Film Language Tag: optical flow
Optical flow functions by creating a motion vector map for each individual pixel in a frame. A sub-pixel positional value of x and y is created for each frame, which may then be compared to the next.
In effect, this tracks the movement of every element within a composition. Some of the potential applications of this technical break-through are – tracking, motion blur, retiming and dirt removal or removal of objects within a shot. However it was the ability to track elements within the composition, like shadows and light, that interested me the most. If I could attach paint strokes to these moving elements so that they moved like live footage then I could achieve the desired effect.
The Afterlife in Color, What Dreams May Come
Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) arrives in the painted heaven he created for himself and finds his old mentor Albert Lewis (Cuba Gooding Jr.).