Rotoscoping

In the planning stages of Star Wars Downunder great care was put into deciding where portable blue screens would be erected to aid in augmenting the shots, with sweeping sci fi vistas, and CG characters interacting with live actors. As the shoots inevitably began running behind schedule due to weather, skydivers unexpectedly invading the set and uncooperative smoke machines, less and less emphasis was put into erecting blue screens. The familiar catch cry of, “We’ll fix it in post” or “Don’t worry we’ll roto it out” were bandied about with reckless abandon. So an initial estimate of about 20 or so shots that would require rotoscoping, started to climb. On completion of the rough cut, the number began to climb more, as the statement “Wouldn’t it be cool if we added in xy or z into the background of that shot?” As compositing began in earnest, some of the blue screen work also required a little help from roto, and the number climbed further still. The final tally of shots requiring rotoscoping was 142.