My do-it-yourself War movie

[Reaves]

You're not using 'The Movies' game to make that are you?

[Chock]

Just so I don't have to type it all out again Reaves, yes I did use that, here's my reply to that question from the flight sim forum

For the flying sequences:
Combat Flight Simulator 3 with repainted versions of the Aeroplane Heaven Mark 1 Spitfire and bf 109E. Some shots - notably the 'chase sequence' - were done in Battle of Britain 2, which is a pain in the ass, because BoB2 replays don't have sound on them so I had to add all that. Those flying sequences would probably have been a lot harder to do without Track-IR, so that deserves a mention too. I can't remember for sure, but I think that one of the close up firing shots might be from IL2 1946, but I might be mistaken on that. Most of these shots were captured using FRAPS, which is great and thoroughly recommended.

For the bits with the pilots, the dog and the car:
Those scenes were basically done in the game The Movies (which is great fun by the way), plus its add-on disk Stunts and Effects. If you fancy doing this sort of thing, I really do recommend The Movies game, as it makes it very easy to do. The backdrops for those scenes were made from screengrabs of CFS 3 and BoB2, which were then messed about with in Photoshop and imported into The Movies to use as static backdrops behind the 'actors'. The Spitfires you see behind the car are also done in that way, as a traveling matte shot. I also had to draw the dispersal hut and a few other bits and pieces from scratch, but I nicked the picture of the deckchairs you see in a couple of shots from off the 'net and cut it out in Photoshop!

For the editing:
Most of the editing is done in good old Windows Movie Maker, but some of the effects I wanted were not possible in WMM, so I imported WMV files into the animation program Moho. Things like the camera shake when the pilot fires his guns and some of the zoom shots were done that way. Also the matting shots of the Messerschmitt in the rear view mirror of the Spitfire is a composite of two different WMV files matched up frame-by-frame in Moho (i.e. manually rotoscoped). The pilot's outfits had to be composited in Moho too, using a PNG file placed over the footage of the pilots, this is because there is no flying helmet and oxygen mask costume in The Movies game, which is a bit of a shame as it would make things a lot simpler!

Chock

[Reaves]

Thought so, it's a great game/piece of software. I've thought of doing something like this before but never got around to it. Might have to see what I can do. I like your use of backdrops, looks great.

[Chock]

You should do it Reaves, it's really good fun, and besides, it will afford me the opportunity to hear someone else's bad acting as well as my own :rotfl:

One thing though, it's a lot easier to do with the 'Stunts and effects' add-on disk, as that lets you freely move the camera position and gives you a lot more sets including some 'greenscreen' ones and stuff like that.

Chock

[Reaves]

I haven't got the expansion yet but I will. I know what you mean by fun, i've made a few short movies that I was pretty proud of. Only used subtitles though.

Decided to reinstall it tonight and see if I can make a Silent Hunter film. "Das Fleet Boot" or "The Fleet Boat" can be my working title. :hmm:

I'll see what I can do without the expansion as it's not in this months budget.

[TarJak]

Bravo! Well done old bean!