The Manassas National Battlefeild
Park in Virginia has constructed a state-of-the-art digital projection
theater, showcasing Ben Burtt's new documentary about the historic
Civil War battles fought on the site. The "film" was shot with
the latest Sony 24P technology, a high-definition digital video
format which captures 24 frames per second (the motion picture
standard) without the interlacing present in other video signals.
This format allows digital projection of far higher quality than
standard video systems.
A live-action plate of a church and actors
dressed in period attire on their way to Sunday mass.
The wireframe illustrates the church
steeple, Capitol and wagon elements created in 3D while the trees,
lamppost and adjacent buildings were painted in 2D.
The final composite of the matte
painting and plate was created with extra height to allow the
camera to tilt down during the shot, starting framed on the steeple
and revealing the churchgoers in Washington with the Capitol Building
still under construction in the distance.
Battle scenes
were recreated with a limited number of actors and pyrotechnics.
Actors fired their guns, then moved to another part of the frame
and fired again.
The various takes are combined to recreate
a battle taking place in the Henry family's yard. Digital paint
modifications were applied to the Henry home, and CG smoke ties
it all together.
This plate was shot from a spectator's
point of view. During the Civil War, families and friends would
gather and sometimes picnic with the distant battle in sight.
To recreate battle on Henry Hill, MWDl painted
the house and yard, then added rows of soldiers firing their weapons
and marching in the smoke-drenched battlefield.
This plate, like many in the show
was shot with the number of actors and pryrotechnics restricted
to a safe level.
Additional takes were layered in to provide
additional troops and an enemy firing back from the embankment,
itself extended by Matte World. The bodies lying in the field
were digitally painted and composited under the smoke from the
plates.
