The Epic Battle of Half (This is Not a Spoiler)

The epic battle of 'Half' was far from what you'll see on your screen. In fact, everything you see on screen will be the product of this power struggle.

I am Pat, and I play the role of James Anderson in Half. Being a very outgoing person, with very specific ideas on how a movie should be directed, sitting back and watching Kurt direct the movie in a way that I thought wasn't good enough was torture. We argued all the time, slowing down the filming process. Eventually, he let me direct a few scenes for two reasons. Firstly, because he thought I would do a better job directing those specific scenes, but secondly, to get me to shut up.

The epic battle of 'Half' ended without a winner, and without a loser. It ended with a mutual agreement between two friends that the filming was done the way we both wanted it, and was the best material we could give our audience.

Let the Post-Production Begin

Hey everybody,

I am thrilled to announce that Mountainside View Multimedia has purchased its video FX workhorse. We've been moving some furniture around to get everything up and running. This machine is the most powerful computer I have ever seen let alone used. The specs on it are as follows:

CPU: Sandy Bridge Intel i7 Processor
Memory: 8GB
OS: Windows 7
HD: 1 terrabyte
Graphics: ATI/AMD 1GB dedicated graphics
Monitor: 23 inch screen

I'll be sure to take some pictures of it, but at the moment my HD camera is in the shop. Let it always be said that I push my equipment to the breaking point.

As for the Software we are using for this film, here are the specs:
Adobe Creative Suite CS4 (Some AfterFX CS5.5)
includes: Photoshop CS4, Premiere CS4, After Effects CS4
Mocha AE - 2.5D Planar motion tracking.

The system will be up and running in a few days so Post Production for Half will begin.

For those of you who are interested in Half only because it is about fauns and centaurs, (Centaurs are the most awesome creatures in the whole world.) may I suggest to you an incredible ebook series by Yvon Hintz: HalfHorse: http://members.iinet.net.au/~dominion/

Stay tuned!
Kurt Richardson

Progress with the Ball

I was originally planning on putting this as just a picture under production pictures, but I decided to give it its own post.

(click to enlarge)

CG Cave Test 2 (Better Lighting.) I spent lots of time on the ball itself, making it transparent and giving a nice soft shadow. There is actually a soft yellow light coming from the orb, and an ambient bluish light that counters it. I think that the ball is coming along quite nicely. It is now somewhat fully 3d. I used a CyCore Sphere effect with a texture from Video Copilot (See their Blue Planet 2 Tutorial for the After Effects expression that turns a CyCore Sphere into a fully 3D Sphere that is compatible with 3D Lights and the AE Virtual Camera.) Once we get the editing computer for the film, I'll make the HD version of the cave and really devote time to the walls. Right now they look VERY fake and they don't have any bump maps whatsoever. Adobe After Effects really isn't

a 3D modeling software, but I am really pushing it to be one for the sake of freedom to make whatever camera moves I want. The computer I am using now though is horrible for this. I nearly destroyed it rendering this frame. However, by Thanksgiving, I'll be using an HP Pavilion Elite to Edit the film and do all kinds of fun stuff in After Effects. I really hope to be able to make some After Effects tutorials for some of the effects in the movie that I made myself, (such as the fantasy creature effect) but for now that will have to wait. Stay tuned...

Kurt the very tired centaur who is taking the PSAT tomorrow.

A Tribute to Patrick

All of the Half team has worked really hard to make this an exciting film. Right now, I'd like to honor Pat Fifelski. He has put in a lot of effort despite the fact that lots of us liked to joke about his stubbornness. But the great thing is Pat won't settle for anything less than the very best. Here's a great example from our sound files from our mic rig:

Please comment on your thoughts! Please forgive me Pat! :P

Patrick's Plan by Half Movie Project

Kurt Richardson

Directing Centaur