Category Archives: Personal

Personal posts by Curtis Wiklund

Standing in a four-way conversation with Hugh Jackman, Shawn Levy, and Glenn Derry, I was thrilled and a little star-struck. Shawn, most notably was the director of Date Night and Cheaper By The Dozen, Hugh Jackman the Wolverine in X-Men to name a role, and Glenn Derry INVENTED the technology used on Avatar (more details on that below). These are the big wigs. I was basically mute any time we talked as a group, just taking instructions, but I got to work on the floor and watch Shawn’s every move, talk with Glenn and his assistant cameraman about the lenses they use and the amazing real-time motion tracking (more below), and even chatted over lunch with Hugh about Michigan and coffee. Bragging? Hardly. What will be ingrained in my mind as some of the most exciting interactions of my life, will likely go unremembered by these industry mega-forces. Oh well, on to the techie stuff!

My first day, I walked into the Cobo Arena downtown Detroit, where a huge artificial boxing ring had been built for fighting robots. It was surrounded by about 20 rows of fans, and behind them, a green screen wrapped around the wall. This green screen would be replaced in editing with a colosseum full of thousands of cheering fans.Cobo Hall during Real Steel production

 

A clip of Cobo Arena during production:

A clip of Cobo as the final Real Steel arena:

While shooting the fight scenes, no actual robots were on the boxing ring stage. The robots would be added in post-production. Therefore, Josh Mclaglen, the assistant director, had to wave around a baton with an orange ball on the end to show the crowd where to look and where to cheer. This is where the robots would eventually be once animated.

This all made sense to me. What I saw next didn’t, and it blew my mind.

I walked over and saw the video monitor that Shawn Levy (the director) was watching. On his screen, he saw the crowd, the boxing ring, AND the actual robots fighting, and the thousands of rows of artificial fans! It looked like the final movie. Now this may not be that exciting to those who understand how green screens work and how pre-recorded animations can be composited over live action footage (even in real time), but… THE CAMERAMEN WERE MOVING! All over! The cameramen were like ballerinas on the boxing ring, dancing from corner to corner, and the “virtual camera” that was showing the super-imposed virtual robots was following the exact movements of the cameramen! Each camera had red or white tracking points on it, and there was a huge ring of 20-30 mini-cameras around the ceiling that were tracking the main cameras!

I wish I had pictures of it. Basically, on Shawn’s screen, they were making a movie in real time. There were boxing robots, thousands of fans, and everything was being color corrected in another room in real time. It was like the director could see the final product of a mixed CGI and live-action movie AS THEY WERE SHOOTING IT!

This blew my mind for multiple reasons. First, it’s changing the way we can shoot movies that mix animation and live-action. Second, it opens up a whole new industry, where animations can be interacting with real people in real time. Imagine going to see live theater, but there are huge projected screens that have animated movie scenes that interact with the live actors. One moment, you think you’re watching a movie, the next it’s happening live, and the next, the two are interacting in real-time.

I’d like to think that this could be the future of our entertainment. I hope this is inspiring for you to think about; storytelling experiences that are as powerful and engaging as today’s best movies but are actually happening right in front of you. It’s a much advanced version of something else I’ve been very excited about. I posted a drawing a while back of my thesis concept, a live movie musical. It’s beginning to take shape! I hope it won’t be long before I begin posting about it.

Thanks for indulging my excitement in this movie. I honestly have no idea if it is good, because I haven’t seen it! I plan to soon. And by the way, my brother in law Davey was the runner up for the lead part. I was there to see the acting scenes… Davey should’ve gotten it… just sayin’

Hugh Jackman and Dakota Real Steel

For all you EXTRA-techies, continue on for more on motion tracking and behind the scenes!

Here, you can see the markers attached to the camera for the realtime camera tracking, which makes “realtime previs” (pre-visualizing animation during production) a reality. realtime match movement Real Steel

This is the device used for realtime color grading. (It’s a “DaVinci Resolve”)realtime color grading device

This is Shawn and the mega digital camera (the whole movie was shot digitally, which is required for PreVis).shawn levy real steel

And last but not least, a pretty awesome video on the sound of Real Steel. I think I found my silhouette at 1:27!
The Sound of Real Steel from Michael Coleman on Vimeo

Hope you enjoyed learning about realtime motion capture and daydreaming about the future of entertainment!

What do you think? With realtime technologies improving, will live movies someday take over?

