Forrest Gump

Daniel Carrico · July 11th, 2002, 08:01 PM

Hey guys,

I was recently watching the bonus material on the Forrest Gump DVD (best movie ever) and have a question. Does anyone know what software was used to remove the man playing ping pong with George Bush? This clip was never used in the mvoie, however it was partially produced and can be found on the DVD. Somehow the software views each of the frames in the shot and builds what is behind the guy by copying the pixels when he moves. The interesting part about the scene is that the camera is held by a cameraman and therefore moves. I am just assuming that some sort of "compiling" program is used because it appears that the shot is built by examining each frame. My guess was that some custom program was used... any ideas?

Martin Munthe · July 12th, 2002, 04:15 AM

Back in the days when FG came out they probably used the Flame, Henry or Cineon systems to produce that effect. Nowadays you can do it with a simple app like Commotion from Pinnacle. It costs something like 1/100th less than the above mentioned systems.

Rob Lohman · July 12th, 2002, 05:22 AM

There are automatic match move software packages out that are
pretty good at matching camera movement.... they rest was
probably done by matting things out etc. Some people have made
an art out of manipulating images like that!

Jeff Donald · July 12th, 2002, 06:00 AM

It was Flame or Henry, I don't remember which one. There were big ads in American Cinamatographer with FG shots. Pretty amazing for the time, people still talk about it.

Jeff

Daniel Carrico · July 12th, 2002, 10:47 AM

Hey Martin,

You said Commotion would be capable of doing such an effect. How? The reason I ask, is that you cannot simply copy the people from one frame to another because they too are moving. You would need a couple of good frames and morph between them or something...

Ken Tanaka · July 12th, 2002, 02:19 PM

Commotion and other systems use a motion-tracking compositing system to perform such effects on a frame-by--frame basis. It is, however, still a tricky proposition requiring high skill. The subject is a complex one, beyond explanation here. You can learn more about Commotion at their site:

http://www.commotionpro.com/

Daniel Carrico · July 12th, 2002, 02:35 PM

Hey Ken,

I will have to look into it. I have Commotion and use it a lot, but have never had any formal training in anything. But, I like a challenge... :)

July 11th, 2002, 08:01 PM	#1
Daniel Carrico New Boot Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 19	Forrest Gump - How? Hey guys, I was recently watching the bonus material on the Forrest Gump DVD (best movie ever) and have a question. Does anyone know what software was used to remove the man playing ping pong with George Bush? This clip was never used in the mvoie, however it was partially produced and can be found on the DVD. Somehow the software views each of the frames in the shot and builds what is behind the guy by copying the pixels when he moves. The interesting part about the scene is that the camera is held by a cameraman and therefore moves. I am just assuming that some sort of "compiling" program is used because it appears that the shot is built by examining each frame. My guess was that some custom program was used... any ideas? __________________ Daniel M. Carrico www.danielcarrico.com daniel1113[at]comcast[dot]net "For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, none will suffice." - Joseph Dunninger (Mentalist/Magician)

July 12th, 2002, 04:15 AM	#2
Martin Munthe Major Player Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 331	Back in the days when FG came out they probably used the Flame, Henry or Cineon systems to produce that effect. Nowadays you can do it with a simple app like Commotion from Pinnacle. It costs something like 1/100th less than the above mentioned systems. __________________ Martin Munthe VFX Supervisor/DP/Director

July 12th, 2002, 05:22 AM	#3
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	There are automatic match move software packages out that are pretty good at matching camera movement.... they rest was probably done by matting things out etc. Some people have made an art out of manipulating images like that! __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

July 12th, 2002, 10:47 AM	#5
Daniel Carrico New Boot Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 19	Hey Martin, You said Commotion would be capable of doing such an effect. How? The reason I ask, is that you cannot simply copy the people from one frame to another because they too are moving. You would need a couple of good frames and morph between them or something... __________________ Daniel M. Carrico www.danielcarrico.com daniel1113[at]comcast[dot]net "For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, none will suffice." - Joseph Dunninger (Mentalist/Magician)

July 12th, 2002, 02:19 PM	#6
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Commotion and other systems use a motion-tracking compositing system to perform such effects on a frame-by--frame basis. It is, however, still a tricky proposition requiring high skill. The subject is a complex one, beyond explanation here. You can learn more about Commotion at their site: http://www.commotionpro.com/ __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

July 12th, 2002, 06:00 AM	#4
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	It was Flame or Henry, I don't remember which one. There were big ads in American Cinamatographer with FG shots. Pretty amazing for the time, people still talk about it. Jeff

July 12th, 2002, 02:35 PM	#7
Daniel Carrico New Boot Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 19	Hey Ken, I will have to look into it. I have Commotion and use it a lot, but have never had any formal training in anything. But, I like a challenge... :) __________________ Daniel M. Carrico www.danielcarrico.com daniel1113[at]comcast[dot]net "For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, none will suffice." - Joseph Dunninger (Mentalist/Magician)