VFX: Add Flies to Insert Shot
Lucia, Before and After, short film
Los Angeles, CA
Lucia, Before and After is a short film that follows a young woman's lonely journey across Texas to get access to a legal abortion clinic. Lucia's journey begins in Odessa and ends 283 miles away in El Paso, but once she arrives she learns that she must wait 24 hours before getting the procedure done. The film's purpose is to highlight the struggles women in rural areas have with abortion access.
During the editing process, the director decided they wanted to add flies to one of the motel lobbies to denote how grim it was. I added the flies by using an image of a housefly, then put a random expression for their movement around the screen in addition to a wiggle expression to give them a more natural "buzzing" feel.
🎬 Nominated for the 2016 SXSW Short Film Grand Jury Prize
🎥 Won the 2016 Sundance Short Film Jury Award
Applications Used
🔧 Adobe After Effects
🔧 Adobe Photoshop
Project Breakdown
In this clip, the first is the insert of the fly paper with a moth stuck on it as shot on set. The second is the composited shot with flies buzzing around the room.