HBO Voyeur Project

HBO voyeur is a tantalizing project the gives us a glimpse into all the simultaneous lives being acted out in a single apartment building. This project, directed by Jake Scott with vfx done by Asylum touches the voyeur in us all and leaves you darting around to watch the drama unfold in the different rooms. The diorama display of all these people is a very creative way of capturing the real time drama of the building. To achieve this effect was no easy task:

“Instead of undertaking the seemingly impossible task of shooting all four floors at the same time, one floor was re-dressed four times, then the shots were stacked on top of one another in post. Integral to the success of the production was a counter on set that enabled certain “cuesâ€? to be performed. For example, when one character is cued to run up the stairs from one level to the next, he disappears at the top of the stairs at the 42nd second mark on the level one set, then he appears at the bottom of the stairs at the 43rd second mark on the level two set. This kind of synchronicity created the fluid movement that was required. The performance on each set was well timed and choreographed, but there was still a need to slip and retime each apartment to hit key sync points accurately to the frame. Each apartment was shot without a ceiling to account for various lighting requirements, ceilings were then re-created as a matte paintings in post. The challenge was in animating the lighting changes on these matte paintings so they were affected by the same lights that were lighting the room. A matte painting of the floor joists was created to separate each floor; the brickwork was also retouched and regarded… All of the apartments needed to be stabilized and lens distortion removed to keep them square as they were stacked on top of each other. “

There is so much stimulation in this piece it is impossible to see a fraction of what is going on in a single “voyeuring”. Good luck those of you with ADD.

Also, If you gt to hbovoyeur.com you get the option to focus on the stories you choose. Plus there are several more singular stories that take place in different buildings that are just as enjoyable to watch.