25/08/2020

The mathematics of visual effects in modern cinema.

Affonso Beato em set de filmagem. Foto: Divulgação

When Canadian filmmaker James Cameron encountered insurmountable difficulties in executing the ingenious visual effects for the film Avatar (2009), he decided that if the technology didn't exist, he would create it. To achieve the desired result, his team had to reinvent 3D cameras, improve the image capture system, and capture the facial and body expressions of the actors. And behind all the techniques and tools that propel the seventh art, providing audiences with ever greater immersion on screen, are computer graphics and, of course, mathematical tools.

“3D cinema is entirely based on trigonometry, because everything stems from the distance between our two eyeballs and the projections we make of a three-dimensional object,” explains Affonso Beato, a Brazilian cinematographer who has been studying stereography, the representation of three-dimensional objects on a plane, for over a decade. “Human vision is organically stereoscopic. But when we reproduce this in cinematography, we need enormous mathematical rigor so that the images created are physiologically acceptable to human vision.”

A professor at the Art Center – College of Design in Pasadena, California, and a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), Beato has worked with directors such as Glauber Rocha, Walter Salles Jr., Pedro Almodóvar, and Stephen Frears. His stereographic cinematography projects are significantly aided by Visgraf, the computer graphics laboratory at IMPA.

In 2011, the director of photography came to the institute to give a lecture on comfortable 3D viewing. Later, he collaborated on "The Tempest," a Visgraf production that combines virtual reality, cinema, theater, and gaming technology. "We provided virtual cinematography consulting for the project, helping with avatar lighting and camera framing," recalls the director.

O pesquisador do IMPA Luiz Velho com atores do The Tempest.

Dialogue between film and computer graphics professionals is fundamental to the advancement of the field, according to Beato. “Visgraf is my meeting point with applied mathematics. I want these communities to meet more and more, because they need each other. The cinematographer isn't just an artist; they also need to have a foot in technology, because they deal with a universe controlled by formulas, knowledge, and scientific protocols, especially in visual effects.”

Computing and technology are not limited to photography in filmmaking; they make the entire film production process more efficient. From script to projection in a movie theater, Beato estimates that 50% of the work is done on computers. “Studies on film workflow development show that almost everything is digital nowadays. When something changes in a script, the change is automatically generated in the production schedule and budget,” he explains.

With the commercial strength of 3D cinema in entertainment, Brazil has been striving to keep pace with the American industry. The country's first 3D children's film, Pluft, produced by O2, will premiere soon. One obstacle to the development of the technique is the high cost. “3D production is complex and expensive, and the current economic climate of Brazilian cinema doesn't allow for certain ventures. People can't take risks like that. But everything in this industry comes in waves,” comments Beato.

According to the Brazilian director, the technological advances of recent years have been essential for the construction of a new language in cinema. Concepts from stereography and 3D are being transferred, for example, to virtual reality. "Virtual reality glasses are still expensive, but there is increasing investment in this type of research, and the trend is that they will become more popular over time."

The new resources are transforming not only photography, but also the script and other aspects of film production. “In both 3D and virtual reality, the viewer is much more immersed in the story, and therefore needs to write differently. In virtual reality, the director no longer chooses where the audience looks. Their attention is not controlled, and therefore aspects such as sound become more important.”

With the aim of preparing audiovisual professionals for this new language that is becoming increasingly present, Beato invited Luiz Velho, lead researcher at Visgraf, to give an online course at the Brazilian Association of Cinematography (ABC), of which he is a director. “It’s a course for producers, directors of photography, art directors and screenwriters to absorb these changes and prepare for the future,” explains Beato. Those interested can register for afree introductory class that takes place this Friday (28), at 2 pm. The course “The Future of Digital Media – Fundamentals and State of the Art” starts on September Wednesdays.