I've used FrameForge since 2006 on the VFX heavy show Heroes, and over the years, have come to rely on it to help me design and plan shots for my Visual Effects sequences. In fact, I would honestly say it’s become an integral part of my toolkit because it helps the process in so many ways.

It starts with giving me the ability to answer real-world questions as to what might be expected from a scene—which already puts FrameForge a huge leap beyond working with traditional storyboards— but I also use it for so much more.

CUTTING THROUGH THE CLUTTER

While identifying and solving real-world production challenges in pre-production instead of on set is an undeniably huge benefit, getting a production on the same page creatively is sometimes globally even more important.

FrameForge solves that in a way nothing else I’ve seen does. When you read a script, everyone is making their own movie up in their heads. They see the time of day, location and what people might look like. As a Visual Effects Supervisor, I need to make my contribution to the process as interesting and supportive of story and character as I possibly can.

When I am sitting in a meeting talking with production personnel, FrameForge lets me take what can otherwise be a very abstract conversation and makes it concrete and far more productive because I can give them my VFX boards and literally show them what we’re discussing.

This gives us real clarity as to what we’re talking about—which is often half the battle in the first place— and most of the time the boards end up being shot as I designed them.

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD

I was the VFX Supervisor on all 7 seasons of this show. The pilot episode was directed and co-written by Joss Whedon, who I had not worked with prior to this project. I needed to find a visual shorthand with him in order to get across the VFX demands of the project quickly and clearly, since time is never an option in television.

FrameForge was absolutely indispensable for this. For example, I began by designing angles for a sequence whereby a man leaps out of a burning building caring a woman in his arms. Once I completed the angles and had the action scripted, I then went in and added fire smoke in Photoshop for additional dramatic impact. When I showed Joss the frames, he instantly got what I was pitching, and he was able to refine the angles without a lot of theoretical talk on how and where the camera should be.

TYING PRE-PRODUCTION INTO POST

While FrameForge is brilliant for planning the shooting, it also extremely useful in post-production. Many of us only focus on the needs of shooting the work and forget about downstream, where all the footage ends up with the editing team. In my view, Production and Post are two sides of the same coin, and post can greatly benefit from our pre-production efforts.

When I have my VFX boards blessed by the director, I always make sure that the editors have them as well. This is not simply so they can see what to expect, but also to give them full resolution frames to import and use in their edit, serving as place­holders until they get the final composited shots. It can take weeks to months before seeing the final VFX shots, so these images let the editors tell a far better story from the very first edit.

Instead of a black card with writing describing what a VFX sequence will look like, FrameForge lets them actually show a rough version of it, in anything from still images to a full animatic, getting the viewer visually far closer to the final experience from the start, something that can make a huge difference in the processes of reviewing and approving edits.

Mark Kolpack, Director / VFX Supervisor