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Back To Gallery © 2004, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, The Day After Tomorrow

"The Day After Tomorrow", Big Freeze Sequence [# 3 of 5] (2004). The Heroes are rushing down the corridor with the freezing air closing in on all sides. This is the reverse angle of shot #2 in this sequence.

This shot is probably the single most difficult one I've ever done. Tracking was a nightmare - the reflective marble floor greatly confused all automatic tracking tools we threw at it. The situation also wasn't helped by the fact that a a correcting rectilinear lens was used to shoot most of the shots in this sequence. This type of lens is very similar to a architectural box camera in that it is wide angle but it corrects the image so that all walls appear to be vertical (and not at a weird perspective). Confusing enough for you?

What causes all the problems is the exaggerated distortion in the image that is created as a result - as can be seen from the picture shown here.

At the focal plane (where the checker pattern and grid are situated) everything appears to be relatively normal and the lines appear to be straight both vertically and horizontally.

However, move forward or backwards from focal plane and you're in serious trouble. Just compare the difference in size between the guy's two hands!

If you wanted to match a 3d model to this type of lens then you'd need to do some serious geometry warping to get them to match. Now ... just imagine that this camera is moving through the scene as well. Yeah - now you're getting the idea ...

I tell you, by the end of this sequence I could've given M.C. Escher a serious run for his money when it came to imagining weird architecture.

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