Topix's vfx crew teamed up with Stone Core Productions to kick off DEXTER's third season on Showtime with a season premiere promo spot called FUNHOUSE. DEXTER, a dark and witty delve into the life of a "righteous" serial killer (Michael C. Hall), demanded a stylized, vfx-heavy approach to accurately depict the compelling and complex series premise in 60 seconds
Set in a funhouse, the concept plays on Dexter's split persona by having Hall walk through a series of rooms where real scenes are interlaced with visuals from his psyche.
To achieve this, director Norry Niven used a dual camera system to shoot at two different frame rates, creating the illusion of a split between the real and the surreal within the same scene. The fantasy footage was captured with the Phantom camera shooting at 500 fps while the real time elements of Dexter walking through each scene as a spectator were shot on the Sony 1500 at 60 fps.
In post, the vfx team at Topix, co-directed by Julia Deakin and Marco Polsinelli, seamlessly integrated the footage together, precisely matching the digital grain and color of the two forms of media.
The spot opens with Dexter walking across a barren desert toward the stylized Fun House that was digitally created from the ground up by Topix Digital Matte Artist Andrew Nguyen
"The scene was then brought to life by including moving clouds, shadows and sunshine to build the atmosphere," said Polsinelli, who also created CG animated lights, added flags and faked camera moves to finish the look.
Deakin put her designer eye into the spot by creating a mix of reality and illusion in the shooting gallery scene. "The gunman Lt. Laguerta and Angel were shot on green screen then comped into the environment to appear as if they are behind glass. The camera then pans across to reveal them as shooting gallery pop-up characters. To give it a believable look it was necessary to add reflections of the room and the reverse angle of Dexter walking past in the glass," Deakin said, "We modeled, textured and 3D animated the pop-ups before tracking them into the scene then added flashes of light and shadows along with a small bag of other tricks to get them looking just right."
Finally, to give the spot closure and reveal Dexter's alter egos, a practical mirrored room was built with three different views of Hall walking toward the mirror were shot through a blackboard cut out that covered the entrance.
"To achieve the proper perspective we needed to change the lenses between medium and wide shots. Using the onset monitors, the shots were lined up as accurately as possible however warping and rotoscoping were required in post to make it all work in unison," Deakin added.
Bringing the whole FUNHOUSE commercial together was a collaboration between the entire vfx team and the client. Each artist came to the table with their own set of strengths to add what they do best, and in doing so produced an HD, visually mind twisting, DEXTER-ifying spot to launch the next season of the acclaimed series on Showtime.
Credits:
Client: Showtime
Art Director: Paul BrodieSenior Creative Director: Erik FriedmanExecutive Producer: Rachele GonzalesEditor: Ray Burris
Production: Stone Core ProductionsDirector: Norry NivenExecutive Producer: Elaine Sibert
Post: TopixExecutive Producer: Chris WallaceVFX Directors: Julia Deakin, Marco PolsinelliDigital Matte Painter: Andrew NguyenProducer: Cathy Jefferies
