I was invited to take part in this 20-editors montage hosted by Flea, where each of us had a 4-second slot to showcase our best editing skills in creating a Fortnite elimination. As a result, I chose to record the clips using Fortnite's cinematic engine and bring this project to life solely through editing and compositing.
STILL FRAMES
BUILD PROCESS
There were many steps to get this look. My main idea was to go for a bold style like Thor's. So, I started by creating my scene, focusing on the lighting and composition.
the main things you can notice are the addition of atmosphere. Yes, because to maintain what I had in mind, I needed chaos. So, I started adding everything that I felt expressed that word: snow, lightning, storms, electricity, motion blur, lens dust. And to emphasize the character, I added these glowing eyes to capture attention on the subject.
As all shots were captured in-game, I lacked additional passes and a 3D camera, making 3D tracking impossible due to the scene's darkness. So the only way to get this work was to recreate the camera movement frame-by-frame.
The 'elimination' part.
A bolt of lightning strikes the character, spreading electricity across the floor and illuminating the buildings. This entire action gives the epic feeling that i wanted. In the compositing process, the scene undergoes a significant transformation in atmosphere, lighting, and special effects, taking on a completely different direction.
A look to the RAW running shot.
Here is the true raw version, not very compelling, which is why I felt the need to give it the same treatment as all the other shots, but with a speed ramp and a strong camera shake to emphasize the aggressiveness and immersion of the scene.
The parallax effect was the breakthrough of this scene, creating a broad sense of depth between the subject, the background, and the lightings near the camera.
BEFORE & AFTER
VFX BREAKDOWN
3D LIGHTNINGS IN AFTER EFFECTS
To achieve this level of depth, 2D lightings alone weren't enough. Therefore, I developed a plug-in called the 'Lighting Builder'. This tool enables the creation for the first time of lifelike 3D lightnings along a motion path in After Effects.I originally designed this plugin for the previous 25-editors montage.
Since there was a lot of forward movement in this scene, the 3D particle system that i created to do the snow is clearly visible. Additionally, I added another personal touch by inserting the logo on the wall.