In light of the new year, here is a brief recap of my creative pursuits up to this point: One year ago, Jordin and I were a year and a half into marriage, and I had just finished classes at the University of Michigan. I had actually finished my undergrad requirements in Performing Arts Technology the semester before, but I fought my way into staying another semester for a couple more classes. (That’s how much I love learning) Meanwhile I had been working on some pretty awesome movie sets and television shows with Dreamworks and NBC that I’ll post about later. I was working on our photography business by night and Jordin was working full time at our church, directing the arts in the weekend services. I spent the winter after graduating prepping our photography business for the busy summer season and figuring out what my long-term post-graduate career would be, whether it would be solely photography, that mixed in with motion picture, or even a creative position in an advertising agency. Then came a curve ball. In the midst of agency interviews and a busy photography season, I received a call out of nowhere, offering me a position on staff at the University of Michigan while getting a Masters in Media Arts, delivering the “Live Movie Musical” that I’ve been working on, as my senior thesis. This really changed everything. Once classes began this fall, we scrambled to keep up with the flow of full time photography while I began as a full time student with an hour commute and a new part time job on staff. It was only with the gracious help of some very important friends who joined our photography team that we were able to keep up. That very succinctly brings us to today. The gaps will likely be filled in as I continue to post pieces of the things I have been working on. In spite of everything else going on, I am completely obsessed with photography and will never stop. I may only be limited on how many hired projects we can do in the midst of school and my other job. We will be fitting in as many as humanly possible, because capturing priceless memories with beautiful imagery is incredibly life-giving for us, and incredibly important to us. I hope to be sharing and blogging more this year!

Aaand a bit of us…

Curtis and Jordin Wiklund

Let’s take a break from our photography and my media projects to have a TECH TALK!  I’ve been wondering whether a full-frame sensor camera would really make that big of a difference in our photography.  So I rented a 5d mark II to compare to our 7D and other crop-sensor cameras. Hopefully this will help someone else trying to figure out how a full-frame would actually affect their photography.

First, a brief lesson on crop-sensors:
All Canon dSLRs with a model number higher than 5 (ie- 7D, 60D, all Rebels, etc) have crop-sensors. A crop-sensor crops the image of a full-frame sensor by a factor of 1.6. This means a 35mm lens on a crop-sensor camera actually looks more like a 50mm lens on a full-frame camera (35mm * 1.6 = 56mm). The 5D mkII and the 5D mkIII are both full frame cameras.

This is the exact same lens on the 7D, then on the 5D:
 
5d full frame vs crop sensor 7d

Yeah yeah, I knew that. HERE’S WHAT I WAS WONDERING: “Could I achieve the look of a full-frame camera by simply using wider lenses on my 7D crop-sensor camera? What would be the difference?”

Below, I tried to match the look of a 35mm 1.4L lens on a Canon 5d by using a 17-55mm 2.8 lens on a Canon 7D and zooming in to about 22mm (22mm * 1.6 = 35mm).  Then I tried to match the depth of field by leaving the 17-55mm at f/2.8 and stopping the 35mm down to f/4.0. It seemed pretty close. Here’s the result:
 
achieve the 5d full frame look with a crop sensor 7d
 
To some, the difference may be indistinguishable. To me, it was eye-opening… literally, like my eye was never open all the way. Those who have upgraded to a full-frame sensor know what I’m talking about. I was wandering around our condo with the 5D pressed against my face feeling like, “All these years I’ve never seen the world through a camera the way it’s supposed to be seen!”  It was as though I had been wearing horse blinders every time I had put a camera to my face… like someone had cropped off my peripheral!

Do you see how in the second image, everything appears to be very square, and in the first one, it all seems to be a little warped? See how the background is “smaller” in the first one?  This is what happens when you use a wider lens. An extremely wide lens is called a fisheye and does this warping a lot. Using a 1.6 crop-sensor on a 22mm focal length lens does not turn it into a 35mm lens. It just crops a 22mm! You still have the same warping effect of using that wider lens, which is not very attractive on humans. It is impossible to exactly match the focal length look of a full frame camera by using a wider lens on a crop-sensor camera like the 7D.

That said, you don’t always need to match the focal length look of a full frame camera. In our own business, we’ve used mostly longer lenses, and have never used a full frame camera! The wider angle lenses on a full-frame body is just a look that, as we are growing in our style, we personally find beautiful, and we are excited about incorporating it into our future work. Explaining what that “look” is, requires an entire post of its own. This one was simply to answer my own question: No, you cannot achieve the look of a full-frame camera simply by placing a wider lens on a crop-sensor camera.

Do you photo enthusiasts agree?

full frame vs crop sensor comments

  • August 16, 2011 - 10:24 pm

    Life with Kaishon - Interesting : )

    I don’t ever want a full frame camera. I am happy with what I have : )ReplyCancel

To all of our last year seniors, as you start this new stage of life, we hope that along with learning lots of new things you also enjoy the freedom you’ll have these next years as you figure out who you are and who you want to be. We’re so proud of all of you and can’t wait to see God’s plan for you all unfold!

