The Creeping Death
Kyle Berg’s character met a flawless execution.
Lurking behind the garage, “The Man in the Mask” ambushed Otto’s street soldier, Kyle. With a stealthy glide, he closed in. The blade sliced clean through the throat. Death came swift, just like the masked man’s getaway.
The Knife
The real knife was photographed to be replicated utilizing CGI software. Co-director Christopher Kuiper also measured every detail to the nearest millimeter.
Documenting The Set
Christopher captured the set with precision, tape measure in one fist, camera in the other. Every inch, every detail was captured. These notes aided the CGI blade to flash with the same savage glow as the real thing.
Lights’ heights and colored gels were scribbled down.
Actors’ positions were documented like a crime scene.
Every vital distance was measured and marked.
Hand With NO Prop
Before CGI, the death blow was harmless. Actor Joseph Janswig, playing “The Man in the Mask,” hand moved with finesse.
The Knife Handle
A plastic knife handle appeared embedded in Kyle’s neck after the attack. Makeup artist Sara Smudzinski used spirit gum with gritty precision to affix the knife.
This process proved the most difficult effect to achieve. The humidity was high. Sweat dripped. The spirit gum refused to stick.
A blow dryer roared for nearly forty brutal minutes just to make the knife hold.
Finished CGI Composite
CGI artist Dirk van Sloten spun his dark magic to craft the grim masterpiece.
Using the knife diagram Dirk built a digital blade to pixel perfection.
The animation glided seamlessly. The gritty dance of steel pierced Kyle’s neck. This moment was pure illusion mastery.
Below is the finished composite of the knife stab in the film INDEFINITE.
P.S. I decided against uploading the throat stab clip to YouTube. I was worried my account would be flagged for promoting violence.
More Playful Blood Splatter
As directors we needed to execute with more intensity injected into the effects.
Dirk did an amazing job meeting our expectations at that time.
But we could have done better to ask for more.
I wish we cranked the effects to a hyper-real level. Blood should have exploded across the screen like a page torn from a comic book.
We needed to add more flair. Crank up the surprise factor. Include unexpected splashes that hit with a darkly comedic punch.