TWD Special Effects Demo Reel

[bassman]

I always enjoy these breakdowns of special effects in movies, so I thought maybe some of you would too. It's a demo reel of the effects shots produced by Stargate Studios for the show. I'm actually surprised that some of these things are effects shots...

[Neil]

Holy Jesus Christ On A Bike! That's amazing!

[MinionZombie]

That is damn impressive. There's a whole bunch of shots in there that I'd never have thought were CGI'd in any way! Obviously there are some that are more obvious than others, and the exploding of the CDC was always going to be a tall order (although they pulled it off fine in the end), but damn - there's some really good CGI use in this show.

[bassman]

The normal things were expected. Like headshots, cdc explosion, etc....but some of those shots I would've never guessed. - Bruises on Ed's face?!? I wonder why they couldn't do that with makeup on set? Very convincing, though. - CG zombies in random areas. Of course the ending shot of Episode 1 had CG zombies as the camera pulled up, but there are some sprinkled about only 10-20 feet from the camera in some scenes! - The amount of army utilities outside of the hospital. I knew they added in some things, but I never would have guessed it was THAT many layers. Kudos to the the company behind this work. Although a few headshots left a bit to be desired, they definitely fooled me in various areas. That's how CGI work should be done....

[Neil]

- The amount of army utilities outside of the hospital. I knew they added in some things, but I never would have guessed it was THAT many layers. That amazed me!!! Wish they'd cut'n'pasted some of those CGI zombies into the final scene of the final episode... As it stood, there didn't seem much of a threat even just wondering around of foot... There needed to be a small army of the dead heading towards the noise of the explosion/vehicles etc!

[MinionZombie]

One shot that really surprised me, was when Darryl runs past a really rotted-looking corpse, with all the flesh missing from the face - I thought that was the work of KNB - but it was CGI instead! I had wondered on my re-watching of TWD last week if Ed's bruises were CGI ... I don't know why exactly, but there was just something that made me ponder the possibility - but I am surprised they didn't just do make-up on the actor. The background CGI zombies (heck, some of them not-so background) were very impressive too - I was fooled. Yes, some shots are obviously CGI because you just know practically speaking they wouldn't get all those people and things together for that one shot for time and money reasons, but even still - it's convincingly pulled off. Some headshots are a bit too obvious - mainly in terms of the blood splatter - like the police officer Rick shoots at the chain link fence in episode one, it's okay, but there is one particular spurt of blood that's poorly placed that really bugs me, and it just kind of appears and disappears unrealistically. So their headshots could use more work in terms of the look as well as making them appear part of the originally shot footage. In some other shots certain things do appear to be faked - like in the big aerial shot at the end of episode one, there's a collection of sand bags near the bottom middle of the shot that always stuck out like a sore thumb to me - meanwhile the rest of the shot pretty much looked fine (although a couple of the vehicles, weirdly, appeared a bit 'flat' - yet in the demonstrations they clearly were 3D models). Mostly nitpicks there, because that CGI reel was most impressive. I love how so much of it was stuff I didn't notice as I was watching the show - so they've got some work to do in some areas, but they've also shown they've got a lot of talent and skill in many areas already.

[Neil]

I love how so much of it was stuff I didn't notice as I was watching the show - so they've got some work to do in some areas, but they've also shown they've got a lot of talent and skill in many areas already. That's the sign of a good effect I guess! When you don't even know it's an effect!

[ProfessorChaos]

i am going to have go re-watch season one again (oh damn) to have a closer look. i'm really impressed by how well they did some of this CGI, particularly the dead that were only a few feet away from the action (like the ones on the sidewalk when rick emerges from the tank). that song playing throughout is annoying as shit, though. should've used something less irritating.

[Neil]

I'm really impressed by how well they did some of this CGI, particularly the dead that were only a few feet away from the action (like the ones on the sidewalk when rick emerges from the tank). I suppose the fact there is action going on close up infront of the camera also means you're not paying close attention to those CGI dead just behind!?

[BOBSMITH]

Damn, that's an amazing video!

[Neil]

Damn, that's an amazing video! Wonder why it's been released now? To promote the BluRays?

[Thorn]

Not sure why it is released now, I like the idea it is to push the videos it seems to make sense, and I agree with what has been said I am shocked at how much was added in especially items like vehicles and trash cans and the like. Just an awesome job by the production team... love this show more and more all the time.

[Moon Knight]

Very good video. Makes me wanna watch the first season again. The same goes for me on the shots that looked practical but were indeed CG. And yeah.. that music.... lol