Love, Curtis and Jordin
(We came up with paper plate awards for each of you, minus the paper plates… ’cause we’re going green.  :)

Curtis and Jordin Wiklund running into sunset Crystal Mountain

I’m heading downtown Birmingham for our Black Friday giveaway! If anyone will be in Birmingham and wants a free, fully retouched family, single, or couple picture from Curtis Wiklund Photography to use (or not use) in Christmas cards, call or text me to find out where we are. We’ll meet you, take your photo, bring it home for retouching, and email it to you! And if you don’t like it, at least it was free!

We’ll be downtown from 2:30-4:30pm. Call or text: 248.971.0059

PS- We want to meet new people in Birmingham. That’s why we’re doing this! So even if you don’t know us, or might have some friends who still want a good Christmas card picture, let ’em know! We like meeting new people!

Enough about us!  I know, time to put some of our work up from this year!  BUT!!!  Two days ago was one of the specialest days in the world to me.  Jordin’s birthday.  And that day and Thanksgiving got in the way of blogging about it.  SO, to those who don’t know Jordin, it’s not too late.  She’s incredibly talented, creative, beautiful, and sings better than Beyonce.  Together we are one… and she’s the half I’m proud of.  Girls… younger girls, unmarrieds, connect with her.  She would love it.  And she is the greatest example on this planet of how to make a man feel like a hero every day.

Craig Groeschel recently shared this story at the Catalyst conference about his wife Amy:  They were counseling a couple, and this woman was trash talking her husband like nobody’s business.  Amy said, “You are totally tearing down and destroying your husband.  You are dishonoring him.”  The woman looked back and said, “If my husband were a tenth of the man your husband is, I’d show him honor.”  Amy said, “Maybe my husband is who he is because I’ve honored him all his life.”

That’s Jordin to me.  I wish every girl could meet Jordin and take a page from her book into their own marriage.  She stands out among women, not belittling men- honoring them.  SINGLE MEN, find a woman like that, and hang on to her!  They’re rare!  Thank you Jordin for making me feel like the greatest man alive.  I can do anything in the world because you believe in me!!!  You are the greatest believer, encourager, inspirer, and cheerleader in the world… and I am the luckiest man.  I don’t deserve you, but every day I gladly accept your agreement to be my wife.  I will love you and cherish you forever!  Happy belated Birthday!

Arcadia Bluffs Photography

  • August 18, 2011 - 11:16 pm

    Michelle - This is such a beautiful post!!! Hope you don’t mind, but I linked to it (will be on my blog tomorrow) and copied some words (quoted them from you – wanted to give credit where it was due). This is awesome — if only more couples would show respect and honor and love towards each other, we would all be much better off! You two look very sweet and adorable!! I love seeing love being shouted out so loudly publicly like this!ReplyCancel

After a loooong search for a home, we have finally found it, and we are SO EXCITED!  I can’t help but look at the hard wood floors and crown molding and think, “God, you know my wife so well.”  And I get a fully finished basement to set up my office!  We’re so thankful for the way He takes care of us.  And thank you mom and dad for letting us take over your house in our transition time!

Saying goodbye to Ann Arbor was pretty tough though.  I still feel a tinge of nostalgia every time I drive by the exit to our very first apartment.  That little one-bedroom home by UofM’s North Campus has some of our favorite memories in it.  Late night movies, eggs and toast for dinner, working in the living room, hosting “The Office” nights when everyone sat on the floor since our couch is teeny, our hand-me-down couch that immediately received a slip cover since it was disgusting, being the only people within a mile who’s first language is english (no idea why), taking the bus or riding my bike to class so Jordin could take the car, Jordin’s daily HOUR commute, all-nighters in the computer lab when Jordin would drive me over a 2am snack, all-nighters in the computer lab when Jordin would stay with me the WHOLE NIGHT… man, my wife’s good. :)  Our first year of marriage was so fun.  We made sure to get in one last visit to our favorite Ann Arbor restaurant, Potbelly, where we used stacks of napkins for our camera tripod.  Some of our last Ann Arbor memories:

Best photographer in BirminghamPotbelly Ann ArborPotbelly wallpapercreative Birmingham photographer
Curtis WiklundCurtis WiklundPotbelly cookiePotbelly soup and sandwhichBirmingham MI engagement picturesBirmingham engagement pictures

My site/blog are undergoing renovation and should be up soon! Bare with the glitches to the current one!