ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

10 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

That freezer spray tip is great, going to squirrel that away and look like a genius one day ;)

BTW the smoke in a can is pretty lame as party smoke, massive particle size so drops out of the air pretty readily, certainly in a fraction of the time a good hot oil smoke will take! In fact film fx are pretty much all its good for IMHO - large particles means it behaves quiet steamishly for a bathroom shot for instance.

10 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

The secret of effects is to use safe substitutes where possible (it's frowned upon to scar the cast - political correctness gone mad etc...).

Steam is hot, and close up is dangerous, and frankly isn't great for filming in as it condenses on lenses etc. You can get cheap and cheerful smoke machines for £40, or cans of cold 'smoke' (atomised oil) for £7 ( try Maplin). I'd be inclined to try one of those options, see if it can be made to look right, especially the canned stuff.

Sparks I'd composite in - you don't want to be playing with state pyrotechnics untrained and in close proximity to your actor. Don't forget how much of the story you can tell with sound effects and reactions - watch some TV shows where a machine breaks down - how often do you actually see sparks (expensive and dangerous by comparison) and how often do you see it implied?

10 years, 7 months ago - JD Marsters

Not sure if it'll let me post this but 3ns.me/media/freezr.mov if you want to see what the freezer spray looks like

10 years, 7 months ago - Sam Jeffreys

Thanks very much guys!

JD: That freeze spray looks perfect - exactly what I need. I think you've solved my problem!

I'm shooting this scene on Thursday, Feb 5th.

10 years, 7 months ago - JD Marsters

+1 for everything Paddy said. Even though I trained as a pyro a few years back, my most common advice is not to go down the hot route if it isn't absolutely necessary.

If it's absolutely a plot point that you have to have a bang and a shower of sparks, the pyro effect is called a "Robotic" (or sometimes "Spark Hit") - a flash with smoke and silver sparks. I really wouldn't recommend it though - you'd absolutely need to work with someone who knows what they're doing so you don't get in trouble for burning down your location.

In most cases the very simplest of VFX will suffice, provided you combine it with some decent sound. A zap-bang and some swearing can be very convincing. If I think back over the times I've been shocked working on tech kit there's rarely been sparks, but there's often been those kinds of noises. And of course swearing.

As for the steam, I think the trip to Maplin is the right one to make... although for steam I'd recommend you try experimenting with Freezer Spray first (also £7). It's designed to cool PCB parts really fast. When the cold gas comes out it causes water droplets to condense out of the air, meaning it behaves a LOT like steam rushing out of something. It depends how intense your effect needs to be and how many seconds you'll run it in a shot (I wouldn't recommend running it for a long time), but it should help to avoid the lingering room-filling effect you'll get with 'smoke'. And it doesn't condense on or inside your camera kit. Don't freeze your fingers off.

Do you have shooting dates?