FX: THE SPLENDOR AND GLORY CONTINUE
by Russell Johnson
Saturday I meet up with David since Jason was just about through with about 90% of the special effects for the movie. He finished up a bunch of blaster shots, the holes in the wall (more on that later) and handgun shots. When we were shooting we were able to get the toy blasters and paint them black so they looked good. The handgun we had to get for the scene was a different story and it was much cheaper. Still a toy pistol but were talking the quality of a really good water pistol from a dollar store. Well, in this business you work with what you have and make due the best you can.
So, Jason sends over the completed effects shots and David throws them in, adds a few rough sound effects and it's playback time. Well, we couldn't contain ourselves. We laughed our asses off and not because the effects were cheesy but they worked so incredibly well that we couldn't have been happier and they looks so fucking cool. That cheap ass toy pistol Justin comes out of the room firing is just comical in it's raw format. But when you add the muzzle flashes and sound you couldn't tell we weren't using a real gun with blanks on set. And the laser blasters. There's just nothing else to say but perfect! Simple, but so effective.
From a directing stand point here's something I learned and need to share. It was not until Jason had to match the gun blasts with the number of times the actors pull the trigger on plastic toy guns that I realized what the problem was. As you can probably imagine the guns we used have very little, if any, trigger pressure resistance and absolutely no recoil. Which means the actors shoot so fast and so often as opposed to how a real gun would react if that's what they had. So, just remember that when you "fix in post" make sure the action will match the effect. Another tidbit from my "continuing eduction program." Thankfully, Jason was able to make it all work.
On to the bullet holes in the wall. We have several scenes in which our troopers stand in front of a wall with six bullet holes in it that happen after they get shot at and they have dialogue and movement. None of the shots are that long but it still makes for a shitload of effects work. Muzzle flashes, blaster rays are simple, Jason's words not mine, compared to those bullet holes. Gun flashes are just a few frames sometimes as few as one. However, for example, we had to change the ending of the movie that day. Okay not change, just modify. Which added a few more "to do" items on Jason's list. Now just to give you an idea of how pain staking the bullet holes in the wall effect is, we gave Jason one shot that lasts for 23 seconds. Not long on screen but for Jason that is 600 frames of work. On our budget not the most cost effective and probably the hardest and most time consuming effect Jason even has to do for the film.
Lesson learned. Next time buy some drywall, built a fake wall and then punch holes in it. That'll save you three days of post production. There's still a need for good old special effects done on set. Use them wisely.
Saturday I meet up with David since Jason was just about through with about 90% of the special effects for the movie. He finished up a bunch of blaster shots, the holes in the wall (more on that later) and handgun shots. When we were shooting we were able to get the toy blasters and paint them black so they looked good. The handgun we had to get for the scene was a different story and it was much cheaper. Still a toy pistol but were talking the quality of a really good water pistol from a dollar store. Well, in this business you work with what you have and make due the best you can.
So, Jason sends over the completed effects shots and David throws them in, adds a few rough sound effects and it's playback time. Well, we couldn't contain ourselves. We laughed our asses off and not because the effects were cheesy but they worked so incredibly well that we couldn't have been happier and they looks so fucking cool. That cheap ass toy pistol Justin comes out of the room firing is just comical in it's raw format. But when you add the muzzle flashes and sound you couldn't tell we weren't using a real gun with blanks on set. And the laser blasters. There's just nothing else to say but perfect! Simple, but so effective.
From a directing stand point here's something I learned and need to share. It was not until Jason had to match the gun blasts with the number of times the actors pull the trigger on plastic toy guns that I realized what the problem was. As you can probably imagine the guns we used have very little, if any, trigger pressure resistance and absolutely no recoil. Which means the actors shoot so fast and so often as opposed to how a real gun would react if that's what they had. So, just remember that when you "fix in post" make sure the action will match the effect. Another tidbit from my "continuing eduction program." Thankfully, Jason was able to make it all work.
On to the bullet holes in the wall. We have several scenes in which our troopers stand in front of a wall with six bullet holes in it that happen after they get shot at and they have dialogue and movement. None of the shots are that long but it still makes for a shitload of effects work. Muzzle flashes, blaster rays are simple, Jason's words not mine, compared to those bullet holes. Gun flashes are just a few frames sometimes as few as one. However, for example, we had to change the ending of the movie that day. Okay not change, just modify. Which added a few more "to do" items on Jason's list. Now just to give you an idea of how pain staking the bullet holes in the wall effect is, we gave Jason one shot that lasts for 23 seconds. Not long on screen but for Jason that is 600 frames of work. On our budget not the most cost effective and probably the hardest and most time consuming effect Jason even has to do for the film.
Lesson learned. Next time buy some drywall, built a fake wall and then punch holes in it. That'll save you three days of post production. There's still a need for good old special effects done on set. Use them wisely.
posted by Twenty One Productions at 10:46 PM
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