Magick Created For Norfolk Southern Magick Created For Norfolk Southern How do you remove the on camera talent out of existing exterior scenes, bring that same talent into your studio, match the lighting exactly, create digital environmental mattes, and place the newly shot talent back into the original program looking totally realistic? Magick Lantern had the answer for Norfolk Southern. The scenes in question had been shot at a location that could no longer be restaged. Reshooting was therefore impossible. The two scenes were exterior location sync sound with the talent talking to the camera while walking through an intricate path. The revised scenes were longer than the original scenes.

The Magick team for the project consisted of Magick Lantern President Charlie Willis, Technical Director Kerry Kenemer, HAL Digital Compositing Artist Jonathan Sargent, Studio 750's Chris Conrad, and Lighting Director Bob Slavinski. Also working on the project from Norfolk Southern was Producer/Director Maynard Knestrick. Knestrick summed up the process by saying they had to have 100% believable reality. He went on to say the process was painstakingly detailed, yet pleasurable, and the result was pure perfection!

Magick has over twenty years of high-end compositing experience dating from computerized optical printing to HAL digital compositing. Absolutely realistic keying is the most difficult compositing scenario to pull off. The goal was to place the talent into the scene, not just layer them onto the scene. Magick's solution to make the talent really part of the environment would comprise of detailed testing of the studio shoot, the ability to direct the composited talent within the new environment, and intricate lighting, hi-lite, and shadow effects in Hal. Magick's soundstage/compositing/3D configuration proved to be ideal for this type of special-effects project.