♪ ♪
Hi, I'm Keith with StudioBinder.
And today we're going to be
talking about shooting a VFX scene.
♪ ♪
More specifically, we're going to
try to recreate the bistro scene
from Christopher
Nolan's "Inception."
"- We're dreaming?"
Seriously, that's scene.
Here's the catch.
My production budget
is only 350 dollars.
I think I could pull it off.
You'll have to see for yourself.
♪ ♪
Listen, we all know filmmaking
can be really expensive
and that can put limitations
on what and how much you
can show in your movie.
Well to work around this
many films use visual effects
to augment existing footage
and push the limits of
what's visually possible.
The bistro scene from "Inception"
is no exception to this
as they used visual effects
to augment existing
debris flying around.
To recreate the scene,
we're going to break down the
process into three key phases.
Planning.
Shooting.
And post-production
To help us put
together our game plan,
we'll be using StudioBinder's
production software.
But before we jump into the
world of dream manipulation,
be sure to subscribe below
and click the bell icon
to stay in the loop.
Let's jump in.
Let's go through our script and
tag the obvious items that we need.
Let's take a look at
the actual movie scene
because there might
be items in the video
that don't appear in the script.
"- So, how did we end up here?
- Well, we just came from
the, uh...
- Think about it, Ariadne.
How did you get here?
- We're dreaming?"
So we're going to go
over here and add things
that aren't called
out in this group
but were in the video.
Now some of those items
are going to be tricky
like the car and the
motorbike for instance.
Since we're shooting
in our courtyard,
we're not going to have the capability
to bring a car or motorbike in there.
So we're going to solve
this using 3D models.
Now a lot of people get scared
when they hear the word 3D
because they think it's
complicated or expensive
but that doesn't
need to be the case.
If you look online,
there's a lot of affordable
options for pre-built 3D models.
I'll show you how to
use them in a bit.
But for now, let's go ahead and add
those things under visual effects.
Since we're not working with a
multimillion-dollar Hollywood budget,
we're going to have to do our
best to dress this courtyard
with more modest solutions
that we can find online.
Over here, we'll have our table set
up, the chalkboard.
And over here,
maybe we'll have our car or motorbike.
And behind that, a fruit
stands, some paper, and boxes.
Now on Christopher Nolan's
actual "Inception" set,
he was able to blow things up to
really create that projectile effect.
And he later augmented this
with additional 3D debris.
We're going to use the
exact same approach.
But since we don't
have explosives,
we're going to be using
a leaf blower and paper.
All right. Let's see how much all
of the items I needed to buy cost.
A lot of the 3D models were free
and the camera
gear is all rented.
Okay, guys,
I got my script breakdown.
And I also have my shot list.
It looks like I have about
three different types of setups.
The game plan is pretty clear.
I think we're ready to shoot.
Hey guys, so it looks like
we're all ready to shoot.
We have actors
Jeff and Nora here.
We found them on
"Breakdown Express."
And I got my shot list so I
know exactly what I need to get.
Let's get started.
- The timing, everything was okay.
- Yeah.
Okay guys,
so our shot list is telling us
that our next shot of Nora
is actually an effect shot.
And for that, we're going
to use the green screen.
We're going to try something
a little bit different.
We're going to be blowing
paper with a leaf blower.
I have no idea if
this is going to work,
but here goes nothing.
Okay, guys,
everything seemed to go very well
and that's because we were very
methodical in our approach.
Let's take a look at our footage
and bring it into the edit.
Every part of filmmaking
has its own hurdles.
But if you are very organized in
pre-production and production,
it will definitely show
when you begin post-production.
For our VFX shots, we'll be using the
"Element 3D" plugin for After Effects
to drop in our 3D models.
For those who are
new to 3D animation,
"Element 3D" is a great
plugin that's easy to learn
and makes adding 3D models to your
footage a breeze in After Effects
and there's a lot of free tutorials
online that you can check out.
Element 3D accepts obj and
Cinema 4D 3D file types.
You import them in
and you can texture them
using your own textures
or element 3D textures.
The great thing about
using element 3D
is that it renders in real-time
over your footage in After Effects.
You can move it around,
you can make changes,
you instantly see the results.
Like I mentioned
during our shoot
these 3D objects like
the car or the motorbike
are going to be added to
our live-action footage.
Also to augment our
particles in the air,
we're going to add additional 3D
elements to really sell the effect.
And finally, for our last shot,
we're going to remove
the green screen
and place that over
our plate shot.
And now we can move
3D particles behind
and in front of her
using "Element 3D."
Okay, guys, I think we're
pretty happy with the result.
Let's take a look.
"- Let me ask you a question.
Never really remember the
beginning of the dream, do you?
You always wind up in the
middle of what's happening.
- I guess, yeah.
- So how did we end up here?
- Well, we came from, uhh...
- Think about it, Ariadne.
How did you get here?
Where are you right now?
- We're dreaming?
- You're actually in the middle of
the workshop right now sleeping.
This is your first lesson
in shared dreaming.
Stay calm.
I hope you liked our
"Inception" scene recreation.
By having your shot list and your
script breakdown prepared in advanced,
you'll also be able to
tackle the trickiest shoots.
Do you have an exciting
project you're working on?
If so check the description
and sign up to StudioBinder.
It's free to get started.
