Compositing Reel - Peter Chesloff

This series of shots was a close collaboration with the FX and GEN artists. I combined the GEN artwork with the FX renders and added in clouds and atmosphere to help build the environment. An incredibly enjoyable and satsifying sequence to work on.

Combining live action photography with artist generated BG is always a challenge. Here, I had to preserve the detail in the FG, including the lens flare, while blending in the renders and BG. Adding the right amount of depth haze helped sell the size and scale. I tracked several 2d elements to augment the FX renders to help sell the size of the snow explosion on impact.

Rango was one of my favorite shows to work on at ILM. An animated feature was a totally different kind of project for us and it was awesome. I was Sequence Lead for a small sequence of shots, checking continuity and help driving the look of the sequence. On this shot I added dirt and atmosphere to help define the environment.

Compositing these massive renders was quite a challenge. Integrating many layers of FX and TD renders was an exercise in patience and attention to detail. Because the two pieces that collide look so much alike, the challenge was to sell the collision with depth and explosions. On the B side of the shot we used lighting and depth to sell the scale.

Working with an incredible team of artists and supervisors we were able to bring Peter Cushing, Grand Moff Tarkin, back to life. Compositing these shots was awesome. We had to split the CG rendered Tarkin head onto the live action body. Attention to detail was key. Adjusting the eye highlights, rosiness of the skin, depth of field, etc. Also tracked in actors and bits of wall behind him to help balance the environment. Amazing experience to be a part of this team.

Creating the environment for the burning oil rig was amazing. A combination of FX rendered fire, smoke and sparks combined with 2d elements tracked into the scene did the trick. Applying heat distortion in Nuke added to the feeling of intense heat. Collaborating with the incredible FX artists and Supervisors on the show was super satisfying.

Tracked in flack bursts and explosions from our elements library. Added smoke, steam and depth hazing. Red Tails was a fun project to work on. A slight departure from the the space/robot/fantasy genre we're used to seeing with digital FX. Nice to be rooted in reality every now and then.

Ant Man! I loved this movie so I wanted to be sure it was represented on my reel. Macro-focus was key to selling the size and scale of everything in this show. Here we're hyper focused on Ant-Man with an extreme depth of field to throw the ants out of focus even though they're only inches apart. Comped in atmosphere. Color correction on the ants, particularly the wings and the lenses strapped to their backs.

More Tarkin!

The challenge here was to get all the CG elements to work well together. Working with the AOVs of the water renders we were able to get it feeling natural as it poured from Kong's hand and interacted with the pond. The second challenge was to the the beautifully rendered GEN environment to blend seamlessly with the photographed BG. The third challenge was the get the creature to feel like it attacked Kong with enough force to blow them both out of the scene. A fun shot and a great show to work on.

These next couple of shots were fun to work on. Sort of just getting our heads wrapped around the nuances of cg water. In these shots we worked heavily with the rendered AOVs of the water to get it looking real and integrated with the robot and boat renders. Adding interactive light to the rain, splashes and water surface helped tie everything together

Starting with the original photography of kayakers paddling down a river, we composited cg dinosaurs and plants to interact with the dinosaurs. Added FX elements rippling water around their mouths and feet. Added reflections into the water with displacement and refraction. Added god rays. As the camera pans, we speed up the plate to give the cars more purpose, cleaning up retime artifacts along the way.

The basic plan with a lot of these Rango shots was to make it feel hot and dry. Starting with a beautiful desert background and comping in the rendered heroes. Bright hililtes and desert haze helped set the atmosphere.

Needing to comp this shot in stereo was a challenge. With so many elements, splashes, sparks and a spinning camera move, making sure things were in the right depth in 3D was tedious but rewarding in the end. I started with an incredibly detailed and beautifully rendered ship comped against a Gen rendered sky. FX renders supplied most of the water on the ship with a few 2d water splashes tracked in to augment. With adjustments made to the robots and shadows to help sit them into the scene. Lens flares...because...lens flares.

Combining live action plate and actors with digimatte to create the destroyed Jurassic World. Set extensions on the buildings, destruction of the road, FX generated spark elements, tracked 2d elements of fire and smoke and of course, the rendered dinosaur. Then adding the live action actors with shadows and reflections back into the shot. An intricate shot but another rewarding experience with an incredible group of artists.

More Rango. Why not? In my 20+ years at ILM, Rango was one of my favorite shows to work on. An animated feature was a departure from the normal ILM work and it worked out great. Compositing live action sky, dust, footfall dirt hits with beautifully rendered town and townsfolk. Hot and dry was the theme and our team nailed it.

Two plates combined. One with the actor sitting in the gravel. The other of the FG broken windshield. Tracked together to create the perspective. Rendered dinosaur with black levels and color adjusted to match the plate. Rendered stone footfall to help sink the feet into the gravel. As the dino takes a bite, we transition from live actor to digital double and the dino takes him away.

A 'frankenstein' shot at it's best. Piecing together actors from several different plates to create this iconic pose. I worked very closely with the roto artist to be sure we had all the bits and pieces working together. Pulling the flare from the Thor plate then comping back on top of Hawkeye proved to be the biggest challenge. Making sure to match the color and haze levels to make it feel like all the actors were standing in the same room.