moving in the background it's easier to see. use the pause button (or download the video) to step threw the frames. As the paper tears, the cars are still moving. They might have done some 2D tracking using corner pinning, or they might have tracked it manually while doing some crude warping on the video overlay. Whatever it was, it looked pretty good!