WE CARE: VFX - The Invisible Hero Behind the Scenes
- Doni Sweeting
- Apr 24
- 3 min read
Visual Effects. We love them. We also love when they are invisible. We love it when a visual effect is added simply to enhance what was photographed in camera. There is a time and place to be showy with over the top visuals, but the ones that no one ever notices are where we thrive.
We do a lot of work filming in medical facilities. This comes with a unique set of challenges. One immediate question is how can we showcase a facility in a way that's interesting and engaging for viewers? Moving through the facility is a good idea, but how do you do that creatively? Well, what if we film one door after the other? That takes us to different rooms. Cool, one problem. The doors don't actually lead to where the script calls for them to lead.
In comes the green screen door to the rescue with visual effects hidden in plain sight!
None of this is possible without great pre-production and proper location scouting days before filming. We've done this in 3 commercials so far, improving on the end result each time!
If we hadn’t drawn attention to it, would you have been able to tell? We created a smooth transition from the CT scan room back to the main waiting room. As you can imagine, the main waiting room is not right outside the door of the CT Scan room. We filmed in two different sections of the hospital and were able to stitch them together as one seamless shot in post-production.
An example of a more showy visual effect was used in an ad we created for Doctors Hospital Freeport Medical Center. We wanted to display the LAMP Ultimate logo prominently in the opening of the ad, but we wanted it to feel like part of the environment and not a simple lower third.
Before & After from Doctors Hospital FMC Commercial
So during post-production, we tracked the 3-dimensional space of the camera's movement and applied that tracking data to our logo. We then rotoscoped our subject, who was walking and had them layered in front of the logo. This made the logo feel like a part of the real-world space that she was walking in and not just a static graphic.
Back to our invisible visual effects. Our feature film “Look Up Child” also showcases story enhancements with VFX.
The Before and After Image of the Street Signs
From changing the names of street signs so as not to identify a specific area in Nassau, Bahamas, to changing the name on pre-existing gravestones to the names of Peter Rolle Sr. and Peter Roll Jr., our characters in the film who passed away.
Before and After image of the gravestone
Visual effects are the invisible hero that can truly bring a project together. They can be used to solve real-world logistical challenges, enhance story elements and even fix mistakes. There are so many ways to use VFX in production and what we've shown here is just the tip of the iceberg. Almost all of our projects today have some level of invisible visual effects work going on and it was fun pulling back the curtain on some of this in today's blog.
Have you ever noticed the invisible visual effects in our work? Have you seen it in any film or commercial in general? Leave a comment if you have, we'd love to know just how invisible these effects really are. And if you need a production partner that can deliver results like these, send us an email at info@newhillproductions.com, we would love to connect with you!
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