American Cinematographer - February 2008 - 68

Right: West Post’s 6,000square-foot stage, while targeted for insert and visual-effects shots, has been rented for everything from commercials to music videos and Webisodes. Below: The machine room houses West Post’s varied editing systems. “It’s a dynamic industry right now,” says West Post CEO Todd Brown, “and we’ve positioned ourselves to be flexible, even down to the design of our facility.” and at the end, everyone winds up with a much better product.” Umberger expands and reduces Elicit’s freelance staff as needed. With 4,000 square feet of production-office space at hand, he estimates Elicit could house as many as 60 workers to tackle large jobs or keep multiple clients’ projects moving at an efficient clip. At the heart of Elicit’s visualeffects workflow is the new Autodesk Flame 2008 for Linux. “It’s an amazing system,” says Umberger. “I can work in full 3-D space, and it really frees us up on the creative side. It nurtures interaction with the clients instead of making us sit around and wait for renders. We have the freedom to experiment.” To demonstrate the system’s power, Umberger pulls up a recent Honda spot Elicit worked on. In the commercial, a Honda Accord drives through China’s Forbidden City, chased by a young emperor and his imperial guards. The footage Umberger worked with was shot in Vancouver in front of long stretches of greenscreen, and the closing wide shot that would eventually feature 500 extras in front of the palace comprised about 20 extras and a view of downtown. “Using only the Flame, I was able to construct full 3-D environments,” says Umberger. “Everything down to the reflections in the side of the car had to be redone to sell the setting.” Umberger’s Flame is also connected to West Post’s 6,000-squarefoot insert/visual-effects stage, which is located in the same facility. This connection frees him to take a feed from the camera’s video tap onstage and run the output directly into the Flame, allowing him to do temp comps and immediately confirm whether a shot will work. Additionally, the in-house stage gives Elicit the ability to shoot its own customizable effects quickly and efficiently. “We target [the stage] for insert and effects shots,” says Brown, “but we’ve had fullon productions rent the space for music videos, commercials and even high-end Webisodes. It’s kind of the ultimate trifecta: we have a post facility, a highend visual-effects house and a stage all in one location.” “We have artists with very specific talents together in the same building — it’s almost a commune,” notes Umberger. “We’re all masters of different areas, and the fact that we’re partners and share the same space can’t be beat. “At the end of the day, we view every image that comes through here as our own,” he concludes. “I take every image that comes out of this bay very personally, and I want it to be right.” Elicit Effects and West Post Digital, 1703 Stewart St., Santa Monica, CA, 90404. For more information, call (310) 857-5000 or visit www.westpostdigital.com or elicitfx.com ¢ 68 February 2008

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American Cinematographer - February 2008

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